Careers

Career Description

Critical care physicians in the Air Force do the same things their civilian counterparts do. Of course there are some differences. For instance, Air Force Critical Care Physicians can work out of a permanent ground facility, an emergency facility erected after a natural disaster or at 30,000 feet as part of a Critical Care Air Transport Team working in a flying intensive care unit. At the end of the day, though, the mission is always to save the patient's life, no matter where they happen to be.

Career Tasks

• Examine, diagnose and treat by surgical and nonsurgical means diseases and injuries typical for critical care units while also managing critical care activities
• Provide care in a ground facility or during flight as the leader of a Critical Care Air Transport Team
• Prepare and review case histories and obtain data through interviews, test results and examination findings to prescribe treatment in coordination with other specialists from a variety of federal organizations
• Treat patients suffering from surgical shock, postoperative hemorrhages, respiratory failure and other complications. Complex trauma, exotic and medically challenging diagnoses are not uncommon.

Relevant Interests & Skills

You might like this career if you have interests in these areas:

• Health and Medicine
• Natural Science
• Business Operations and Administration
• Emergency Management and Response

Becoming a Direct Commission Officer

To ease your transition into the Air Force, you'll enter a five-week training regimen designed to educate you on the ways of both the military and military healthcare. You'll participate in physical conditioning five days a week, leadership training and classroom studies.