Overseas Medic positions

[flight-lp]

By prev med, are both of you talking about the actual definition of preventative medicine, in the military context (sanitation, vector control, water quality, communicable disease, etc...)? Or are you referring simply to non-EMS clinical medicine?

They do the standard occ. med stuff like we do here, but they do work with military infectious disease for communicable disease reduction and control. I'm not sure about vector and water purification though. You have sparked my curiousity. I'll find out for you.

BTW - I know of a certain location out west that still has an open position........... 8)

Not to mention a few where I am at! C'mon back!

[Dustdevil]

My clinic is still empty? Dang! What a waste. They keep extending the closure date on that camp, but they're giving up camps in Anbar right and left now. I opened that thing, so I'd sure like to be the one to close it. I don't think it's in the cards for me though.

[flight-lp]

There are still about 20 Medics out in Anbar. No talk lately of it changing either. Granted the locals are slowly taking over the province, but I have a feeling we will be the last out of there. Word on the street is that we will still be out there for "IV" when it starts. But whats the companies motto: subject to immediate change!

Other areas are actually growing. Several new sites have popped up or expanded. I know my area is short 5 medics. But no b!tch!ng here, thats more money going in my pocket.......................................

[Dustdevil]

I've got a standing offer, from my time at the palace in Ramadi, to join the Iraqi Army as a medical officer. The pay for an Iraqi Army major isn't great, but the cost of living is low, and I get an AK-47!

[jsadin]

Dust, come on back brother. I'll buy you your very own Kalashnikov to play with in TX.

[Lucky~13]

From what I have seen and experienced, many of the "overseas" positions require the provider to work in a very independent role with little supervision and guidance. No, I am not talking about running a code and pushing your protocol medications. I am talking about caring for patients with complaints that require care beyond IV, O2, Monitor, Symptom Relief, and Transport.

You need to have a good understanding of family medicine, ambulatory care, internal medicine, and preventative medicine. I just had a guy with pneumonia. Or what I suspect is pneumonia based on the history, vital signs, and physical examination. This guy will not see a doctor for two days. I had to decide what X-ray he will receive tomorrow, what antibiotic to load him with tonight, what medications to send him home on, and I had to decide that he was stable enough to go home and have follow up on an outpatient basis. I also had to ensure he was well educated and able to follow the proposed plan of care. While it may seem mundane, these are very big decisions and if something goes wrong, I am totally responsible.

Take care,

chbare.

Yeash, tougher then I thought!

Generally speaking, who does one work for over there?

[Dustdevil]

There are quite a few potential employers in Iraq and Afghanistan. KBR is the biggest right now, but there are plenty of others in both clinical and EMS type positions. Up until this year, there really were no EMS type positions, only clinical positions that sometime happened to run an ambulance. But even the EMS jobs there now will find you sitting on your arse for weeks at a time without a run. And the runs you get are lame, since most of your patients are young soldiers in good health who just got dehydrated or sprained an ankle. It's definitely not the big war excitement that people seem to think. At least, not anymore. Two years ago it was Hell.

As to your question, it was answered in the first reply to this thread. Check out that link if you're interested.

[john51071]

It's definitely not the big war excitement that people seem to think. At least, not anymore. Two years ago it was Hell.

Having spent '04 and '05 there, I can vouch for that. Even then, it was mostly the same thing--respiratory, heat, dehydration, whiners, and the occasional ortho, interspersed with the rare major traumas or medical cases.

[frogman]

If anybody wants to come to Ireland as a Paramedic or Advanced Paramedic we certanly need more level headed trauma junkies God knows the world is full of them so log on to

www.phecc.ie

www.nats.ie

these web sites should give you the information you will need.

or just email me or post a reply

what ever floats your boat