Abstract
Government medical service can be a very satisfying career and has some financial advantages. There are also, however, several distinct differences that individually, one will have to deal with when entering the military on active duty, becoming a Government Service (GS) employee, or working in the Veteran’s Administrative (VA) system. One has to work 20 years on active duty to earn retirement pay from the military, while one has to work 25 years to earn an annuity from GS or VA work. Salary in the military is based on rank, years of service, and specialty. Salary in the VA or GS is based on a grade system, location, performance, and need of specialty. Although ultimately it depends on the market of the specialty one practices, it does not make financial sense to leave active duty service after serving more than 10 years. There are other reasons though to consider when deciding on how long to stay in any government system.
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Lim, C.R.B., Zagorski, S. (2017). Military and Government Practice. In: Renton, D., Nau, P., Gee, D. (eds) The SAGES Manual Transitioning to Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51397-3_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51397-3_5
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