Joel Schofer's Career Planning Podcast

Recently I advertised the USUHS Commandant position. A reader asked: Any thoughts on whether you think this is a position that would make an O5 competitive for O6? This is a common issue. A position is advertised, but you want to know if it will help get your promoted to O5 or O6 if you […]

If you are particularly interested in this post, I’m sorry. You or someone you care about probably failed to promote. In reality, nowadays it is normal and expected to fail to promote to O5 and O6, so you have company. Here are my suggestions for those that fail to promote. First, try to figure out […]

Whenever a promotion board starts, the members are provided two items to guide them as they decide who to promote, the board precept and the convening order. These documents are available on-line and should be used to figure out how to promote and write your fitrep.   The Board Precept The precept is released in […]

O5 fitreps are due soon, so it is time for me to write my fitrep. How do I do it? Here are the steps I go through: I get the Surgeon General’s priorities and the convening order for last year’s O6 board. (If you were an O4, you’d want the O5 convening order. If you […]

The standard advice has always gone something like this: “If you are above zone, you need to send a letter to the promotion board so that they know you are still trying to promote. Otherwise they won’t pick you.” Now that they no longer stamp officer records with “AZ” (above zone) and they look exactly […]

During the last Specialty Leader Business Meeting, the Detailing Update mentioned that there were about 10 cases of officers who lost their promotion due to a security clearance issue. As a result, I added a new section to the Promo Prep document. In it you can find out how to check your security clearance. Here’s […]

A reader recently asked me for help preparing for a big interview that I had done in the past (the interview to become a Specialty Leader). We both thought that interview prep would be a good blog post, so here is my advice after 10+ interviews for significant leadership positions: Be prepared for an in-depth […]

If you are particularly interested in this post, I’m sorry. You or someone you care about probably failed to promote. In reality, nowadays it is normal and expected to fail to promote to O5 and O6, so you have company. Here are my suggestions for those that fail to promote. First, try to figure out […]

(Here is a pdf of this article, one of my personal finance columns I write for a national Emergency Medicine newsletter.  Find more of them here.) I cut a check and paid off my mortgage in February, making me debt-free.  It cut my living expenses by about a third and ensured that in four years, […]

BLUF – If you are hoping to retire but are not willing to serve 3 years as a Commander or Captain, you should decline the promotion.  (This is not applicable if you are resigning.  Only if you are hoping to retire.) The policy regarding promotions and retirements is governed by OPNAVINST 1811.3A.  If you are lucky enough to […]

Here is an audio podcast of a 30 minute lecture I gave at Naval Medical Center San Diego’s Transition to Practice Symposium that they put on last week for all the graduating residents and fellows.  I hope you enjoy it.

Recently Navy Personnel Command (PERS) has started enforcing some policies that had largely been ignored, and I’ve heard a few horror stories from people trying to resign from the Navy.  With that in mind, here is how you can resign without encountering problems.  Assuming that you’ve already decided to resign, here are the steps you […]

Thousands of times a year Navy physicians struggle to do something that no one really ever teaches them how to do…write their fitrep.  I have read the Navy fitrep instruction, taken guidance I’ve received from senior Navy leaders and classes I’ve attended, and consolidated it into one document that you can read from start to […]

The Graduate Medical Education Selection Board (GMESB) results were released last month with a 30 DEC deadline to accept or decline any spots you were offered.  Undoubtedly there were some people who didn’t get what they want. I’ve participated in the last three GMESBs and would like to offer tips for people looking to match […]

This post will help you learn all that you can about deployments.  Personally, I’ve done three deployments, one as a GMO during the initial invasion of Iraq, and two after residency.  In 2010 I deployed with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit or MEU and earlier this year I deployed to GTMO.  In addition, as both […]

There has been a lot of recent activity surrounding the new Blended Retirement System (BRS), and I don’t intend to reinvent the wheel and explain the whole system to you when there are some nice resources that already exist: DoD BRS 1 Page PDF Summary BRS NAVADMIN DoD BRS Article and Video Military OneSource BRS […]

One of the most important markers of a good fitrep is that your trait average is above your reporting senior’s trait average.  Since most officers initially write their own fitrep and create their own trait average on the first draft, it is important to find out your reporting senior’s trait average so that you can try […]

