Flight Surgeon Air Force| F-15 Eagle | Interview

[@modular182]

"It's not for everyone but it's definitely for me." LOL... This Doctor is a true Warrior. Awesome interview!

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Thank you - Lace is above average for sure

[@nancychace8619]

Interesting story. Would have loved something like this when I was younger, but I came up in a different time. Good wishes for her in her future endeavors - and the ones she can help.

[@Kajacot]

Hey I know her! She did my flight physical before my incentive ride in an F-15 a couple years back! Awesom person.

[@Snowboarder-ov2ss]

Tina, you're the best. Great interview.

[@rupvictoria3017]

i can totally relate to her after i graduated from high school four years ago and finished a lot of classes at my community college i was completely lost and i didn’t know what to do or where to go but now i found my true purpose as i’ve just recently i enlisted and got sworn into the Air Force Reserve and i’m finally shipping out to basic training this November! i will be going into the medical field and become a Medical Material Specialist! 👍🏽

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Congratulations! Enjoy BMT and let it mold ya. It was life changing for me (Drew speaking - that was 13 years ago) and you’ll have doors open that never existed before!

[@georgehasler142]

Tina as a ex hury crew chief the flight surgeons were great thank you for your service

[@jb6027]

Excellent explanations, Dr. Lance!

[@Cyge240sx]

this lady is so fuggin awesome. such a nerd I love it. the patriotism of her mother was super cool to.

[@seanluong6064]

Thanks for this extremely informative video! I am currently trying to decide between applying for AF HPSP and Navy HPSP, is it possible for me to get in contact with Dr. Nguyen for some more insight about her experiences? If not, I totally understand. Thanks!

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Absolutely! Please send me an email at [e-mail].

[@ftapon]

What did you learn from your research? Did you pick AF Or Army?

[@scotthoeft7274]

WOW THIS IS SO COOL...SHE IS A BEAST....KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK, GOD BLESS ALL

[@doktor3196]

FM doc here 3 yrs into the job. I just started my reserve application, also for Travis.

[@justfit71]

Thanks for sharing this interview. It was very informative

[@lucasbarcellos8356]

So cool. Is she fully qualified to do the air supriority missons on her own as well or to just fly the plane?

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

As a pilot, she's an observer and will fly to experience flight symptoms with AC (aircraft commander) oversight. While she won't fly solo, she is still aircrew and keeps the tip of the spear sharp. thanks for the awesome question.

[@FELiPES101]

So was Dr. Nguyen "active duty" and then went to the air guard or is she full-time active guard? I wasn't totally following her history since she mentioned being in Japan and England as well.

[@scotthoeft7274]

THE BEST STORY AT THE END!!!!!! FUTURE KING OF ENGLAND

[@AGBoost]

Extremely informative video. Thank you!

[@stephenchoi2154]

Hey uh I have a question on being a flight surgeon if you don't mind me asking a few question as this might be a career Im interested in pursuing as I'm thinking of getting the hpsp scholarship program. 1. Can any kind of medical degree can become a flight surgeon? 2. Can dental surgeon who has either dds ( doctor of dental surgery) or md/dds ( medicine doctor/ doctor of dental surgery) degree become a flight surgeon? 3. Can a flight surgeon specialize more on aviation and flying jet later on if he choose to do so ? 4. Can a doctor after finishing his medical residency in his college and apply to be a flight surgeons? These are things I really want to know and thanks for reading my comment and I hope to hear from you soon :)

[@dorapha8595]

I am blown away by this level of awesomeness.

[@thegringoscottproductions1699]

Very interesting interview Tina. I remember you telling me you were going to do med school way back in the day when we did the trip to Mexico together. The one that you almost drowned.(thank goodness that did not happen) I'm very proud of you. : ) very inspiring!!

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

she's craaaaazy

[@carycoller3140]

She's awesome and amazing 👏

[@things2watch922]

Can you do navy flight surgeon? I have so much questions but I’m not old enough to contact a recruiter

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

We will definitely look into that!

[@cheeseman7453]

Yes you can

[@JesseSevenSixTwo]

Do I have to learn how to eject out of a plane if I want to be a flight surgeon and what college should I join

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

You should look into DET 685 - the flying beavers. And yes - if you’re flying in a fighter - you’ll have a basic overview of the planes ejection capabilities (how to arm the seat, select single/dual, and ultimately pulling).

[@JesseSevenSixTwo]

@@TheirStoryVeterans Alright, thank you!

