# Army wants medical recruits



## aluc (23 Jun 2006)

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1151013012601&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home



Army wants medical recruits
Attention, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and technicians — your country needs 300 of you
Jun. 23, 2006. 05:08 AM
TANYA TALAGA
HEALTH REPORTER

The Canadian Forces are hunting for nearly 300 medical personnel to serve at home, overseas and to staff the coalition hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and they're hoping lucrative signing bonuses will help bring in some new recruits.

The Forces desperately need to recruit about 43 doctors, 33 nurses, 20 pharmacists and a host of others, including medical and dental technicians.

Military officials are aware the recruitment drive is happening at the same time provinces are crying out for more doctors. While they'd prefer full-time staff, the Forces are keen to accept reservists and medical university students.

The Forces traditionally have had a chronic shortage of medical workers but it has become worse in recent years, said Commodore Margaret Kavanagh, commander of the Canadian Forces health services group.

"We need just about everything there is out there," she said. "We need physicians, pharmacists, medical technicians, X-ray lab, diagnostics, bio-medical equipment technicians. You name it, we need it."

Emergency room, mental health and critical-care nurses who can handle severely ill patients are desperately needed. "The specialist nurses are who we are really short of," Kavanagh said.

To help lure physicians, the Forces already offer signing bonuses to family doctors and specialists up to $225,000 for four years of service, although it is taxable. Now the military is considering extending bonuses to some other medical workers.

Next week, Canadian Medical Association officials will meet the chief of defence staff to discuss strategies on how to address the shortage, said association president Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai.

"With the prolongation of the mission in Afghanistan, plus humanitarian needs ... and the routine care of the troops required here in Canada, there's a need to recruit more doctors and nurses to the military or at least to work with the military," said Collins-Nakai.

The Canadian government has extended its troop commitment to Afghanistan until 2009.

Collins-Nakai isn't worried the Forces are competing with the rest of the country for doctors. "We want to support our colleagues," she said. "Oftentimes, they can work in both systems. The doctors in reserves work in the Canadian health system and when there is need they serve on deployment in the military."

The experiences health-care workers have on deployment are incredibly useful, she said. "Orthopedic surgeons, general surgeons, intensive care (doctors), those types of experiences are valuable to have," she said.

Kavanagh understands Canada needs more medical personnel. In Ontario, roughly one in 10 people is without a family doctor and a report released this week shows the number of family physicians accepting new patients is at an all-time low.

"It's a very competitive market out there," said Kavanagh. "We are competing with Canada's health-care system for the same people."

To make themselves a more attractive employer, the Forces have offered lucrative signing bonuses for the past few years. Doctors who sign up for four years of service receive $225,000, and those who sign up for two years can get $80,000 with the option of getting another $100,000 if they decide to sign up for two more.

"Civilian" physicians who enter into the military with four years of general-duty experience can make $137,097 and as much as $226,425 if they make it to the rank of colonel. The starting salary for specialists is $186,852 for a major and increases annually according to experience and rank up to $258,312 for a colonel.

"We are very interested in the mid-career specialists who may have done 20 years of family practice and are looking for a change," Kavanagh said. "We've attracted quite a few of those in recent years."

At the moment, dentists need not apply. "We're okay for dentists," she said. But dental hygienists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons are in demand.

To help attract pharmacists and technicians capable of maintaining and operating high-tech diagnostic tools, Kavanagh said the military is working on signing bonuses for them as well.

"We are short 50 per cent of the pharmacists we need. The role of pharmacists is not just what you see happening in Shoppers Drug Mart. They manage our equipment. They co-ordinate all our supplies in and out of theatre. They handle some of our other medications and vaccinations we use to protect our soldiers that you might not use in the civilian environment."

While full-time medical staff is needed , Kavanagh said the military can manage with part-time personnel and reservists.

To attract medical students, they'll pay for tuition and books as well as a salary of around $45,000 in return for four years of service. When they graduate, students will get a signing bonus of $40,000 to $80,000.

Men and women who can fix high-tech medical equipment are also in need. The Kandahar hospital has a 16-slice CT scanner and dust is an issue in Afghanistan. "The more high-tech you get, difficult environments can ruin equipment," Kavanagh said.

The Forces have put out recruitment ads in medical journals, attended job fairs and are trying to get more aggressive in their recruitment drive.

