How do you cope with a rotten assignment?

Hi, kids! I haven't been around much lately, but I'm back.

The Navy has not yet signed orders for my husband, who finishes up residency at the end of June. But it looks like we may end up in the armpit of California for the next three years--Twentynine Palms, which is in the Mojave desert.

Needless to say, I am more than a little dismayed, being a big-city career girl and all.

Also, the Navy has been yanking us around. First they told us to pick one of three overseas assignments. So we did. Then the Navy changed its mind. Then they told us to pick one of several West Coast assignments. So we did. Then the Navy changed its mind again. Then we were given the choice of some really bad billets, of which Twentynine Palms and Camp Lejeune were the most likely. We chose Camp Lejeune, seeing as how we're from the East and all our family is back East. You know the gig: the Navy changed its mind. Oh, and in the midst of all this, two other residents got their orders signed and then yanked because some more senior people elsewhere got orders signed, changed their minds about what they wanted to do, and then got new orders. Gah. Not a fun couple of months for us, following all of this.

So what does this boil down to? I'm facing the worst possible stateside billet for three loooooooong years. How am I going to survive? There is literally nothing in Twentynine Palms, save for joshua trees and tumbleweeds. There may be a Burger King now. Anyone have any coping strategies? Ideas? Advice? Access to mind-altering drugs?

[DCJenn]

Oh Jeez Jen, now I almost feel bad thta we didn't get Ft. Irwin, since they're not that far from each other!!

I think it all depends on mindset- and wine.

No one here has their orders yet, either, except those of us with fellowship or retirement looming ahead.

When Irwin was a possibility for us, I seriously considered asking my husband if we could 1) get an apartment in LA for the weekends or 2) get an apartment in Las Vegas for the weekends or 3) consider living closer in to LA and have him stay on post during the week.

We have some pediatricians here who are trying to figure out how to commute to Ft. Hood, three hours north of here. They've pretty much decided on VOQ housing during the weeks and home on the weekends.

Let us know how it turns out!

Jenn

[mommax3]

I had to laugh when I saw this topic. I can certainly relate, although I have no answers for you. We have been at our "rotten assignment" for two years, and if living here wasn't bad enough, the situation for Travis at work has gone from horrible to mediocre to bad and it is looking like we are heading towards horrible again....more on that later.

We were feeling desperate enough that we offered to extend our committment for a year in order to move. This offer was greeted enthusiastically by the OB/GYN consultant to the assignments officer, as well as by two OB/GYN dept. heads at training programs at Wright-Patterson and at Lackland. Both of the dept. heads were calling and emailing my husband almost daily, trying to sell him on the benefits of either place. They really wanted him as a part of their teaching staff. The Air Force currently has a severe shortage of OB/GYNs, so we were fairly confident that our offer would be accepted and we would be moving. However, the assignments officer, going strictly by the book, has officially denied our request because we have only been here two years (not the normal three), saying that it would make more sense for us to make this offer again next year -- when we only have one year left of our committment. Needless to say, we won't be making the offer next year.

In the meantime, the evil incompetent partner that is one of only three working in the Women's Health Clinic has continued to bring her 2 year old in with her in the middle of the night when she has deliveries, and she leaves clinic early whenever the mood strikes her. Periodically, she will announce that she will be unable to take call when it is her turn -- never ahead of time, but always the day of. She has had several close calls as she has attempted to care for patients, and has no bedside manner at all. Most patients vehemently reject having her care for them and even if she is on call (and actually taking call) many patients will insist that one of the other two docs be called instead when they come in to deliver.

The latest is this -- she is pregnant again, over 35, and had a nightmare pregnancy last time, with diabetes and hypertension that required bedrest. She is not married and her significant other commutes back here (from D.C.) when he can for her days on call.......obviously, this doesn't always work since she brings her daughter to the hospital with her in the middle of the night on a fairly regular basis. So we can plan NOTHING in regards to leave for the summer because she could be put on bedrest and there have to be two doctors available at all times. This is what it was like when we first got here (and my youngest was born) and it is not a pretty picture. She has asked for an early separation (where you have to pay the military back tons of $) and the commander of the hospital here is not going to block it because he has had so many complaints about her. However, it will likely take a year for this to be decided one way or another, and even if she leaves, it will be off cycle and it will be back to a two man shop for my husband and his other partner.