[@mediumoscar]

Great interview and great video. Lt Col Tina is an inspiration. I don't know if anyone can answer this but hopefully someone can. It was my understanding that an air force medical doctor either goes into a residency program or becomes a flight surgeon after their intern year and goes into a residency afterwards to pursue a different specialty if he/she so wishes. Can one also become a flight surgeon after finishing a different residency program and becoming board certified? Is this common?

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Yes. Its a position more than a "practice" that many types of specialties can apply for. I've known Rheumatologists and Oncologists who have been Flight Surgeons. Once a Flight Surgeon though, you move to a Family Practice position for that period of time.

[@mediumoscar]

@@TheirStoryVeterans Thank you for the clarification.

[@awfltdoc1]

Just a slight clarification, flight surgeons fill flight surgeon billets not family medicine billets. It’s true that flight surgeons come from all different specialties but before being allowed to be in a flight surgeon role the specialty consultant for your primary specialty would have to agree to allow you to do so. There is a significant shortage of flight surgeons and thus it’s not uncommon for a specialist to return to their specialty after serving as a flight surgeon for a while. Also to note there is a specialty known as an Aerospace Medicine Specialist who is a graduate of the residency in aerospace medicine who is board certification under the American Board is Preventive Medicine and the usually are the Chief flight surgeon on a base.

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Awesome clarification. Thank you.

[@armanioliver3588]

So, question. If I wanted to be a Cardiac surgeon at the VA in my city(Atlanta) could I also be a fighter pilot at the same time?

[@armanioliver3588]

But still live in Atlanta and travel down to the base.

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Send me your contact info and I’ll forward your contact info to Lace. She can fill in where I miss on the surgeon side. The answer to your question on the pilot side is yes. I flew and had reserve/guard pilots who were MD’s/anesthesiologists. It is based on unit openings or reserve slots- you’d interview at an associated unit. A lot of members travel long distances for reserve time and some for Guard. To fly, you’d qualify for UPT by taking the AFOQT. You’d interview based on scores from that and your TBAS/PCSM. All these are acronyms if you wanna fly - should look up and give you all the information you need. Email me below for more. I finished pilot training in 2016. [e-mail]

[@alex.h2935]

@@armanioliver3588 this is a super late reply, but if you never got an answer I'd be happy to give you one. The short and long of it is probably not. It's not impossible, but highly improbable. If you truly want to be a fighter pilot as well as physician you would need to become a pilot-physician which is entirely different from what the Lt. Col here does. It is also an extremely rare position to be available and be qualified for. She is a Flight surgeon and as such is not rated to fly the aircraft on her own. The second caveat of this is that a cardiothoracic surgeon is a "fighter pilot" in their own regard. The training is simply too long, too strenuous, and the surgeons themselves too rare, that it is highly unlikely that a subspecialist like that would be placed into a billet like this. It would be a "waste" of resources in the eyes of the Air Force. Lt. Col Tina is a family medicine physician and as such is perfectly suited to administer care in this setting. The other problem is that taking a position like this would cut into the time you could operate significantly if you were a surgeon. A deployment could potentially take you out of the OR for months at a time. Flight surgery is not something you're going to see true surgeons do very often because of the old adage, "if you don't use it, you lose it." When you're going to be cutting into people's chests you can't afford to be out of practice to go fly backseat.

[@Manbrown1]

What a star 🌟👌🏽

[@elitedaimond8232]

just curious...wouldnt this be secret info?

[@Koufalia4]

Smart lady

[@vegasbob0075]

Is she still in the Air Force Reserve ?

[@jimhightower5003]

Can you have astigmatism and be a flight surgeon? 20/80 right eye with astigmatism 20/100 left eye asking for a friend.

[@alex.h2935]

I'd Doubt it. You have to pass the same flight physical as the pilots. As they say though, there's a waiver for everything.

[@marwa133]

Can u leave military if you want? Or you can't because they paid for ur medical school?

[@TheirStoryVeterans]

Thats correct. Once you accept a scholarship or commission as an officer, there is standard commitments that you have to keep. Typically, it's a one-to-one - for every year of medical school is a year of Active Duty commitment. Different situations (Guard, Reserve, etc.) can happen however.

[@billman6364]

sure why not!

[@douglaslivingston5398]

seems like you rushed her before she could finish a sentence. Just butting in like you wanna hear yourself talk

[@elitedaimond8232]

She is braind and beautiful

[@GoodGameOKC1]

With an extremely annoying voice.