"We need to reach out to people and say we are here and we are an option," she said.


----------



## big bad john (23 Jun 2006)

Hot Lips where are you?


----------



## 17thRecceSgt (23 Jun 2006)

She is reading this article and extremely PISSED.

I told her she should email the good Commodore herself.  

Well, this artcile will definitely be printed off and in her hand when she goes back to the CFRC Monday.  At this point, you could almost sue them for false advertisement!  Talked about the left hand not knowing what the right is doing!


----------



## Hot Lips (23 Jun 2006)

I'm here and I don't know whether to laugh or cry...a couple of my NO friends told me the same thing Tuesday and this comes out after I get "The Call" that they don't need we experienced nurses...just 22 ROTPs

Someone just slap me...it won't hurt I'm sure...I'm too numb

HL


----------



## Eagle_Eye_View (23 Jun 2006)

Wow and they told you the CF doesn't need nurses? brutal... :
I don't know you history but you must be already qualify nurse aren't you? 
cheers


----------



## MommyMedic (23 Jun 2006)

HotLips,

I don'y know if you saw my posts about my sit in the Are We or Aren't We thread, but believe me, I hear your utter frustration loud and clear. From reading some of your posts I believe you have a lot of military and medical knowledge to offer. I currently am banging my head off the wall that CF admin ineptitude has thrown up in front of me. To be told that your skills are not needed, meanwhile everytime you turn around all you hear is that the CF needs civilian practitioners, is such a slap in the face. I have been screaming into the wind for over a year and a half now, and am finally making marginal progress, due solely to having someone in my corner who knows me and my qualifications and is willing to speak up on my behalf. I view the Army and me as having a dysfunctional relationship; it's like an abusive relationship I don't have the God-given sense to walk away from. As I have a CoC to go through right now I'll keep dancing when they pull the strings... But the second my latest attempt at having my qualifications recognised in the Reserves falls through, it will be a thirty day pin-pull, with memos as far up the food chain as I can send'em, detailing how for almost two years the CF has utterly wasted my time and theirs. Remember, you're not doing this for Them, you know the troops do need you, and the medical staff needs good NO's, so I hope you keep up the fight. _Militi Succurimus_


----------



## kincanucks (23 Jun 2006)

I have learned to read between the lines with regards to articles on recruiting and I recommend that all pay particular attention to words like: 

_While they'd prefer full-time staff, the Forces are keen to accept reservists 
Emergency room, mental health and critical-care nurses who can handle severely ill patients are desperately needed
or at least to work with the military
Oftentimes, they can work in both systems. The doctors in reserves work in the Canadian health system and when there is need they serve on deployment in the military."
The experiences health-care workers have on deployment are incredibly useful, she said. "Orthopedic surgeons, general surgeons, intensive care (doctors), those types of experiences are valuable to have," she said.
"Civilian" physicians who enter into the military with four years of general-duty experience can make $137,097 
"We are very interested in the mid-career specialists who may have done 20 years of family practice and are looking for a change," 
While full-time medical staff is needed , Kavanagh said the military can manage with part-time personnel and reservists._

So I caution you that this announcement, while it is good news, does not necessarily equate to increasing recruiting numbers for MOs or NOs but more likely to the increased employment of medical professionals on a part-time basis through systems such as the Med PRL.


----------



## Kirkhill (23 Jun 2006)

> While they'd prefer full-time staff,



Looks pretty clear to me....


----------



## 17thRecceSgt (23 Jun 2006)

_The Canadian Forces are hunting for nearly 300 medical personnel to serve at home, *overseas and to staff the coalition hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan*, and they're hoping lucrative *signing bonuses * will help bring in some new recruits.

The Forces *desperately need to recruit * about 43 doctors, *33 nurses*, 20 pharmacists and a host of others, including medical and dental technicians._

I am not sure how to read between those lines, but I do hear/see what you are saying KinCanuuks.


----------



## Armymedic (24 Jun 2006)

The medical services (CFMG) are short. Fact.
CFMG  still requires positions in BOTC and BMQ course. The CF determines what percentage of positions of each course CFMG gets.
Two Doctors, one NO, one Pharmacist, and one Dentist, equal 5 posns for CFMG on a particular serial....that is alot when you looking at a whole.

