Medical Careers linked to aviation
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Medical Careers linked to aviation
Hi,
Can someone enlighten me as to what kind of jobs there are available that can combine the love of flying with being a medical career as a physician(excluding being a AME)? IS there such thing as a pilot-physician or something like that?
thanks for your inputs
Can someone enlighten me as to what kind of jobs there are available that can combine the love of flying with being a medical career as a physician(excluding being a AME)? IS there such thing as a pilot-physician or something like that?
thanks for your inputs
Join Date: Sep 1999
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A few years ago the RAF still had doctors who were sent on pilots courses to become what was termed "Flying docs". That was when the Institute of Aviation Medicine still existed.
It might be worth checking.
Try writing to Doctor Mike Bagshaw who I believe is still the BA Company doc. He did just that.
It might be worth checking.
Try writing to Doctor Mike Bagshaw who I believe is still the BA Company doc. He did just that.
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In the RAF we have Aviation specialist doctors who as the title suggests specialised in aviation medicine. There are sometimes a few trips in the CAM (Centre of Aviation Medicine) hawk available for these Docs but was under the impression it was only sometimes. They do get to go in the centrifuge though! 
PPRuNe Handmaiden
If you want to travel to Australia and see a totally different world of medicine contact the Royal Flying Doctor Service. You'll be based in the outback and do clinic runs as well as emergency call outs. The pilots do a bit of hands on assistance but their job is to fly the aircraft. The flight nurse and the doctor does the medical work.
redsnail's suggestion is a good one.
Around here, we have medevac helicopters that most often rush highway accident victims to shock trauma centers, but I believe they tend to be paramedics rather than physicians.
You might also consider transporting organs for transplants, although again, the doctor and a nurse tend to be passengers rather than pilots.
http://www.bigginhill.co.uk/medicalflight.htm
http://www.reference.com/search?q=medevac
Doctors Without Borders sometimes fly their volunteers where needed, but that isn't the main focus.
Around here, we have medevac helicopters that most often rush highway accident victims to shock trauma centers, but I believe they tend to be paramedics rather than physicians.
You might also consider transporting organs for transplants, although again, the doctor and a nurse tend to be passengers rather than pilots.
http://www.bigginhill.co.uk/medicalflight.htm
http://www.reference.com/search?q=medevac
Doctors Without Borders sometimes fly their volunteers where needed, but that isn't the main focus.
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The last thing a medivac flight nurse/paramedic wants in the pilot's seat is a doctor. They want somebody who can fly the machine and work the radios at the same time, and who isn't going to kill them.
They wouldn't want a doctor sitting in the back interfering with their patient care either
Best place for the doctor is in the ER/Casualty dept to sort the patient out who has been brought there alive as quickly as possible.
They wouldn't want a doctor sitting in the back interfering with their patient care either
Best place for the doctor is in the ER/Casualty dept to sort the patient out who has been brought there alive as quickly as possible.
Not sure what happened to the chap, but a few years ago when I was at Boscombe Down somebody got possibly the best flying Doctor job in the world.
As I recall, he'd graduated in medicine, but then decided that he really wanted to be a pilot. So, he joined the RAF and got his wings on Hawks. Then a particularly inspired poster sent him for the compulsory hold period before OCU to the RAF IAM medical flight at Boscombe Down.
So this chap was able to fly a Hawk, whilst conducting medical evaluations on people in the other cockpit. Possibly the world's first, last and only fast jet flying doctor. Last I heard of him (which was some years ago) he was stuck in the middle of a "tug of love" between the OCU who wanted him to go and convert onto Tornados, and the IAM who were desperately trying to hang onto the most useful asset they'd ever had - not sure what happened to him but with his skills, I'm sure he succeeded in it.
On a more pragmatic note - have you looked at ESA, the European Space Agency. They employ a number of space medicine specialists and at-least one of them has ended up as an Astronaut. This, of-course, assumes citizenship of a European country, but if you have North American citizenship I'm sure NASA do the same. Not sure about the rest of the world.
G
As I recall, he'd graduated in medicine, but then decided that he really wanted to be a pilot. So, he joined the RAF and got his wings on Hawks. Then a particularly inspired poster sent him for the compulsory hold period before OCU to the RAF IAM medical flight at Boscombe Down.
