Medical Officer Training Plan (MOTP) [MERGED]

[amyliak]

Hi, just a couple of questions,

I have been accepted into the communications reserves as a Comm. Res. Op. and will be going for BMQ/SQ this summer. My question is: Does anyone (MOTP) know if I have bumped myself into a higher bracket of eligability for Med School as a serving memeber of the Forces. What I mean to say are persons current members of the Forces given preferred application status such as First Nations or Francaphones outside of Quebec.

Any insight would be most appretiated.

I am highly competitive as things currently stand but each little bit helps.

Cheers.

 

[Donut]

Hi, just a couple of questions,

.... My question is: Does anyone (MOTP) know if I have bumped myself into a higher bracket of eligability for Med School as a serving memeber of the Forces. What I mean to say are persons current members of the Forces given preferred application status such as First Nations or Francaphones outside of Quebec.

....

Not in the slightest.  Here's some detail of some of the tng plans:

MOTP:  Get into med school, apply in 2nd year, sign a contract for the duration of your tng, a Family/ Emerg residency and be a Reg F MO for a bunch of years.

MMTP: Be a serving member (Reg or Res), meet enrollment criteria, compete with other serving members for CF sponsored positions, do med school, residency, and be a reg f MO for a bunch of years.

I suspect if you poke around the recruiting or Health Services boards this has all be discussed, so I'll let you dig for the rest of it.

DF

 

[Mapper]

Here is the CF Health recruiting page: http://www.forces.gc.ca/health/physician/engraph/home_e.asp?Lev1=3&Lev2=9

There are some med schools in Canada that have some seats reserved for military members.  These seats are left empty if there are no military applicants to fill them.  The university of Ottawa has an indepth document outlining its admission policy. (http://www.medecine.uottawa.ca/admission/eng/AdmissionPolicy.html).  Dalhousis also has some military seats.  There are a few more schools that do as well, I am just not sure of them at the moment. 

As well as applying to Med school (done in Sept/Oct for the following year) you also have to apply through the MOTP/MMTP program (the msg comes out in Jan of each year) and get selected by them as well.  Once the military has selected you, your name is forwarded to the university med school.

Hope that helps.  The two links above are great and contain lots of info.

 

[amyliak]

Thanks Mapper,

U of O is one of my top choices (doing my undergrad there now) and have read the document though the med school applications people were a bit fuzzy on how this process worked. I'll book another appointment with them and see if we can clarify the point.

I'll start digging around to see who has reserved military seats at other schools.

As far as MOTP is concerned I was originally informed that I would make the application after I was accepted to med school and MOTP would begin my second year. However, I have heard some rumours that the CF is intending to change this policy and allow 1st year students to enroll the summer before they start med school. Spoke with the woman who administrates the MOTP (can't recall her name) and she stated that my application into MOTP was guarenteed barring any disasters in the next year if my med school applications are successful.

Thanks again, Cheers.

 

[Gwen]

Hi,

I am currently undergoing MOTP selection process. I was told to expect offer of enrollment soon. I have read up on the MOTP as much as I could on the DND websites, but it never talks about the nitty gritty details of HOW IT EXACTLY works onces enrolled. I was hoping to find other MOTP persons who have had some personal experience with this and can help me out by answering some of the questions I have.

1) How does the military pay for my expenses? Do I pay first, then they reimburse? Or they pay for everything first hand?

2) In terms of instruments and texts needed for education, does Military pay for the cheapest available, or do they pay for the most appropriate equipment and texts needed for the task?

3) Exactly how much can I expect to net from a gross 44,000$ salary?

4) Do they really leave you alone for the first 4 years? Can I participate in things like Neimegen marches or exercises?

5) What is the order of my required training after 1st year med school? In what order do they come in? Is it mandatory that I do it at the end of first year?

6) what happens after 1st summer? Is there training in subsequent summers, or do I have to shadow a physician in the CF?

7) I have been in the naval reserves for 5 years, but I was wondering what is it like for a female in CF medical services? Any different?

8) Tell me more about the MOTP life which I may not have asked!!!

Thanks so much for taking time to answer these!

 

[kincanucks]

Call your CFRC/D and ask for the contact number of the person responsible for attracting doctors and medical students and that person will be able to answer your questions. The experiences of others don't necessarily equate to what you may experience.

 

[dapaterson]

You've probably read it already, but there's a pamphlet at:

http://64.254.158.112/pdf/MOTP_en.pdf

As for pay: Too many variables can affect your pay, including marital status and provice of residence.  In addition, if you receive a lump-sum payment (ie enrolment bonus) it may dramatically skew your take-home pay in the year where it is received - future payments in that taxation year will be reduced as your year-to-date taxable income will be elevated.  It may be worthwhile to consult with a good financial planner to deal with any such payments and minimize your tax liability at the end of the year.

Review the CBIs on vested rights to pay on component transfers.  (CBI 209.211(9.1), to be precise).  Dpeending on your current pay scale in the Reserve Force, you may be entiteld to a slightly higher pay rate on entry into the Regular Force.  Given the uniqueness of the military medical world, I'm not sure whether there may be a difference.

And congratulations on your entry to medical school!

