Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog

You Made CDR! Now What?

Posted on August 19, 2024 Updated on August 16, 2024

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 Navy Medicine, Commanders scratching and clawing to make Captain.  If you are at a medium to large command, no matter what you do as a junior Commander, you are likely to get a P (promotable) on your FITREPs.  That is just how it works for most commands.
• This first bullet means that now is the PERFECT time to do something “alternative” (off the usual career path) or take a position that you know will get you 1/1 fitreps or be part of a very small competitive group.  Go to the War College.  Take a senior operational job where you’ll get a 1/1 FITREP.  Become a Detailer.  Apply for fellowship or additional training because the NOB FITREPs won’t hurt you as a junior Commander or Commander Select.  Now is the time to do these type of things.  You don’t want to wait until you are a few years below zone for Captain.  When you reach this stage you’ll need competitive EP fitreps.
• After you are selected for your next rank is also a great time to move/PCS.  Have you ever been OCONUS?  If not, now would be a great time to go.  You can PCS somewhere for 2-3 years and then PCS to the command where you are going to set up shop and try to make Captain.  At OCONUS commands there is more turnover of staff, so major leadership jobs like Department Head and Director positions open up more frequently, setting you up to get a senior position when you return to CONUS.
• You may think I’m crazy, but it is time to start thinking about how you are going to make Captain.  As I mentioned in the first bullet, getting a job that will make you a Captain is tough and competitive.  Now is the time to do the things that will make you an excellent candidate for one of those jobs.  Want to be a Residency Director?  Maybe you should get a degree in adult or medical education.  Want to be a Director?  Maybe you should get a management degree like a Masters in Medical Management or an MBA.  Want to be a senior operational leader?  Now is the time to do Joint Professional Military Education I and/or II.  Applying for an official Milestone Position is probably the easiest way to make O6 if you get one and are successful.
• Here is a list of the jobs that I think will likely make you a Captain in the Medical Corps.  Other Corps will have similar lists you can likely build by getting info from your Corps Chief’s office or Detailer or by closely examining your Corps’ career pathway.  Read the list…figure out which of these jobs you are going to use to make Captain…and get busy preparing yourself to get them:
  • Residency Director
  • Department Head in a large MTF
  • Director
  • Chief Medical Officer
  • Officer-in-Charge
  • Major committee chair
  • Medical Executive Committee President
  • BUMED staff
  • Specialty Leader
  • Deployment requiring an O-5 or O-6
  • Detailer
  • Senior operational leader
    • Division/Group/Wing Surgeon
    • CATF Surgeon
    • Amphib or CVN Senior Medical Officer

Optimally you’ll have the time when you are an O5 to do multiple jobs on the preceding list.  For example, as an O5 I had been a Detailer, a Specialty Leader, Department Head, Associate Director, and CO of a deployed unit.  My next step was to become a Director at a major MTF, and while I was a senior LCDR and CDR I obtained a Naval Postgraduate School MBA as well as achieved certification as a Certified Physician Executive to try and make myself a competitive candidate for a Director position. Ultimately, I became the Director for Healthcare Business at NMC Portsmouth.

Congratulations on making Commander…take a deep breath…and start thinking about some of the things I mentioned in this post.  Before you know it you’ll be in zone for Captain.