Re: Joining the RAF
 

Each to their own I suppose Quedos. I served for 8 years before getting out in '94. Would I go back? If I was asked, yes, without hesitation. Not for "Queen and Country" but for the guys alongside you at any given time. It doesn't matter if you've only known them 5 minutes, the people on the front lines live, fight and die together and it gives you a bond that no civilian can ever understand.

Thulfi, go and serve. You have my respect for that alone.

Re: Joining the RAF
 

Ive gone back in, its not what it once was in all honestly, but then Ive been out for a while, why dont you have a look at what the mert guys do, you could go in as a reservist and get the experience and if you dont like it you can always go and do something else, btw the reserves do a lot that most civvies don't have a clue about so its a good route in, good luck anyway.

Re: Joining the RAF
 

thanks for the encouragement. I love this philosophy and would love to be a part of.

Just out of interest, what year med student are you?

Re: Joining the RAF
 

Dunno if this of any interest to you
http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafreserves/ro...eromedical.cfm

Re: Joining the RAF
 

Thanks stewie, hadn't come across that. I didn't actually quite realise how many alternative options there are.

I'm a final year mate.

Re: Joining the RAF
 

I'd go for the MERT team out in afghan as others have said on here as well.

Did 9 years in the RAF on chinooks, 4 afghan tours and 1 Iraq. They do a bloody good job out there, hard work but they come back better for it.

If you must call them something they're woka wokas :)

Re: Joining the RAF
 

I've just been discharged from hospital, having spent just over a week as an in-patient.

While in I had a metal plate inserted in my ankle to hold together a slightly broken bone, got 2 broken bones in the same ankle as a result of an injury on duty :plod: while making an arrest, but that's a story for another day.

I was seen by a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and while getting prepped for the op the junior doctor on the ward was insering canular into my arm etc. I got talking to him & he was wanting to get accepted onto the surgeons team so he could expand/develop/specialise etc but gave the same story as you have about XYZ numbers going for such few spaces.

While we were chatting one of the junior doctors from the surgeons team came in to do some stuff (sign consent forms etc) and joined the conversation.

He had joined the TA and had done a 6 month tour in Afghan, he said that in that 6 months he saw more than he ever did in the almost 2 years he spent in a busy A&E department and felt that it would've taken another 2 years to get the same experience levels.

He also felt fulfilled about helping our service personnel.

He recommended to the other doc to give it ago, he said that the exposure/experience alone put him in the top 10 out of the 30/40 applying for the 3 or spaces that were on offer, all he had to do was get some interview experience!!!!!!!

The military side of things might not be to your liking & as has already been said you could leave, or you could do the reservist/auxilliary/TA side of it and as your career progresses you could go back out at a higher level than before.

This would provide excellent & much needed medical support to OUR forces while helping your career progress at the same time.

I hope this helps.........................

Re: Joining the RAF
 

Thanks a lot grh, thats very informative. I too have heard that the experience you get from it is invaluable and cannont be compared with what you'd do domestically in the same period of time. A big problem with this generation of junior doctors is that they simply don't get to do or see enough operations or whatever like the old school docs used to have to, which makes it more difficult to be good. What's more is that there are too many doctors and too few specialist jobs (ie anything but GP).

It's impossible to say wether I would like the military side of things until im there and doing it, but its certainly attracting me towards it. I have looked into reservist stuffs since some orgers mentioned it, they tend to look for already established specialists/gps/etc whereas if you commit to them they'll train you up to become that specialist.

Re: Joining the RAF
 

As a serving member of Her Majesty's Royal Air Farce, not medical trade, I would definately recommend a career in the Armed Forces. As a medical officer you must be prepared to be able to issue on prescription on a regular basis ibuprofen and tubigrip as these are the most common items required to "make people better".

Joking aside, go for it and well done you for thinking about a decent career.

Just be aware that with all the cutbacks going on there may not be as many positions available. Why not go to your nearest Careers Information Office and ask them?

MERT is definately an eye opener and would allow you to gain a vast amount of experience in serious trauma situations.

Good luck and if you do get in within the next 2 years i am not ever going to call you "sir"!