USPHS

I work at a rural IHS facility. I love the Commission Corps but I am prior civilian with no military experience.

Being rural means: going to the mall is 3 hours away, you have one grocery store that has limited supplies which means you go 3 hours away with a cooler to get food that you are used to, you live 6 hours from an airport that does not cost you an extra 300 dollars to fly out of, and all of your friends are people you work with.

On the positive side, you save loads of money, learn how to be self-reliant, have loads of natural beauty around and do things you might not do if you lived in the city such as gardening, scrapbooking, and going back to school.

If you have kids or are single, these are two tough situations because the schools are not the best and there may not be any single people you would be interested in dating because you work with most of them.

Rural IHS as a corps member means that you are short staffed a lot and when you have an emergency situation you really have to think on your feet.

I would not change this experience in my life but you need to be forewarned that even if you live in a "small town" now. This is totally different.

I have lived in a rural area for over two years now and just starting to feel comfortable with it.

it would be very similar to a civilian nurse with experience xfering into the Army... which is fairly similar to the process of a new nurse xfering into the army. It is not really a 'transfer' as you applying for a commission - in all of those scenarios.
v/r

There is some truth to that. 2 of my bosses were prior military(over 10 years) and they are staying in PHS. Me on the other hand i miss the military but i like the PHS as well.

Commitment to PHS is only 2 years unless they pay for your sch or there is a loan repayment program which obviously will make it longer, but if you already have your qualifying degree and license, you only have to stay 2 years.

From the outside.. was a corpsman at Bethesda. Spent a good bit of time around PHS Commissioned Corps. They were, on the whole, much nicer people than the USN personnel.

Also the men can wear beards, and since their uniforms are sea service.. their Captains actually look like f00king Captains of days of yore.

"The Navy has evolved in the last 200 years. It used to be rum, sodomy and the lash. Now it's just dumb sodomy and no cash."

Beards are no longer allowed for PHS. Now we follow military style

That's horrible. My sympathies to the successors of the Marine Hospital Service.

No more beards? That would be a deal breaker for me...