LCDRs all over Navy Medicine are busily writing their fitreps, so I wanted to offer some assistance.  Keep in mind that when you write your block 41, the narrative portion of your fitrep, you are writing it for the promotion board.  Many LCDRs struggle to find the right words to express all the things they’ve […]

We are all required to get continuing medical education or CME.  Just as important, however, is continuing financial education (CFE).  I’m as busy as the next guy, but I am able to stay reasonably up to date on all aspects of personal finance that are relevant to my situation.  Thanks to podcasts, blogs, RSS readers, Facebook, […]

Here is a PDF of the FY17 Medical Corps LCDR promotion board statistics, summarized here: Above Zone – 3 of 7 eligible officers selected – 43% selection rate In Zone – 219 of 249 eligible officers selected – 88% selection rate Below Zone – 24 of 503 eligible officers selected – 5% OVERALL – 246 […]

Yesterday an officer e-mailed me and asked for tips on improving his concurrent FITREP, which I thought would make a nice blog post. A concurrent FITREP is most often received when you are deployed.  It is “concurrent” because not only are you getting a FITREP from your deployed command/unit, but you are also getting one […]

The classic advice has always been to purchase your home if you can afford it, but in the military the decision is much more complex.  You can’t simply compare your rent versus a mortgage payment.  You have to consider tax breaks, fees associated with purchasing real estate, and how long you expect to stay at […]

I receive questions all the time about what happens when you are passed over for promotion and are now “above-zone”. If you find yourself in this position, here is what you need to do: Realize that it is not the end of the world. Based on the FY 17 CDR promotion board statistics, 56% of […]

If you are one of the lucky people who made CDR, I have some things for you to consider: The next 2-3 years of fitreps may mean very little to your overall career.  First, you are soon going to be in the most competitive group in the Medical Corps, Commanders scratching and clawing to make Captain. […]

Here are the promotion board statistics from the FY17 O5 board released yesterday: Below Zone – 0 officers selected/382 eligible – 0% selection rate In Zone – 85 officers selected/192 eligible – 44% selection rate Above Zone – 40 officers selected/129 eligible – 31% selection rate You can find an introduction to promotion board math […]

I recently attended a brief where we were given an update on the upcoming change in how we receive our special pays.  This new plan is called “Consolidated Special Pays” or “CSP”.  Many of the details of the new plan are not finalized or available yet, but here are the highlights: All of the different special […]

There are a lot of people you can turn to when you need career advice.  There’s your Specialty Leader, your Detailer, and other senior mentors you’ve developed relationships with during your career.  If you want your record reviewed, you can either e-mail your Detailer or go to the Advanced Medical Department Officer’s Course (AMDOC) where […]

Additional Qualification Designation Codes or AQDs are 3 letter codes that: Identify special skills required by a billet. Identify a qualification awarded to an officer for serving in a specially coded billet. In other words, they are tools used by Navy Personnel Command (PERS) to assign officers to billets. They also serve another purpose, though, […]

Two recent events led to this post.  First, this article about becoming a multimillionaire in the military appeared on military.com.  Second, I was having a discussion with some other officers about this topic and they thought my opinion on the subject was different from what they had heard before.  Because of this, we’re going to […]

Recently there have been some high level discussions in the Senate Armed Services Committee, including our top Navy admirals, about reforming the Military Health System (MHS). Here is a transcript of the congressional testimony of Dr. Jonathan Woodson, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, and VADM Raquel Bono, Director, Defense Health Agency.  In […]

Investing in stock and bond mutual funds (not individual stocks and bonds) is the simple way to get higher investment returns than more conservative investments like bank accounts, money market funds, or certificates of deposit (CDs).  By owning stock funds, you own businesses, and the long-term return of these businesses is what will increase your […]

The FY17 Staff Corps O6 Board Convening Order was released after conclusion of the board.  The best news was that the promotion opportunity for Medical Corps was 70%, up from 50% last year, which was an all-time low.  Aside from that, though, if you read through the convening order, it basically tells you how to […]

(Here are some Military Career Progression Slides from a career planning lecture I often give to accompany this post.) The typical career progression for a Medical Corps officer if promoted on time (the first time they are in-zone) is: 5 years – selected for promotion to LCDR 6 years – promoted to LCDR 11 years […]

The following is from a PDF document created by RDML(s) Swap, Chief of the Medical Service Corps, and adapted for the Medical Corps with permission.  Her unedited PDF is here: Talking Points #33 AZ IZ Stamps INTRODUCTION Promotion boards are an integral part of how the Navy identifies the best and most qualified officers to […]

