Surgeon in the Military?
I know there is a lot of information about this online and im currently searching it all, but i want some other peoples thoughts as well. I was wondering what kind of surgeons there are in the armed forces? What branches are in need of surgeons and is the education the same as becoming a normal surgeon? Any info helps really.
Trauma surgeon?
I will tell you why i'm a PA and not a trauma surgeon and move on to the description. I am a mom of 3, married, which means i had to set my priorities straight before starting a career that i loved, but God only new if i could practice. What i want to tell you is this, if you are willing to make medicine and saving lives THE most important part of your life, go ahead. If you have a partner that does not mind you not being there on holidays, birthdays and anniversaries, go for it. If you absolutely know you are up to having and handling the responsibility of avoiding prehospital trauma death, and determine priorities without hesitation, go for it. Trauma surgeons are physicians that have completed residency training in general surgery and have concentrated their practice on the care of injured and critically ill patients. In the United States, trauma surgeons generally work in hospitals specifically designated as trauma centers by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) or by individual states. Your training may take up to 12 years. When a patient with significant injuries is identified by prehospital personnel, the trauma center is notified and a designated trauma team is activated. The team typically includes nurses, resident physicians, and a variety of support staff and is led by the attending trauma surgeon. The trauma surgeon is responsible for the initial and ongoing evaluation and resuscitation of the injured patient. In most settings this follows a rigorous set of predetermined protocols designed to detect and treat life threatening conditions as soon as possible. After such conditions have been treated (or ruled out), non-life threatening injuries are addressed. Most patients presenting to trauma centres have multiple injuries involving different organ systems, and the care of such patients often requires a significant number of diagnostic studies and operative procedures. The trauma surgeon is responsible for prioritizing such procedures and for designing the overall treatment plan. This process starts as soon as the patient arrives in the emergency department and continues on to the operating room, intensive care unit, and hospital floor. So, if you got what it takes, go ahead!
What surgeon can take care of military trauma?
There is no specific surgeons for military trauma.Approach to trauma is always multidisciplinary approachIt involvesSurgeon, Anesthesiologist (Critical care) and physcian.Trauma involvesNeurosurgeonOrthopaedic surgeoncardiothoracic surgeonGeneral surgeonVascular surgeonPlastic surgeonAs per need. Due to increased incidence of trauma, In India various postdoctoral fellowship as well as Degree course has started.Mch Trauma surgery at AIIMS, New DelhiFNB (Fellowship in national board) Trauma care atGanga hospital, coimbtoreMedical trust hospital, kochiAditya Birla hospital, puneP. BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohatk
Can you be a Cardiothoracic surgeon and Trauma surgeon at the same time?
You may not like this answer, but I am going to say it anyway. If you are going into med school to be a trauma surgeon because you want to have a nice house and several cars - RUN AWAY NOW! To answer your question -YES. Most people decide during school that they either want to juggle hearts or guts and follow a specific trail. You could do both but I don't suggest it. You want to be competitive in med school, and it is hard to be competitive in two areas. Thoracic Trauma may bring you anywhere from 200-350K annually. Of course this number depends on where you are in the country, what the demand is, and the hospital system that you work for. Don't let that figure be an encouragement to you AT ALL ! ! ! From this comes malpractice insurance, thousands of dollars in school loans, and other misc fees that I never knew about. This comes out of your take home pay, meaning after taxes are removed. A salary range such as this puts you into a tax bracket that will require you to pay from 31%-42% in taxes. Once you remove the $84K in taxes from a 200K salary that leaves you with 116K a year. Dont forget that those other fees have to come out as well. You may still have anywhere from 85-100K in the piggy bank for your exotic weekends and spending spree (that you will never have time to spend). All in all its a cool job, and each day presents a new challenge and offers rewards. It is easy to get burnout fast. No problem supporting a family of four living above average.
I want to become a trauma surgeon in the army, and be deployed overseas. What education do I need for this and what can the army do to help?
It is a long road, and the following is the fastest way I could think of. I am presuming you are in the U.S. and a citizen (a requirement if you are going to be an officer in the Army, it any other service).First, you must go to college and get a bachelor's degree taking all the prerequisite courses for a four year medical school. You don't have to be a premed/biology major but it can help. You can get your rich Uncle Sam to pay if you do ROTC, but you will owe later. Then you need to apply, and get acceoted, to an accrdited U.S. medical school. Once you do, you can get your rich Uncle Sam to pay for that too (Health Profession Scholarship Program), but you will owe even more later. Then you apply for a surgical residency, most likely through the Army graduate medical education system (there are occasional deferments to go to a civilian residency). Surgical residencies are 5–6 years. Once you graduate you are an Army surgeon and can be deployed as such with a forward surgical team and do trauma surgery, however you technically are not a trauma surgeon. You have to do a trauma fellowship (I believe it is two years) and then you are a trauma surgeon. Don't worry about deployments, the army is chronically short trauma surgeons and you will probably go as much as you want. That being said you will spend most of your deployment time not doing surgeries (at least at this moment) but by the time you are done all your training the world will be a different place! But no sweat because if you go this route, and went straight through college/med school/residency/fellowship doing ROTC/HPSP you would owe at least eight years after your fellowship back to Uncle Sam, and that would take you to fifteen years of service. This is presuming you didn't do a service academy or the military medical school, because then you need to add a few more years of obligation.