02ss98C5

iTrader: (1)

Me and the wife unit will be finishing law school/dental school in a few years and we are thinking about joining the air force to practice law/dentistry. My question is how is life for people that do those jobs? If you are married how hard is it on your marriage?? I know we would go in as officers, but what pay grade would we be at??? Thanks a lot for your help!!!

evilbadz

iTrader: (1)

I'm not an officer and don't have a ton of info for you, but I can tell you most medical people I have seen go in as either O-3 or O-4+

gonefishn1212

youll make more money on the outside

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

As a doctor you will make way more as a civilian, as lawyer though you may not because lawyer pay varies greatly.

jester177

in the med field she can screw up and not worry about getting sued. i know up here they cant get a filling right to save their life. now we have to go down town to a civilian for most dental work. but if you want to make money go civilian.

lowprofile

iTrader: (3)

My brother in law just joined the AF to become a doctor. He went to OTS like anyone else, was comissioned as an 0-1, and is currently attending a Navy medical school in Maryland. There is more money to made on the outside, that's for sure, but the cost of education/training/experiance is less (free) in the military. I'm no expert here, and since you already have school done, it may be different. Try your local AFB/ROTC. There's more than a few in TX...

-G

JUICED96Z

Yep, and I have a screwed up shoulder because of an idiot AF doctor that was my moms doctor when she gave birth to me. One shoulder droped, the other did not. Also caused my mom problems because she asked for a c-section and he did not want to do it I guess. I ended up being almost 13 pouns when I was born, natural birth, almost no pain killers for her. If I saw him in person.......

93camaro_zzz

iTrader: (13)

I think medical getsautomatic 03. Its definetly not automatic O4. I have never heard of that. Just look up the base pay chart, and add in housing allowance, and you can find out about what you will be making.

2002TAWS6Pontiac

Yeah i work as a AF dental tech. its usually just 0-3 out of dental school unless you have previous experience in your own clinic. i seen some come in as 0-4's or even 0-5 pretty rare but some older guys decided to join. usually monday to friday job, your on call once every month or two. for a week at time. usually laid back in the dental field pretty nice people to work with most the time not all the time. as for the marriage it shouldn't be too hard compared to some jobs. (might have to spend some time apart few months at most or mabe none) it def will be harder than civilian life but everyone is different. its a decent life style no worrys like he said about malpractice or a huge loan to buy into a clinic or open one. as for law i have no clue i believe they come in as 0-3's ? can't really help you there. there is always that chance you could be seperated make sure you have what you want in writing before signing anything, as in you two as joint spouse at a base together. any dental specific questions just pm me.

JEB99TA

iTrader: (32)

Can't speak to the AF environment except that my dad was a pilot. A lot of great doctors and dentists in the military, though. Not speaking from experience, I believe I would do it through the military because of many reasons.

As was already pointed out, schooling is finished with nothing to pay back. Granted military personnel are susceptible to overseas deployments and combat tours. A lot of experiences you'll have that other people never see. In my 21-year career, I have done sooo much it makes peoples' head spin when I related to all I have done and all the places I have been.

It's good experience and a good life. The military family is a great family. My best treatment from a medical and from a dental standpoint has been from miltary physicians and dentists. They are VERY good at what they do.

Most of all, I would like to commend you for wanting to become a doctor. If we did not have people like you who want to help others by becoming a doctor, our society would be a really unpleasant one to live in. I think it's the self-satisfaction (not the money) which will make you a GREAT doctor. My hats off to you.

jay_99z

iTrader: (5)

Very true. It's a great place to learn if you're a doctor.....a shitty place to be if you're a patient. Had my share of great dental work when I was active.

StoleIt

iTrader: (3)

For a medical feild you would/should be going to COTS (Commissioned Officer Training School). You should be an 0-3 (Captain) off the top of my head as well. I'd talk to an ROTC recruiter or Officer recruiter. Be wary of enlisted recruiters...they have a tendency to bend the truth...

But your future would involve COTS/OTS at Maxwell AFB, AL. Nothing horrible, I was down there for four weeks for Feild Training, a little hot but beats the crap out of older bases like Elsworth or Tyndal (on the housing side).

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

The military - good for experience, not good for pay. You won't get paid what you are worth on the outside, but you really won't find a better opportunity to have as much responsibility as you do...if it holds true for me as an engineer in the Air Force, it'll probably be much the same in the Dental field. Just be prepared for them to deploy you...they don't mess with me too much because I can do more here than over there, but if I was in the medical field, I'd practically be living in the sand box.

02ss98C5

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for all the help!!!! We want to go in mainly for getting experience in the fields, plus we have always wanted to join the air force for that experience. Starting out in the dentistry world is very expensive, especially when you are fresh out of school so that would be good to go out with some experience. I am not so much worried about the pay just having both of us out of school working would help out a lot.

jester177

yup my doctors have also failed to notice a torn MCL they sent me to physical therapy for inflamation. now me being a pitcher i know what normal inflamation is and they refused to listen to me, untill after softball one day i told the med guys we were playing against that i couldnt feel my hand, they told their cmndr who was watching and i had an mri the next day down town. 2 surgeries later its still torn and the a/f is trying everything before t/j surgery. man i hate military docs. sorry for the rant.

02gixxersix

iTrader: (5)

I talked to my dentist about why he came in the Air Force seeing as how he went to Harvard, and he said it's because if you come in they will pay $50,000 of your student loan debt a year or something like that. You also get some good experience that will transfer to more money and a better position on the outside. I was considering going to dental school and doing the same thing.

Galen

iTrader: (3)

I have 18 years now in the USAF Dental corps...10.5 active and now over 7 reserves. I am currently the Dental Flight Superintendent for the 917th Medical Squadron. I got off active duty to finish my degree and then attend dental school. I plan on returning to active duty once I complete my schooling. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call at (318) 393-3959 and I will answer any questions you may have. If you feel like making a trip up to Shreveport, La, I will be happy to take ya'll on base and let you talk to some of the dentists on base to where you can get some no BS answers directly from the horses mouth.

Good Luck and may God bless!

Galen

jay_99z

iTrader: (5)

Just take some Motrin....you'll be fine! You'd think they held stock in that company.

MeentSS02

iTrader: (11)

Oh yes...good ol' Air Force Vitamin M. Sick? Have some motrin...knee hurting? Have some more motrin...broken leg? Have a band-aid and some motrin...

I have the giant bottle with the 800mg pills under my bathroom counter as I type this.

hawaiiboysz

iTrader: (4)

Dont do it. My good friend is a Dentist with his own practice in Kona, HI and makes bank! He actually was Army ROTC or something like that at one time. The way I se it if you were a Surgeon or whatever then Military wouldnt be that bad because of insurance on the outside and such. As a dentist you are better off outside with no one controlling your life.
As with marriage I have seen officers assigned to different bases all the time. That **** must be hard unless you are unfaithful.