Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Masters Degrees and Promotion for Physicians

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Expert: - 1/8/2012


Question
I haven't been able to find any information on the effect of Master's degrees on promotion for military physicians. One source suggested that only an MPH will move you closer to next rank, which seems difficult to believe when other degrees are obviously relevant to clinical practice. Some might be an M.S. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (huge overlap with MPH),  degrees in pharm or chem for anesthesiologists or biophysiological sciences for internal medicine practitioners.

Any idea where I can get a grip on this?

Thanks!

Answer
You can be promoted without a Master's Degree.  Education really doesn't have an effect on promotions, save the degree requirements for the position you're in.  It can be used subjectively to aid in position selection and during evaluations, but not quantitatively towards a promotion in most instances.  I'd contact other military physicians in order to gain a better insight.  

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Aaron Shifferly

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I am currently an active duty Army Captain in the Military Police Field. I have been enlisted (Military Intelligence) and attended The United States Military Academy at West Point. I can answer questions related to the Army, posting, jobs, lifestyle, workings... pretty much anything you can throw at me with the exception of very specific recruting or medical questions. I have no expertise in what it takes to get in the military other than the fact that I, myself, joined at one point in time.

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I have experience in both deployed and garrision environments as a Military Police Officer.

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Bachelor of Science in Arabic and French from United States Military Academy at West Point.

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