The other aspect of this is that the hospital (I use the term loosely) here has been cutting back services radically in the past few months. There is no longer an ER here, and the acute care clinic is only open from 6 to 6, as is the inpatient ward......so only same day surgeries can be done there. My husband does everything downtown at the civilian hospital. There have been two large deployments of medical personnel and the support staff for the Women's Health Clinic has been decimated. My husband is cleaning and resetting exam rooms between patients because there is no one else to do it. His new techs don't know the names of the instruments and have no clue what to hand him when during procedures. This is affecting what procedures my husband is able to do (the urologist left last year, so that rules out a whole category of surgery) and he is facing up to the fact that he is losing skills by being here because he has to refer many things to places that have the facilities and support staff to handle them.

The ONLY bright spot I can find in this is that we will be out of this G*%D&*%% system in two years rather than three since they won't move us. I hope I don't lose my mind in the interim. Trust me, the military does not care what you would like or even where your skills would best fit their purposes. It is all a numbers game to them. Being good at what you do will not matter, unless you want to subspecialize and further obligate yourself to them. It is the only way to ensure that you won't be stuck at some two-bit "superclinic" that bills itself as a hospital. The best advice I can give anyone is not to be naive about this process. There is very little you can do (other than subspecializing) to help yourself get what you want. I would not encourage anyone to become a part of this madness if they have other choices.

Just my rant for the day.

Sally

I hear you, Sally. And I'm hurting for you and your husband. That really is a rotten situation. I'm really sorry.

And you speak such gospel when you say that the military doesn't care and that it's all a numbers game. That's the conclusion that I've come to. It makes me seriously bitter about the Navy, and in fact, about the entire armed forces. I want to tell these people who make these arbitrary decisions, "Well, you know what? You just lost yourself a fine officer and doctor. We're outta here as soon as we pay back our obligation." The military wants to know why they have trouble retaining doctors and other officers? This is why!

My friend whose original orders were recently yanked is seriously bitter, too. She wanted to work in a hospital with a NICU because she eventually plans to subspecialize. Instead, she'll be spending two years in a "superclinic." She's not amused. She may also just do her time and get out and then maybe subspecialize.

My husband says that he's not going to subspecialize in the military unless he really wants to subspecialize. But he's not going to do it just to get us out of a bad assignment a year early--because then we'll owe a whole bunch more years to the Navy. And at this point, that sounds like a very long prison sentence to me!

Gah. Maybe I should come back when and if I ever get a better attitude.

[DCJenn]

Yup- if only the people at the top actually considered the physicians interests, skills and desires, maybe people would stay- instead you get people like my husband- who owes enough to take him through to retirement, or you get the ones that we've all heard about! and we all know USUHS can't staff everywhere.

Truely, I wonder if HPSP are funnelled out fo the system on purpose, because it sure does seem that way.

The Army people got their assignments- the AF people don't know yet.

I hear you, ladies. I'm just glad Rick decided to subspecialize in something that the Army is desperate for- which will then limit his options. OF course, the newly desginated Adolescent Fellow has been apparently sent to the desert...hmmmmm- and people are surprised that the military orders 400 dollar toilet seats?

Jenn

Oh boy....I can't really relate to much of this except the sheer resentment and anger you and your DH must have.
As someone "waiting" until our time for active duty with the AF, this is not pleasant to hear. I suppose I wasn't expecting to hear that you get a large office with excellent staff and reasonable hours, but that sounds like it really sucks! We haven't even begun to discuss what may come in our near future, but I am 95% sure that DW will only do her time owed and then get out.
Sorry to hear about the BS that you are dealing with....

[DCJenn]

Matt-

The problem is that as with all large corporations, the military sometimes lets the tail wag the dog. We have lots of friends who are very happy, we also have lots of friends who are miserable and are literally scratching through the days on a calender.

The unfortunate thing is that as newly graduated residents, we all are powerless. So, if you're sent someplace miserable, or end up working with utter idiots or end up hating the military lifestyle, there's really nothing you can do except grit your teeth and pray it's over soon.

I also think that unfortunately, medicine is a step-child in the military. There has been talk over the years of getting rid of military medicine all together- but then, really, who would do it? So, they pay for indentured servants. They are compensated nicely, but the money has not been all that great comparitively (although, honestly, we all need to remember, that not having a ton of accumulated debt does enable those who do want to leave the service to be able to have a little more freedom in selecting what they want to do next) but- as Sally's story indicates, outside of the large medical centers often they prop up services with limited staff and limited resources because closing bases is such a political hot potato. No one wants a base closed in their area because they hire a ton of people. But understaffed bases with understaffed hospitals, PX, etc. aren't doing anyone any good at all.

So, don't worry too much, but do try to keep in mind that you may live in podunk for four years.

