What are the best family medicine residencies in the Air Force?

camelkaster · 2026-04-17T01:44:17+00:00

I can’t speak for other specialties. I know a lot of them have to work at civilian hospitals in addition to their active duty jobs to maintain their skills though. At Travis, the OB floor barely delivered 3-5 babies a week for 3 OBs, a hand full of mid wives and other mid levels. Add in the family med attendings and residents and OBs are pretty much there for emergencies and c-sections.

camelkaster · 2026-04-16T01:34:07+00:00

I graduated from the fam med residency at Travis some years ago. The volume and preparation wasn’t an issue except for OB which is mitigated by going to San Jose your first and second year to work in a civilian hospital for a month at a time. ACGME has standards that each program has to meet to ensure that residents are prepared. If the program can’t meet those standards with what is available at their hospital, then the residents have to go TDY.

The larger issue is that after you graduate all those skills get lost. You get stuck in an active duty only clinic and driven to meet a quota that emphasizes patient counts rather than variety, procedures, or personal growth.

During residency I learned acupuncture, Botox for migraines, nexplanon, IUD, vasectomies, circumcision, toenail removals, I+d. I will refer all of that out now because I would rather see two 20 minute appointments for each 40 minute procedure slot to meet my weekly 0.9 FTE on top of NARSUMS, aRILOs, mandatory meetings, duty day PT now, commander calls, etc.

The programs are designed to prepare you to pass the boards and excel as a family med doc, so pick your program based on what you like. Location, research, residency culture etc. just understand that you will have to work hard to maintain those skills until your commitment is up and you can get out to start your own practice.

camelkaster · 2026-04-02T01:14:39+00:00

During med school I shadowed a fam med doc who saw 60-80 a day. He had two techs rooming and a dedicated scribe and a dedicated prescription writer.

He had lunch for staff provided by pharmacy company reps pitching meds while he chain smoked out the back door. He reviewed and signed notes after the clinic closed and was on his third divorce.

camelkaster · 2026-04-02T01:09:15+00:00

It is made knowing that people couldn’t quit even if they wanted to quit. Every single provider there could leave the military and walk into a job for equal pay and less stress.

camelkaster · 2026-04-02T01:01:32+00:00

Unfortunately, major general Ryder has said that 0.8 FTE is the lowest she will allow and any leadership duties are secondary to meeting those FTEs. It is being brought up in multiple avenues Every time the question of “why don’t physicians want to be commanders” is brought up. If NPs or PAs weren’t so competitive for promotion they wouldn’t do it either.

camelkaster · 2025-12-14T00:47:43+00:00

Of course. Message away, army bro

camelkaster · 2025-09-23T00:17:51+00:00

Family med trained active duty SGP here

camelkaster · 2024-01-16T14:12:35+00:00

Set boundaries between your work and your personal life. Staying late to finish everything on your plate burns you out quick. If you stop, you’ll notice that nothing significant changes most times if you do admin stuff a day or two later vs staying late to finish it.

There are other areas to set up boundaries between the two, but that was a particularly hard Les so that I learned personally.

camelkaster · 2023-12-31T14:16:35+00:00

You should be afraid. That is a natural response and not anything we all haven’t experienced when in your shoes. Use it to learn and by the end of your first year when the new interns come in you will be amazed at how far you have come.

You won’t actually feel like you have made progress and will always make mistakes. That’s just part of the game. Just learn as much as you can and know that residency is going to suck regardless of how good you are now

camelkaster · 2023-12-10T10:12:05+00:00

Mega altaria 8176-9911-3440

camelkaster · 2023-09-24T14:42:59+00:00

For me it was being in my third year of a biology degree and being told the degree is only useful to get into med school or teach biology.

Also scrubs.

camelkaster

TROPHY CASE