The Cost of Pursuing a Medical Career in the Military: A Tale of Five Specialties

Abstract

Choosing a military career substantially decreases the net present value of an educational investment for interventionalists, but it does so only modestly for primary care physicians. Further, a military career path markedly diminishes specialty-specific variation in the net present values of educational investment. Adopting a military structure for engaging medical students might help reverse the current trend of declining interest in primary care.

US Military Primary Care: Problems, Solutions, And Implications For Civilian Medicine

“…They have been exacerbated by growing income disparities between MHS and civilian-sector physicians-ranging from 15 percent less annual pay for MHS primary care physicians to more than 55 percent less for MHS subspecialists-which have led many MHS physicians to transition to the civilian sector. 20,21 To address potential physician shortages, especially in primary care, the MHS has increasingly relied on physician assistants and nurse practitioners to deliver primary care services. 20,22 Challenges In The Civilian Primary Care System…”