Jenn

[mommax3]

Matt,

Despite my current unhappiness, we also have plenty of friends who are perfectly happy where they have been assigned. The assignments process is a total crapshoot, and it seems like (to me right now) the more we have tried to "control" things, the worse they have gotten -- so I guess maybe it is better to try to ride the wave and regard the whole thing as an adventure. I know we would have never left Indiana if the Air Force hadn't made us, and I wouldn't have missed our sojourn in San Antonio for anything. (rank it high, high, high! ) Wichita Falls is a different story, but we can at least visit San Antonio! I don't mean to discourage you at all -- what's done is done, and you all will have to make the best of things, just like I need to get busy doing. We are almost halfway done, so that is consolation in itself.

I just needed to vent yesterday and this is the best place I know to do it. On the bright side, if the evil partner's early release goes through, and relatively quickly, the replacement (when we get one) could make life a lot better for my husband at work. I really don't think they could send anyone worse! (I should be careful what I say, I know!)

Trying to regain my equilibrium......

Sally

[peggyfromwastate]

Sally- I'm sure that as a responsible mother (and once a mother, don't we feel nurturing to all children in a way?) one thing you must especially disdain is this woman's attitude toward the welfare of her child. She doesn't sound like a nice lady at all. I'm sorry you all have had to put up with her, and I'm sure that the replacement (if he or she ever comes!) will be better.

I have to comment though that this kind of garbage happens in the civilian sector. My dad still works with lazy docs who won't pull there share, hospital cutbacks that severely limit his support staff, and now they're limiting interpreting services as well. He's had doctors work with him who are so rude that patients would leave the Emergency Room rather than be seen by said doc. And their group can't get rid of problem doctors until the contract is up, which usually takes about a year or two. His group has turned on him countless times, voting on petty issues that directly affect him while he wasn't there to defend himself, etc. So this garbage goes on in the civilian sector too, although I bet that you are experiencing one of the worst working situations you two will go through of his career! Look to that for inspiration! You could be going through the worst NOW!

Also, isn't it some comfort that he wasn't deployed?

Anyway, Sally, thanks for sharing the Bad with the Good. Since Mac hasn't even begun his training yet, I find it helpful to prepare for the worst as much as possible! I wish you well, and as far as I'm concerned, if you need to vent here- I'm glad to read it! I always learn something!

Peggy

Well, Twentynine Palms was as bad as I expected. We recently visited. The hospital on the base seems nice, at least, as do the other doctors. But the area itself is a nightmare. A tiny, dusty little town. The people are all very apologetic for how awful it is. There is no grass anywhere. There's no place like Target. No shopping centers. No real commerce. No place for me to work. Just sun...relentless, drying sun. The edges of all the streets (where there are real streets) are heaped with scrub and sand. It's like another planet.

We tried to find rental housing. The first two houses that a local realty agent directed us to looked like they had been rejected from a ghetto. I cried. Twice. One of the houses looked like an abandoned shack, with mold growing along the windowpanes and a rickety roof that would leak if it ever rained. The other looked like it had barely survived a tornado. We finally coerced them into showing us a habitable place, but that house is currently being "held" for a captain who hasn't decided if she wants it or not. We've already submitted our application and fee. The captain hasn't lifted a finger. So that's all in limbo.

To top it all off, there is some question as to when we'll actually be able to report for our tour in the wilderness. There's a screw up with my husband's residency program, and he may have to stay another month to finish another rotation. Which means that he would have to finish that rotation and report for duty in the desert two days later. With no leave in between.

Please, if you believe in prayer--or even if you don't--pray for us.

[mommax3]

Jen,

I will be praying. Wichita Falls is NOT a pretty place at all, but we at least have a Target. How far are you from a larger city (civilization)? Are the houses you looking at on or off-post? What specialty is your husband? I am glad the other docs seem nice, at least. Hopefully their spouses will be nice also, and you will at least be able to have someone to commiserate with during your time there. I am SO sorry this is where he has been assigned. Vent here anytime. You guys will be in my thoughts.

Sally

[DCJenn]

Jenn-

I wondered what was up with you guys. We have friends in a similarly horrid situation- Enid, OK and her husband is an lawyer who can't practice law because they found out The Day Of the OK bar exam. Yay.

What about heading in closer to LA and commuting? I'm so sorry that you guys got stuck there. What an f-ing nightmare.

Jenn

[Rapunzel]

I just read this entire thread to my husband. He is freaked out to say the least. Good grief! What are we going to go through in our nine years payback in the Air Force?!

Jennifer

[PrincessFiona]

ugh

Having grown up on military bases, Jennifer...all I can say is....prepare yourself for an entirely new adventure

kris

wow, I am having the same feelings, Jennifer (Rapunzel). We owe the Air Force four starting next Oct 2004. Sounds like a true adventure in testing your will.