What do HM's actually do while in the fleet?

notjustaUSNwife · 11-06-2013, 09:12 AM

My husband has been an FMF HM for seven years and I have a lot of friends through him that are in several different specialties. To compare an HM to a CNA is really oversimplifying things. What you do will depend on the doctor you work under, the specialty you choose and the experience you have as well as your rank and what command you are at. Sweetmtn, it really sound like you are trying to make FMF Corpsman doom and gloom. I am sorry for your loss but it is a very rewarding job for people who are a good fit with Marines. Never call an FMF Corpsman a Navy Medic. If I called my husband that he would lose his mind. Anyway, there are HM's who are Radiology Techs, Dental Techs, Lab Techs, Nuke Med Techs, Surgical Techs, Search and Rescue Corpsman (they can test for the civilian flight medic exam), etc. Since the draw downs some specialties are harder to get than others. 2 months ago Spec War Fields (SAR, Dive Med Tech, etc.) were hot fills. FMF, according to my husband's new guys is hard to get. It's even harder to get stationed with the Marines after FMTB because they're disbanding some units.

Even Corpsmen with no specialty do more than a CNA depending on the department they work in at a hospital. Corpsmen in the ER at the Naval Hospital here do triage, give non-IV meds, do dressing changes, suture, clean wounds. The doctors here have even let some of them completely manage patients on their own if they have the appropriate skills. My husband was first with a Marine unit's scout sniper team. He was their Doc during 3 combat deployments. He's now at the hospital. He and the others that came from the same unit all head departments like the ER, Personnel, Human Resources, Education and Training, etc. most of them work a few shifts in the ER on busier days. He deployed from
The hospital to a hospital in Afghanistan along with one of the respiratory tech Corpsmen. She managed ventilators in the ICU and he managed airway (intubations, placing patients on ventilators, etc.) with his trauma team. If they got too many casualties he managed his own patients.

It's really up to you what kind of corpsman you want to be. The ones that end up in leadership positions either have the natural ability for it or work really hard to develop those skills. My husband worked really hard to get where he is. Sometimes I came second to his job but I respect that it was necessary. Now it's my turn. My husband and his friends from division spend a lot of time studying medicine and extra time in the hospital to keep their skills up now that they've gained so much rank that they push paperwork. Granted, that's not the sole way to not be treated like a CNA but, like I said, that's a gross oversimplification. Corpsman is way more complicated than that.

This is just what I have learned by talking to a lot of active duty Corpsmen. Hope this helps.

11-06-2013, 09:12 AM	#9
notjustaUSNwife Member Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 83 Rep Power: 0	My husband has been an FMF HM for seven years and I have a lot of friends through him that are in several different specialties. To compare an HM to a CNA is really oversimplifying things. What you do will depend on the doctor you work under, the specialty you choose and the experience you have as well as your rank and what command you are at. Sweetmtn, it really sound like you are trying to make FMF Corpsman doom and gloom. I am sorry for your loss but it is a very rewarding job for people who are a good fit with Marines. Never call an FMF Corpsman a Navy Medic. If I called my husband that he would lose his mind. Anyway, there are HM's who are Radiology Techs, Dental Techs, Lab Techs, Nuke Med Techs, Surgical Techs, Search and Rescue Corpsman (they can test for the civilian flight medic exam), etc. Since the draw downs some specialties are harder to get than others. 2 months ago Spec War Fields (SAR, Dive Med Tech, etc.) were hot fills. FMF, according to my husband's new guys is hard to get. It's even harder to get stationed with the Marines after FMTB because they're disbanding some units. Even Corpsmen with no specialty do more than a CNA depending on the department they work in at a hospital. Corpsmen in the ER at the Naval Hospital here do triage, give non-IV meds, do dressing changes, suture, clean wounds. The doctors here have even let some of them completely manage patients on their own if they have the appropriate skills. My husband was first with a Marine unit's scout sniper team. He was their Doc during 3 combat deployments. He's now at the hospital. He and the others that came from the same unit all head departments like the ER, Personnel, Human Resources, Education and Training, etc. most of them work a few shifts in the ER on busier days. He deployed from The hospital to a hospital in Afghanistan along with one of the respiratory tech Corpsmen. She managed ventilators in the ICU and he managed airway (intubations, placing patients on ventilators, etc.) with his trauma team. If they got too many casualties he managed his own patients. It's really up to you what kind of corpsman you want to be. The ones that end up in leadership positions either have the natural ability for it or work really hard to develop those skills. My husband worked really hard to get where he is. Sometimes I came second to his job but I respect that it was necessary. Now it's my turn. My husband and his friends from division spend a lot of time studying medicine and extra time in the hospital to keep their skills up now that they've gained so much rank that they push paperwork. Granted, that's not the sole way to not be treated like a CNA but, like I said, that's a gross oversimplification. Corpsman is way more complicated than that. This is just what I have learned by talking to a lot of active duty Corpsmen. Hope this helps.