lord_starscream
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Just joined Bogidope today, but I’ve been exploring this for a while. There are so few examples I’ve researched out there of being a pilot and physician, specifically for AD AF and the “part-time” components, but here’s what I’ve gathered.
The most “common” way to combine the career paths is the dedicated AFSC P48VX, or the USAF Pilot Physician Program. Since you’re starting MS1 this fall, you’d need to apply for AF HPSP (you already have a USMD acceptance-this will be easy). You’d forego the typical match and do an intern year, flight surgeon tour, and then go to UPT. From there, it’s the same training they do for active duty slots. After your service commitment is done (at least 10-14 years), you could apply to civilian residencies and coordinate with an AFRC/ANG squadron. What I haven’t found documentation on but could be viable is doing a concurrent mil-residency during your AD service commitment (like a lot of regular HPSP folks do), but I’d imagine you’re doing the full 20 at that point.
relevant links:
https://static.e-publishing.af.mil/production/1/af_sg/publication/afi11-405/afi11-405.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/pilotphysician/
https://goflightmedicine.com/blog/the-usaf-pilot-physician-program
The “part-time” option is what you and Smax already noted, i.e., med school->AFRC/ANG. You’d apply to squadrons during MS3/4, start OTS/UPT, complete seasoning orders, and then apply to civilian residencies. I’ve found there’s only one guy online who has done it that way, and I actually emailed him a while back after connecting on LinkedIn (dm me your email if you’d like me to forward it to you). In this scenario, you’re delaying residency for a shorter time compared to AD, however, it will take significant approval/coordination with your residency and squadron, for as a pilot, you must maintain currency on top of the grueling residency workweek. I thought I read somewhere on SDN that residency is not protected by USERRA, but that could be wrong. One of the downsides to this path is that you’re potentially filtering yourself out from competitive specialties in the match, as it’s been heavily documented that your chances of matching decrease every year out of med school, not to mention you’ll have no time to publish research (whereas the AD HPSP folks can rely on the mil-match).
Relevant links:
https://www.f-16.net/interviews_article30.html
https://goflightmedicine.com/blog/serving-in-residency
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/institutional-readmission.1490859/
https://www.medicineandthemilitary.com/applying-and-what-to-expect/part-time-service-options/
I think Smax did a good job communicating the intricacies of how a career change might be viewed when interviewing. I can’t comment on that as I’m not there in the process yet. Best of luck!!
