Military PAs

SusanJean · Jun 30, 2005

I'm sorry I cannot answer all of your questions, but have just a little information.

My neighbor's (cardiothoracic surgeon) PA was in the reserve's and was called up. He is now in Iraq and is in the midst of it all - from what I understand, the "front line" is all over the place.

I don't know his military history or terms of service, so cannot answer your other questions. You might ck one of the PA sites.

SJ

mwbeah · Jun 30, 2005

I know this is a nurse site, but I have a question about what military PAs do and where they work when deployed. I've heard that they work very close to the front, is that true? And is it possible to join the military as a PA, not going though the Military PA program as an enisted person?
I know this have nothing to do with nursing, but I thought as nurses you would work with PAs some and maybe have some info. Any answers or information would be much appreciated or direction to a site that could.
Thanks

http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/ipap/

Weebils-Wobble · Jun 30, 2005

I know this is a nurse site, but I have a question about what military PAs do and where they work when deployed. I've heard that they work very close to the front, is that true? And is it possible to join the military as a PA, not going though the Military PA program as an enisted person?
I know this have nothing to do with nursing, but I thought as nurses you would work with PAs some and maybe have some info. Any answers or information would be much appreciated or direction to a site that could.
Thanks

I'm an Army medic.

The training of an Army PA is sought after because of its clinical rotations. Besides being free of debt you will gain some experience that civillian programs can't offer you.

There is no "front". Being in the military is hazardous no matter where you are. That is the point. As for the question about where the PA is; that is a matter of operational security and I doubt that you will know it until you need to know.

Weebils-Wobble · Jun 30, 2005

BTW,

If your head explodes from trying to shift through the military site a recruiter should be happy to explain it and give you a free t-shirt and all.

Weebils-Wobble · Jun 30, 2005

While I'm thinking about it,

Keep in mind that nursing and PA programs are miles apart in what gets stressed in the curicculum. I don't have experience with military nursing but I'm privy to the curicculum in civillian nursing programs.

If it's different somebody please tell me.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2005

I'm an Army medic.
The training of an Army PA is sought after because of its clinical rotations. Besides being free of debt you will gain some experience that civillian programs can't offer you.
There is no "front". Being in the military is hazardous no matter where you are. That is the point. As for the question about where the PA is; that is a matter of operational security and I doubt that you will know it until you need to know.

Speaking as prior military - you have to remember these folks are speaking civilianese, so I'd give them a bit more credit.

There IS a front line in Iraq. Trust me - I get reports from over there all the time. My husband will be more than happy to tell you there IS indeed a front.

Where PAs practice is NOT a matter of operational security. They don't want grid coordinates; the OP just wants to know what type of facilities they'd be in.

So I'll make the attempt to answer.

Tents in Iraq and Afghanistan, mostly. My father flew Medevac in Vietnam and Korea as a Navy corpsman so I would suppose that's a good possibility in Iraq and Afghanistan today. There are still several large military medical facilities - including hospitals (Wilford Hall in San Antonio at Lackland and the hospital at Ramstein Air Base come to mind) - where PAs are used. The guy I had as my PCP in OK was a PA. Many bases also still have base clinics (these ARE falling victim to BRAC closure, though, like the one at Altus did while I was there). You could be onboard ship if in the Navy or Marines.

And there aren't just PAs in the Army. They're in all the branches - AF, Navy/Marines, Army, and Coast Guard.

And I've been plenty of places in the military that weren't hazardous. (I say that because I feel as though the responding poster above made it sound as though you have to be in full Kevlar and low-crawling while you're moseying on over to the base exchange at your base in, say, California.) Being in the military gives you the POTENTIAL for being deployed to somewhere dangerous in a war zone - at any given time. Especially now. You HAVE to keep that in mind before you sign on the dotted line.

When I was in, entrance into these programs - both ROTC and the service-run school (yes, there's a military PA program; trust me - I looked into it when I was in) - was VERY competitive. But by all means, don't let that stop you. PAs are generally officers, so I would call up a ROTC detachment in your area or at a university with a PA program you're interested in and ask them about health professions scholarships. Local recruiters are generally looking for enlisted bodies and may or may not know a lot about commissioning opportunities.

Anyway, maybe that will help. Good luck!

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2005

While I'm thinking about it,
Keep in mind that nursing and PA programs are miles apart in what gets stressed in the curicculum. I don't have experience with military nursing but I'm privy to the curicculum in civillian nursing programs.
If it's different somebody please tell me.

PA programs are taught on the medical model - so yes, it is different.

Weebils-Wobble · Jun 30, 2005

Where PAs practice is NOT a matter of operational security. They don't want grid coordinates; the OP just wants to know what type of facilities they'd be in.

With all due respect; so do the insurgents. They want the most valued targets. An officer is certainly on that list.

Weebils-Wobble · Jun 30, 2005

And I've been plenty of places in the military that weren't hazardous. (I say that because I feel as though the responding poster above made it sound as though you have to be in full Kevlar and low-crawling while you're moseying on over to the base exchange at your base in, say, California.)

There is nowhere "safe" for a uniformed member of the military.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2005

With all due respect; so do the insurgents. They want the most valued targets. An officer is certainly on that list.

You've overinterpreted the question. The OP was looking for TYPES OF FACILITIES PAs practice in in the military - as I said, not grid coordinates. Saying a PA works in a tent hospital is not a matter of operational security. (As a sideline, with the huge Red Cross on the tent, I'd say it's fairly obvious. The tents are marked that way, as you know, to signify them as noncombatant units - not that that may help much.)

You might also allow that PAs are medical personnel and are therefore considered to be noncombatants under the Geneva Convention (which we follow even if they don't). So they don't fight on front lines anyway - not like infantrymen. In Vietnam and Korea, my father, a Navy corpsman (who did everything PAs can do except write scripts - in fact, the first PA program was created especially for returning corpsmen from Vietnam whose rate had no civilian counterpart and the whole thing was born right down the road at Duke University) carried a sidearm for personal security - not as a combatant. And it's my understanding that that has not changed.

(In the Navy, "rate" is analogous to "MOS".)

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Jun 30, 2005

There is nowhere "safe" for a uniformed member of the military.

With equal respect, do you low-crawl to the BX to get your toothpaste, dodging insurgents in the wire at Fort Sill? No, you don't - because the base is safe. Walking around Ramstein is safe. (Walking around downtown Ramstein in uniform - probably not a good idea. Dressed in appropriate civilian gear - you're OK.) I don't think such drama (or seemingly being so ate up) is necessary here. After having two sets of orders to Desert Storm, living in Saudi Arabia in Riyadh (NOT on an Aramco or Eskan/Diplomatic Quarter compound, but out on the economy) as a civilian for three years (including all of 2001), and now dealing with e-mails involving flights in and out of the IZ and the hot zones in Iraq, I think I knew what the OP meant by hazardous. (For example: PSAB was safe. OUTSIDE PSAB was not. The IZ is safe. Downtown Baghdad is not. It's all relative and I think they get the idea.)

And given the world we live in today, post 9/11, I'd say ANY American tooling around in any corner of the world is a massive target. You don't need a uniform for that anymore.

While we're on this subject, I think we'll agree on this - whose bright idea was it to allow folks to FLY on civilian aircraft in uniform? These people were not attaches or anything - they were returning from basic (you know how they stand out!). You couldn't do that when I was in. Now THAT is definitely UNSAFE!

Edited to add: I DO know what you mean. But I don't think that drastic of an interpretation of the question is needed. BTW, if you are indeed active duty, YOU stay safe - and thanks for your service. :balloons: