For Col. Ian Wedmore, M.D., every day of his 21 years in the U.S. Army has been an adventure. He attended medical school through the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program, originally planning to stay in the service only for the 4 years he owed after residency. But the “fun and challenging jobs” the Army offered held his interest, and today he serves as emergency medicine consultant to the U.S. Army Surgeon General and Program Director for the U.S. Army Austere and Wilderness Medicine Fellowship.

ACEP Council Speaker Dr. Marco Coppola’s military career took a different route. After completing his residency in the Army, including becoming Chief Resident and Residency Director, he went into the Texas Army National Guard. He led a prison emergency department in Iraq, also serving as deputy commander. He then went on to head the Texas Medical Command for 4 years. Today, he’s still a “weekend warrior,” volunteering as Deputy Brigade Surgeon for the Texas Medical Brigade, Texas State Guard, while also holding a full-time job as a practicing emergency physician and academic vice chair for the department of emergency medicine at the John Peter Smith Health Network in Fort Worth, Tex.

Whether you are just beginning medical school, have been a practicing emergency physician for years, or your emergency medicine career falls somewhere in between, the U.S. Army may have a place for you – assuming you can meet the required physical standards and are not over the age of 60.

“We have a critical need for emergency physicians in the U.S. Army,” said Col. Scott Dingle, Commander of the U.S. Army’s Medical Recruiting Brigade. “These physicians are the tip of the sword who provide emergency medicine to what we call our benefit population. That’s not just our soldiers, but [also] our family members, their dependents, and our retirees.”

An Experience Unlike Any Other

Any emergency physician who has served in the Army will likely tell you the same thing: “It’s the most incredible training you’ll ever get and the most incredible experience you’ll ever have,” said Dr. Coppola. “When I was in Iraq, I felt every second deeply. What I did in the emergency department there was the most rewarding experience of my career.”

While Dr. Coppola is careful to stress that he doesn’t want to discount the accomplishments of non-Army emergency physicians, he says that he feels “almost an instant brotherhood” when he meets another Army emergency physician.