CFMSS only runs one or two BMOC and BNOC courses a yr because only a a dozen or so a yr can be accepted theu the basic training system. Its not that there isn't a need, we just can't get them thru the training fast enough. If fact, my former MO had to do his BOTC 3 yrs after his enrollment, after an ISAF and DART tour, and before he was promoted to Maj.

It is a systemic problem.


----------



## Bluestarmom (24 Jun 2006)

My "handle"  Bluestarmom says it all.  After a stint in the Cdn Forces (13 Med Coy Regina) while at University our daughter who had trained as a Surgical Tech. joined the US Army (as a Canadian).  Did Basic Training (Cdn training and service was not acknowledged.
Upon completing Basic she was deployed immediately to the 67th CSH in Europe.is now a Spc5.  Reg. Force.
Could not Canada use the same method to prepare our personnel?
Just a question.
BTW:  Blue Star Mom is  a mother with a child serving in an active war zone.,
From where I sit right now....it's all the same war!
Thanks for the forum.
BSM


----------



## ark (24 Jun 2006)

Hot Lips said:
			
		

> I'm here and I don't know whether to laugh or cry...a couple of my NO friends told me the same thing Tuesday and this comes out after I get "The Call" that they don't need we experienced nurses...just 22 ROTPs
> 
> Someone just slap me...it won't hurt I'm sure...I'm too numb
> 
> HL



http://www.ombudsman.forces.gc.ca/mandate/main_e.asp

Call the Ombudsman, maybe he can verify how badly the forces really need DEO NOs. You will do a service not only to you but also other candidates in your position.


----------



## 17thRecceSgt (24 Jun 2006)

Uh oh, someone used the "O" word


----------



## nsmedicman (22 Jul 2006)

Although I am not nearly in the same predicament as Hot Lips (not by a long shot), a can relate to the frustration of feeling that you have a lot to offer the CF, and it seems like you get slapped in the face around every turn. But you still come back for more.

In 2000, I decided that I wanted to return to the local Medical Company/Field Ambulance after being away for 10 years (1988-1990). After jumping through hoops for almost a year, they told me that I would have to repeat BMQ. Not a big deal, I thought, especially since I was away for ten years. I was working as a full-time paramedic (13 years), and a part-time instructor and field preceptor. A weekend BMQ was offered in the local area over seven weekends. So I switched shifts and used vacation time to make it happen, sometimes working two weeks straight (my boss at the time was not very giving with time off). All the while I was being told that the CF would recognize my civi qualifications, and I would be offered equivalency once I completed BMQ. Then after two years of being told different stories by different people, I transferred to a different area of the province through my civi employment. After trying to transfer to another unit and becoming frustrated with that, I decided to transfer to the Sup Res, until I figured things out with my new civi position.

I was told at that time that I would be able to transfer to the local infantry unit and still work as a MED A/Tech, being attached from the other Fd Amb in the province. After jumping through more hoops, and being told different stories by different people, I was then told that the infantry unit only wants infanteers. Then I tried to transfer to the Fd Amb directly (which is almost 2 hours away). I was willing to travel at my own expense. I was then told that I lived too far away, and it wasn't worth it for them.

I have now discovered the CFHS PRL, and I am starting the process to enter that. I guess in a year, I'll be just as frustrated and PO'd as Hot Lips. It really frustrates me when one one hand, your being told that there is a recruiting crisis, yet at the same time, you feel unwanted.

Just my ranting.......*sigh*....I feel much better now.


----------



## 17thRecceSgt (22 Jul 2006)

Mud Recce Man said:
			
		

> She is reading this article and extremely PISSED.
> 
> I told her she should email the good Commodore herself.
> 
> Well, this artcile will definitely be printed off and in her hand when she goes back to the CFRC Monday.  At this point, you could almost sue them for false advertisement!  Talked about the left hand not knowing what the right is doing!



Well, its sorta weird to be sitting here almost a month to the day later, watching HLs go thru (more) stuff in an effort (like I have never seen before) to "thin-out" her D HG & E (what she can't travel with is going or gone    ) and be thinking "wow, a month from tomorrow is her travel day 1 of 3".  Shite.  What a month can don to change your life.

Sobering thought too, to decide to jump online and check the news to see whats up today and first thing, see that 2 more of our soldiers have fallen to the cowards in cars with bombs.

I hope all of ya's out there waiting, trying to get in to the CF, whether Reg or Reserve, hold on.


----------