 

[Gwen]

Hi Thanks for the above info, but I wouldn't have come here asking for answers which can be easily answered by reading online brochures. The above questions were posed to different people and I haven't really found out any details. i was hoping some one with first hand expereince can tell exactly how it is. It is very intimidating to talk to a Colonel or a Commander and asking what seems like such stupid questions, especially when they are on cell phones and confusing me with another MOTP applicant. I definitely understand the experiences in MOTP is individualized, however it won't be bad to get somewhat of an idea how exactly MOTP is administered especially in a province where military presence is not very prevalent. It's just like a new recruit asking corporals in his unit what to expect for basic.

So please keep the answers coming, especially with regards to exactly how the actual MOTP is administered.

thanks again for taking your time to remind me of how my pay scales and pensions might work out. As you may know pension for reservists is a relatively new thing, so I have to figure out how my time served may add to my pension. As to the pay scale as a LS, it is actually lower than what I would be getting as a first year med student in military...so no game there!

 

[Meredith]

I am going to try and revive this thread, as I am considering the MOTP program.

The original poster was asking about how the MOTP is administered. I am more curious about the work life of a medical officer. My biggest fear about signing up to this program is that I will not see enough "sick" patients, and therefore might lose some of my skills. (This fear comes from hearing from a Navy physician that they see mostly young, healthy males). Can anyone comment on this?

Thank you!

 

[kincanucks]

I am going to try and revive this thread, as I am considering the MOTP program.

The original poster was asking about how the MOTP is administered. I am more curious about the work life of a medical officer. My biggest fear about signing up to this program is that I will not see enough "sick" patients, and therefore might lose some of my skills. (This fear comes from hearing from a Navy physician that they see mostly young, healthy males). Can anyone comment on this?

Thank you!

Well I will comment on the fact that here in Gagetown we don't have enough fracking doctors to see people for physical health exams and since when is being a doctor looking after "sick" patients" only?  Perhaps you should first look at what being a doctor is before considering MOTP or any other medical training.  Especially the preventative medicine part.

Call your CFRC/D and ask for the contact number of the person responsible for attracting doctors and medical students and that person will be able to answer your questions and they will put you in contact with a serving military doctor.

 

[Cansky]

I am going to try and revive this thread, as I am considering the MOTP program.

The original poster was asking about how the MOTP is administered. I am more curious about the work life of a medical officer. My biggest fear about signing up to this program is that I will not see enough "sick" patients, and therefore might lose some of my skills. (This fear comes from hearing from a Navy physician that they see mostly young, healthy males). Can anyone comment on this?

Thank you!

Meredith, the population base of the military is 18ish to 50ish.  So yes you will see mostly health young soldiers.  Most military doctors work in local ER's in the area they are posted to.  You also have to so many hours of MCSP (maintenence of compentency skills) every month.  Keeping up your skills is really going to depend on you and how proactive you want to be in keeping those skills up.  Also a Doctor in the military has to be more than a doctor ( I have limited experience with the civilian side of medicine) you'll be expected to mentor junior medical technicians and Physician assistants. 

 

[Meredith]

Kincanucks, I realize that being a doctor involves more than taking care of sick patients. My fear was having a disproportionate number of healthy patients, which has been communicated to me (by someone in the forces) as potentially leading to a loss of skill. Certainly, no one wants everyone to be sick, and a physician is supposed to promote health, but I don't think you can deny that you need to encounter some level of illness in order to know how to deal with it.

I have indeed been in contact with a medical recruiter, but my military husband has explained to me that only taking a recruiter's word may not give you the entire picture, and it is a good idea to try and get some different perspectives. As Gwen said earlier, not all information can be found in brochure. As for suggesting I research what being a doctor means... I thought I had a pretty good understanding that physicians are expected to deal with both healthy and sick patients, emergencies and maintenance and prevention. Your comment is kind of aggressive / defensive for what I think is a legitimate question.

Kirsten Luomala, thank you for explaining some of the opportunities. This is the type of information I am looking for. Very helpful!

 

[motto]

hi meredith,
i disagree with one of the replies you received...i finished family medicine residency via the MOTP and, although the plan is excellent and i have no regrets, i try to do at least 2 shifts weekly in a local ER to keep skills of medicine alive.  most physicians i know thrive on finding a diagnosis, being mentally challenged by a patient's presentation...most of us like the bloody/messy stuff and procedures.  we like to be able to make sick patients healthy again.  of course, there is a need for preventation, but we didn't become physicians to do preventative work.  for that, we could have become educators.  prevention is a very minimal part of our job, because when patients come to see us in a civilian practice, they are coming in with a concern or acute illness.  whereas in the military, there are more routine, mandatory, physical exams; sports injuries; some trauma.  however, there is still much illness seen in the CF.  patients 18 - 59 can present with a variety of illness...many interesting diagnoses present during those years. 
also, civilian physicians that go directly into urban walk-in clinics can also lose their skills...it all depends on the type of person you are and the type of physician you want to be.
best of luck,

 

[HartAttack]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently a first year student at an Ontario university studying Biomedical Science. I've long aspired to be a family physician with an interest in emergency medicine, lately I have been very interested in the Medical Officer Training Program. However that option is obviously a few years off and I'm also very interested in serving with the reserves while still in my undergrad.

I've called and emailed 25 Field Ambulance in Toronto but I'm just not getting any calls back so I figured I'd ask here before I went crazy with trying to get in contact with them.

My question is whether Health Services Reserve units are only for civilian trained and employed healthcare professionals, or whether someone like myself with a strong interest in medicine (but no civilian training) could join a health services reserve unit.

I have an armoured reserve unit much closer to me but I am deffinitely willing to make the drive if it means I can start gaining some experience and comfort in the health services.

Hopefully someone much older and wiser than myself can help out! 

Thanks

 

[Armymedic]

I will start by saying any experience military experience is better than none, especially once you get into medical school, where you will not have time to do much in the reserves. It shouldn't matter if you are an officer or enlisted, either experience will be advantageous. Specifically because you asked; as a former armour crewman, now medic -> PA, I can state with confidence that my time as armoured was not wasted once I became medical.

The MOTP is easier to get into once you are accepted to a medical program.

 

[medicineman]

The MOTP is easier to get into once you are accepted to a medical program.

Unless things have changed in the last little while, you usually need to have completed first year medicine to enroll in it, since that's where most people are lost.

To add to what RP said, you'll be a bit ahead of the power curve if you've got some experience going into it - nothing wore for a brand new baby MO to be parachuted into a batallion or regimental UMS with ZERO military experience - it's the army equivalent of getting fed to the wolves.  I'd actually suggest going the armoured route - it's something different for one thing, will broaden your military experience some and will give you some perspective of what the people you'd eventually be supporting have to go through day to day.  Being an MO is essentially occupational medicine with a family medicine slant to it, so the more forearmed you are, the better off your patients will be.  Also, you'll have some military background so won't fall into the trap of someone leading you astray about stuff when you get to a unit.

:2c:

Cheers, and good luck.

MM

 

[chrisf]

Med school is tough to get into... if you're working part time to pay for school now, consider the reserves not so much to gain military experience, but instead as an employer who will give you a very flexible (and decent paying) part time job while you're going to school... the experience is a bonus though...

If you're not working part time, and don't need the extra cash, and this is just my thoughts on it, don't worry about "gaining experience with the military" that can come later, worry about your marks and getting into med school. Then apply for MOTP. Good marks are probably more important on the application then two years in a mo'litia unit.

(That's said as someone who's got 6 and 1/2 years in post secondary, paying for it with my mo'litia pay-cheques. If you've got to work, the reserves is the way to go, if you don't have to work, concentrate on school! Then again, I'll graduate shortly with no student loans, and money in the bank...)

 

[HartAttack]

Thanks Everyone,

I do see how getting the experience from an armoured unit is important.
The only reason I was hoping to get into a field ambulance is so that I could knock off some "medical experience" to add to the the old resume rather than trying to do the reserves AND gain experience volunteering at a hospital.

I already have my university paid for (my dad is an admin at the school) so I don't necessarily need the money, but it certainly would be nice  :nod:

Marks will always come first but I am champing at the bit a bit to join what I know will be a great crew of people.

Thanks again for the opinions!

 

[md2b]

Hi;

I'm a previous reservist medic-turned-MOTP. You can PM me if you like. The medic experience is awesome--go NCM if you want hands on pt care. I found it a great asset when I applied to medical school. And it's a relevant line of work you're interested in.... I doubt I would make a very good infanteer lol

But remember: MOTP enrollment has dropped significantly recently: from ~40 --> ~26 -->3 or 4 this past year. The signing bonuses are gone and the competition is up.

good luck : )

 

[Tuna]

I have some questions that I couldn't find answers to on this site, or the forces site, I have talked to 2 recruiters via e-mail and they contradicted each other on some of the questions, so to simplify this, I'm going to order these questions via career progression, and if you can answer any or all of them that would be great, thank you.

- MOTP: does it actually exist? one recruiter said yes, the other said that I have to be a practicing doctor before signing the papers to apply? when does one do the training? before med school or during summers? if the latter what happens if I attend a school such as the University of Calgary that skips summer in order to finish the program in 3 years?

-Signing bonus: if I sign on as an already practicing doctor I get a bonus for signing on, am I correct? is it tax free?

-Army,Navy, Air force: according to the recruiter, the top doctors get their first choice of branch, is this true? is it more than just the top of the class that gets their choice? what are the main differences between branches, is it just the uniform and the deployments? I am assuming that a seaman is more prone to certain diseases than an infantryman and vice versa

-Rank progression: the recruiter told me that a medical officer will probably make major and be able to apply for a specialization after 4 years of service, is this accurate? what are the specializations available? (from my knowledge they are emergency, aviation, submarine, tropical, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, psychiatry, and anesthesia any more?) how does command and rank structure work among medical officers obviously differently from other officers, does one take on a more supervisory role if they do not choose to specialize? one must compete for specializations with their peers, how fierce is the competition on say, anesthesiology?

I am sorry if some of these questions have been asked before, i am just somewhat confused with all of the information given and not given to me