Hello Shipmates!
I would like to know what occupations most of you have taken after Navy/IDC retirement. I retired as an 8402 HM1(SS) in December 2003. I retired while in Japan for seven years, returned to the Hampton Roads area, which was like starting over as a young adult. Very challenging!
I have always liked medicine and law enforcement, so I became a Virginia State certified Corrections Officer, a Certified U.S. Investigator conducting background investigations for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and now I the Safety Officer, Security Manager, and Emergency Planner for Sentara CarePlex Hospital located in Hampton, Virginia. This is an overwhelming position, however, it combines the medical with law enforcement. I love it! Always something different everyday.
I chair a Safety & Environment of Care Committee (EOC), which is focused on Joint Commission requirements. I also created and chair a Disaster Response Team, as well as a Hazardous Materials Response Team. This position is administratively burdensome because everything you do is based on regulatory and compliance, i.e., Joint Commission, OSHA, ANZI, and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), etc.
There are many aspects of this job that compares to what I/we did/do as an IDC on active duty. The EOC deals with Preventive Medicine, therefore, many inspections are involved.
As the Emergency Planner I have to plan and prepare the hospital for all type of disasters: natural (acts of God), WMD, Bio-Terrorism, Hazardous Materials, and Mass Casualty Incidents.
Fortunately, my position as a Basic Corpsman & IDC prepared me well for what I do now, as well as obtaining my B.S. degree in Healthcare Management from Touro University International.
If any of you ever have the opportunity to become employed with Sentara, I feel you would love it. It's a great corporation. I now live in Courtland, Virginia, which is not to far from where I work.
I hope to you all will take the time to share your experiences. Take care guys/gals. Stay safe!
Hey shipmates! I finished my master's degree in education while assigned to NSHS Portsmouth VA as an instructor for the SFIDC School (just before it moved West). I retired in March 1999, and moved into a career as a middle grade teacher. It has been great fun! I have to admit, though, that I miss the Navy and the IDC community quite a bit.
I hope everyone is doing great and having much fun!
Semper Gumby!
Steve Applebaugh
HMC(SW/FMF)USN, Ret.
Retired, moved back to the Midwest, had completed the GWU Clinical Health Sciences BS, applied to and am presently in my 2nd year attending a Physician Assistant Studies Master's Program at the University of South Dakota, will graduate in December 07! Howard A. Gorder, HMC(FMF) RETIRED!
I too completed my BS with Touro University Int'l prior to retirement and am now a civil servant at the Johnson Space Center working in Occupational Health. The work dovetailed nicely with our Preventive Medicine, Industrial Hygiene and clinical experience. I also do emergency planning and have recently completed our Pandemic Influenza Contingency Plan. It's not rocket science!
Monday - Friday, 0730 - 1600, home on the weekends and occasional travel to conferences and the White Sands Test Facility.
Hi... It's Kirk Leopard. I retired in 2004 from Guam and moved to Mobile, AL. Thought I was going to teach under the troops to teachers program, but AL was having budgeting difficulties. I ended up working at the VA Medical Center in Miami teaching computers to nurses. Got a promotion to Admin Officer and stayed there 12 months. Got selected for the VA's Director Training program and spent a year in St Louis in school. I am now the Director of the Baltimore National Cemetery Complex. Really interesting job and I love it. Our focus is serving veterans and family members but there is so much involved with it. Budget, Public Relations and Speaking, HR issues, etc etc etc.... it never ends, just like being an IDC.... LOL BTW I got my degree in Healthcare Admin from Touro as well.
I retired as an 8425 in 96. My last tour was a Functional Analyst and Leading Chief for the SAMS project Office at NAVMASSO (now SPAWARS). I stayed here in Hampton Roads area of VA. I completed my BS in Allied Health from GWU within a year of graduating IDC school in 80.
I too was looking at Troops to Teachers but also looked as Drug Rep, computer training, Education programs in medical fields without success. Dropped a blind resume at a jobfair and got a call. Came into Sentara as trainer/support tech for a medical computer system. Trained primarily at private practices and some in the hospitals. moved into QA and as a Technical Analyst and finally as a Clinical Analyst performing training to physicians and assisting in redesign of clinical system. After being made a Sr Clin Analyst I moved into our new Design group for a new Electronic Medical Record. Our physician team is working on the parts of the system that the physicians will interact with,, results retrieval, documentation online and electronic order entry. It has been a great challenge and we go live soon. A lot like what I did with SAMS and DENMIS (dental managemtn) systems that I supported at NAVMASSO. Get to continue working in healthcare, education and computes.
They sure don't know what to make of an IDC, "What is that"... LOL. Sentara has an IDC to RN program but not sure if it has taken off.
Well take care and be safe out there.
Mike Shepherd
HMC/USN/RET
8425/8482/9502
Chesapeake VA
Mike you old war dog!
Sounds like what I want to go into, but hadn't realized Sentara was that into it. Most of the companies I've been investigating we're Northrop Gruman and GE, and and few smaller ones that have pretty advanced EHR programs. I'll have to watch Sentara now too!
Sentara has a good IDC to RN program however when I called and talked to the POC for the program, it was primarily an full time school, during the day, M-Fr with no evening or one at a time options for classes. I mentioned to them then that they would have a hard time attracting IDC's to such a program if they had to wait until after retirement to even start. Not sure if they've made any changes to that. I should check in case there is additional information worth posting here!
Take Care!
Ken
Another one of my evil experiments gone bad...
Yes, there is life after an IDC career. You all have proven it it so, but it was because of YOUR OWN efforts. Not too many employers are going to note "You were a Navy IDC? Well, I have an Executive position and a big corner office with two big windows overlooking the waterfront just for you."
Of course, there are some "woe is me... I should have stayed a Lab Tech" former IDCs as well. I have three words for them: "Improvise! Adapt! Overcome!"
Bravo Zulu, my Brothers!
Richard W. Mondak, MPAS, PA-C
LT MSC USN (Ret)
Soldier Readiness Center
Fort Drum, NY 13602
(315) 772-1561
richard.mondak [at] us [dot] army [dot] mil
like you found out ken, the last i talked, it was all day, and it would be hard for retiring HM to fund that endeavor and then try to feed self and family. there was another former IDC who was infection control office at one of our hospitals and he first pointed it out to this forum awhile ago.
Sentara is using a product from EPIC out of Wisconsin. Bon Sequors is just now advertising that they are going that route too (depaul, maryview and Mary Immaculate.)
/mike