So this chap was able to fly a Hawk, whilst conducting medical evaluations on people in the other cockpit. Possibly the world's first, last and only fast jet flying doctor. Last I heard of him (which was some years ago) he was stuck in the middle of a "tug of love" between the OCU who wanted him to go and convert onto Tornados, and the IAM who were desperately trying to hang onto the most useful asset they'd ever had - not sure what happened to him but with his skills, I'm sure he succeeded in it.
On a more pragmatic note - have you looked at ESA, the European Space Agency. They employ a number of space medicine specialists and at-least one of them has ended up as an Astronaut. This, of-course, assumes citizenship of a European country, but if you have North American citizenship I'm sure NASA do the same. Not sure about the rest of the world.
G
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I applied to the RAF via ULAS many years ago, and got through the selection procedure to be told 'you can either be committed to medicine or a RAF pilot, not both'. I was also left under no illusions that to be given the choice was a huge privilege and I didn't know how lucky I was. So I thought about it and told them I'd pay for my own PPL thankyou very much, and they told me not to let the door hit me on my @rse on the way out.
So my experience is that doctors and RAF pilots don't mix.
So my experience is that doctors and RAF pilots don't mix.
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I can't think of a job combining both directly, but I have some examples:
If you interest is just the flying (like mine):
Flying Doctor (in Oz), Medical retrieval/repatriation, Pilot/FA(?) and work P/T doctoring;
More academic:
Travel medicine, RAF/RAAF etc.
Or get a job flying, and then do occasional shifts in a hospital.
Also Genghis, the lead singer of seminal Australian punk band Radio Birdman, Deniz Tek, joined USAF and flew jets after completing medical school - I can't think of any others.
And to finish, a little story:
I worked in ED last year with another doc who was an ex-QF FA, and a nurse who was ex-AN FA.
In one of the quieter moments we did the safety features demo, to much amusement from the rest of the shift.
If you interest is just the flying (like mine):
Flying Doctor (in Oz), Medical retrieval/repatriation, Pilot/FA(?) and work P/T doctoring;
More academic:
Travel medicine, RAF/RAAF etc.
Or get a job flying, and then do occasional shifts in a hospital.
Also Genghis, the lead singer of seminal Australian punk band Radio Birdman, Deniz Tek, joined USAF and flew jets after completing medical school - I can't think of any others.
And to finish, a little story:
I worked in ED last year with another doc who was an ex-QF FA, and a nurse who was ex-AN FA.
In one of the quieter moments we did the safety features demo, to much amusement from the rest of the shift.
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Ladies and Gentlemen
I am after information from RAF doctors about the Cranwell selection process for medical officers.
My nephew has applied for an RAF university sponsorship, studying medicine, and the following military medical career. His Cranwell date has been set for next month and, although I am ex Mil, much of the advice I can give him is a bit dated as my selection was in 1982!
I would be grateful if any of you that have been through the MO selection process recently could let me know the format, any particular medicine questions that are asked, is there still verbal reasoning?, hangar tests etc etc.
I am not trying to make this an easy ride for my nephew, I just want to ensure that he is as prepared as he possibly can be, the rest will be down to him!
Many Thanks in advance
ET
I am after information from RAF doctors about the Cranwell selection process for medical officers.
My nephew has applied for an RAF university sponsorship, studying medicine, and the following military medical career. His Cranwell date has been set for next month and, although I am ex Mil, much of the advice I can give him is a bit dated as my selection was in 1982!
I would be grateful if any of you that have been through the MO selection process recently could let me know the format, any particular medicine questions that are asked, is there still verbal reasoning?, hangar tests etc etc.
I am not trying to make this an easy ride for my nephew, I just want to ensure that he is as prepared as he possibly can be, the rest will be down to him!
Many Thanks in advance
ET
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hello once again ,
just to clarify i m not a UK resident, i m a singaporean now serving national service. Back to the topic, i have an intrest in both medicine and flying ( i just finished my A levels last month) so i m considering my options for the future. Recently i got a letter from the air force to go for some computerised selection to determine whether i am capable enough to be a military pilot. i ll see how it goes from there. In the meantime thanks for your replies
just to clarify i m not a UK resident, i m a singaporean now serving national service. Back to the topic, i have an intrest in both medicine and flying ( i just finished my A levels last month) so i m considering my options for the future. Recently i got a letter from the air force to go for some computerised selection to determine whether i am capable enough to be a military pilot. i ll see how it goes from there. In the meantime thanks for your replies