I was recently selected to be the Emergency Medicine Specialty Leader, and earlier this week I attended the BUMED Business Meeting for Specialty Leaders and Program Directors.  Below are the highlights I thought were of interest to a general Medical Corps audience: BUPERS is removing the AZ (above zone) and IZ (in zone) stamps on […]

The benefits of tax-favored retirement plans like the Thrift Savings Plan or an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) are too great to ignore, and over the span of your career sheltering your investment earnings from the taxman will benefit you tremendously.  For example, assume that you make a $4,000 annual contribution for 45 years and earn […]

Assuming you are at least in zone or above zone, the answer is yes if: You are above-zone and wish to be considered for promotion. You will be considered whether you send a letter or not, but you should always send a letter to demonstrate interest in getting promoted when you are above zone. In […]

The promotion boards for FY17 are rapidly approaching, so I wanted to briefly discuss who makes up the promotion boards and how to get on one. COMPOSITION OF THE BOARDS The promotion boards consist of five voting members, and at least three of them are required to have board experience. Someone is designated the senior […]

Many Medical Corps officers don’t understand the difference between their Specialty Leader and their Detailer. After you read this post, this won’t be a problem. DIFFERENCE #1 – WHO THEY WORK FOR A Specialty Leader works for Navy Medicine (BUMED), the Surgeon General, and the Medical Corps Chief while a Detailer works for Navy Personnel […]

In my opinion, every Naval physician needs to have a list of people. On this list are the people who you absolutely, positively will not mess with. When you talk to them, you show them the utmost respect. When they ask you for something, you give it to them better and faster than you ever […]

(This is a re-post of one of my first blog posts.  Since it was back in the beginning when the blog didn’t get much traffic, I wanted to repost it because I think it is one of the most important posts on the site:) There are many important dates in your Navy career. One of […]

“Annual income, twenty pounds; annual expenditure, nineteen pounds; result, happiness. Annual income, twenty pounds; annual expenditure, twenty-one pounds; result, misery.” – Wilkins Micawber in David Copperfield   Debt has a bad reputation. It is prevalent, no one wants it, and everyone who has it wants to get rid of it. Everyone wants to be debt […]

When I was a Detailer, I would review a lot of records for people who failed to promote. Over and over again I would see FITREPs that reflected poorly on the officer. A lot of the time they didn’t realize it was even an issue, and sometimes they did it to themselves. Here are the […]

Having adequate insurance is a fundamental part of your overall financial plan and the 2nd step to financial freedom after establishing an emergency fund (perhaps it should even be 1st). It is also something that most people struggle with, as there are innumerable types of insurance with many options to choose from. At it’s most […]

Bad things happen to good people. Houses burn down or flood. Cars get totaled. Physicians are served unexpected divorce papers. Extended family members get huge medical bills that they can’t pay. You need to prepare for these unlikely but unanticipated events by keeping 3-6 months of living expenses in conservative investments that you can access […]

There are some exciting and interesting initiatives underway to modernize the Navy’s personnel system.  There have been many articles on this in Navy Times.  Here is one article recently released by the Military Officers Association of America. In addition, here are some slides that describe this initiative: PERS-4 Fleet Engagement The changes that physicians should […]

Now that the FY16 O5 promotion board results have been released and I’ve had a chance to review a number of officer records, here are my O5 promotion board takeaways. If you’d like to review the statistics, click here: https://mccareer.org/2015/07/18/fy16-cdr-promotion-board-statistics/ Promotion Board Takeaways If these things happen to you, you are very likely never going […]

Below this message is the O5 promotion list.  For those that were selected, congratulations.  Now that you are a CDR(s), you should strongly consider mixing your career up a little.  No matter what you do for the next few years as a junior CDR, you’re likely to get a promotable (P) on your fitreps if […]

When discussing why they failed to promote, one of the more common reasons that officers give is that they were unable to get a leadership position. When I ask them how they prepared themselves for these positions and what they did to improve their chances of getting one, they often don’t have much to say. Frankly, they […]

My June 13th post that discussed whether CDR is the new terminal rank and other O6 promotion board takeaways has gotten the most attention thus far. I received some questions about what happens when you are passed over for promotion and are now “above-zone.” If you ever find yourself in this position, here is what […]