Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog

Throwback Thursday Classic Post – The Best Education You Can Get in the Navy

Posted on April 2, 2020 Updated on March 28, 2020

(It may seem silly to re-post this when most classes are cancelled, but it never hurts to plan. There will be a rush to attend these after the pandemic abates, so maybe you can get on the list early if you find something on the list that interests you below.)

I’ve done a lot of courses and educational programs during my 17.5 (now 19) years in the Navy. Here are the best ones I’ve done and why they are so good:

1. Advanced Medical Department Officer Course (AMDOC) (Note – this is now named the Advanced Readiness Officer Course or AROC) – This is tops on the list because it is the most useful and educational course with the widest applicability. Everyone should attend AMDOC as early as they can in their Naval career. This is where you’ll learn about BUMED, the Defense Health Agency (DHA), fitness reports, managing your career, and a whole host of other useful topics. You can find info on the course (and most of these other courses) in this document.
2. Naval War College Fleet Seminar Program – This is how I did my Joint Professional Military Education I (which incidentally is one of the best AQDs you can get). I tried to do the on-line Air Force version that everyone said was easier, but I’ve never been less motivated to do anything in my life. When I did the Fleet Seminar Program it was a lot easier because I had a class I had to show up to and classmates I had projects we were working on. It was also a lot more interesting to have discussions with folks of all backgrounds than doing it by myself on-line. You can read about it on their website.
3. Naval Postgraduate School Executive MBA Program – This allows you to get a defense focused MBA in 2 years. The commitment is 3 years from the time you finish or quit, and it doesn’t interfere with your medical special pays. It is accredited as a standard MBA program, so you get all the usual MBA content you’d expect (finance, accounting, etc.), but there is a defense focus. This means that you take a class on funding the DoD and 2 semesters about how to purchase weapons programs. The weapons acquisition class was the least fun part of the degree for me, but I was warned ahead of time so I knew it was coming. I combined this non-medical MBA with the Certified Physician Executive courses to learn medical related leadership principles in addition to standard business principles. The work isn’t hard, but it is time consuming and about 10-20 hours per week. Overall, I’d highly recommend this program as you get a quality MBA for only the cost of books.
4. Interagency Institute for Federal Health Care Executives (IFFHCE) – This is a very senior level course that is filled with O6 and the equivalent personnel from all branches and governmental agencies. When I attended I was a senior O5 and was the among the most junior in the class. You get exposed to all sorts of very influential speakers who are experts on their high-level strategic topics. It is tough to get into this class, but if you can go I’d highly recommend it.
5. MHS Medical Executive Skills Capstone Course – This is similar to the IFFHCE (#4 above). It is senior and strategic. The course topics overlap, but both are excellent.
6. MedXellence – This is a course run by the Uniformed Services University that they take on the road. You can often find that the course is coming to your area and sign up when it is local. This course is senior and more operational/tactical than the last 2 courses. It is for those interested in the business aspects of Navy Medicine, like clinic managers, department heads, OICs, Directors, etc. It is similar to an advanced clinic management course.
7. Naval Justice School Senior Officer Legal Course – This course is for anyone who has Executive Medicine in their future. You will learn about legal challenges that senior leaders face in a case-based and enjoyable format. I was able to get into the course pretty easily as an O5. You don’t have to be slated to be an XO.
8. Lean Six Sigma – If you are at a medium-large command, you should have someone somewhere that is the command’s Lean Six Sigma black belt. You may even have an entire office dedicated to it. I’ve done the green belt certification and taken the black belt course but never completed the full black belt certification. If you want an introduction to process improvement, start taking LSS classes available to you at your command.
9. Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties Course – I took this course a long time ago when I was a GMO, but it was great then and probably is still great. You get to go to the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). This is probably of even greater relevance lately due to the COVID pandemic.
10. TRICARE Financial Management Executive’s Program (TFMEP) – This is another road show similar to MedXellence. You can find the course info here. I’d highly recommend this to anyone who is looking to rise to the senior levels of leadership at any MTF.
11. Joint Senior Medical Leader Course (JSMLC)
12. Joint Medical Operations Course – I did these last 2 courses back-to-back at DHA before I was deployed as a Joint Task Force Surgeon. They were a good introduction to the world of joint operations, but not among my favorites, which is why they are at the bottom of the list. If you want to be introduced to the world of joint publications and find out if “joint” really means “Army” have at it!

I’m sure there are other great courses available in the Navy, but these are the ones I’ve done that I found useful. If you have others you’d suggest, post them in the comments section.