2013 Base Assignments?

[Ginge]

Hi,
I'm a new member. I live in the Midwest and I'm finishing up grad school this spring. My husband is in the Air Force FAP program and will finish his peds residency this summer. I was wondering if any other graduating residents have received their base assignments for this year? The AF is not giving us any updates on the assignment process and I'm curious about what's happening in other medical specialities/branches. Any information about the process this year or in previous years is much appreciated.

[mommax3]

We finished residency in 2001 and our payback in 2005, so I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but for is the timing was more like March or April. There are some current active duty wives on the site....hopefully they will chime in!

[peggyfromwastate]

Hello-- welcome to the boards! Post an intro in the introductions section so that people can say hi if you get a chance!!

We are army-- dh took the USUHS route for med school do he's been stationed at army facilities primarily, but he's in a civilian fellowship at Stanford now. In the army he expects to hear unofficially where he'd be stationed in December (they have a big meeting where the powers that be discuss assignments in November). Officially orders are cut and sent out sometime in march. But I think it can vary a lot even by specialty within the army.

Dh is in contact on a regular basis with the consultant for the army--- for his specialty (ENT) the consultant is the one who negotiates for base assignments for the docs. Since dh is so specialized at this point he's been told that he will only be sent to one of 4 possible army medical centers, and based on the specialists at each of these it's likely to be only one of the 2 really. But we don't believe anything until we get the contract in writing.

There are some spouses on here with AF backgrounds. Not sure about FAP though. Anyway- welcome and good luck!!

[Ginge]

Thanks for the info. I hope those 2-4 med centers are desirable locations for you!
We've been told AF peds has about 30 openings this year, so there are too many locations to even try to research housing, schools, job prospects for me, etc.

[peggyfromwastate]

Yes--- the locations are all fine for us. My dh is do specialized now that supposedly he will be stationed at a major med center which means he will have residents. They are in bigger cities too.

Peds residents could really go anywhere!! It's a crazy time--- hang on and try not to stress.

I imagine you will have the military move you. Once you get your orders one of the first things you'll want to do is try to get an appointment with the military people who coordinate moving. The movers need to be booked in advance. It's a full service move, so that's nice. We just went through it last summer--- cross country move. Ugh.

[Ginge]

Thanks for the moving advice.

[Ginge]

We just got unofficial word that my husband has been assigned to Holloman AFB in Alamogordo, NM (pop. 31,000). We were hoping for an assignment in a larger city, but the needs of the AF came first. We'll try make the best of it.
If you can put me in touch with someone who has been stationed at Holloman, please let me know.

[peggyfromwastate]

Hmmm. Never heard of it.

It would be very very surprising to be stationed in any big medical center or near a city given the fresh out of training in primary care status. This is a big reason why we did a fellowship-- to be stationed at a major med center. And my dh loves teaching students and residents so it was kinda a no brainer.

Just try to make the best of it!!! Is it close to good skiing? I'm sure it's close to hiking and neat outdoor stuff that you may never have been able to experience before.

You will be fine!!

[Ginge]

Thanks, Peggy! There's hiking and skiing in the area so our plan is to become an outdoorsy family. The other positive is that it's less than two hours from my husband's aunt. She's over the moon that she'll get to spend a lot of time with our family.

[peggyfromwastate]

Sounds like you are going into this experience with a great attitude! Any idea how many other peds are stationed there?

[moonlight]

Sorry it's not exactly what you wanted. You know a happy helpful aunt and a couple good friends can go a Long way in a small town! I hope you get in with a good group of friends.

[v-girl]

Glad you found some positives!

[Cinderella]

Unofficial congrats then! Sounds cool. When I think of New Mexico and the air force my mind associates it with Area 41 and Roswell. I wonder if you'll also get to experience alien tourism in that region where you'll be. I'd like to go see what it's all about one day just out of curiosity.

[Ginge]

We just found out there will be one other pediatrician there with my DH.
I think it was a relief for him to know he'll have a colleague on base.

[peggyfromwastate]

That's huge!!! It means he will have someone to share call and cover vacations. This really is huge. I've heard of docs being stationed at small bases who need to have someone flown in to cover their vacation times. And they are pretty much q1 call forever.

So that's a great thing for you guys!!