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Doctor crosses into the blue

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rebekah Phy
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MCGUIRE AFB, N.J. --  After years of school and internships, his diligence paid off. He became a doctor, and for 15 years he treated patients as an internist in his private practice. Still, in the back of his mind, he always envisioned serving his country. Two years ago, he decided to cross into the blue.

Lt. Col. (Dr.) Marc Neiberg, 305th Medical Group flight surgeon, decided the Air Force was for him in January 2006 for several reasons. During his internist career, he was also a school district physician and taught Anatomy and Physiology at Rosemount College. He said he especially enjoyed being a school district physician, but as things progressed, he enjoyed those things less and less.

"I decided to join the Air Force, in particular, for many reasons," Dr. Neiberg said. "The Air Force offered the most interesting combination of things to me: job variety, job security and the feeling you're doing something for your country. I also felt the deployments were more reasonable for me and my family."

Additionally, Dr. Neiberg said it has become increasingly more difficult to practice medicine in the private sector. Due to rising administrative costs, Dr. Neiberg said the private sector medical environment has changed.

"I thought it would be easier to practice medicine in the Air Force," Dr. Neiberg said. "I actually get to do the things I became a doctor for, and I don't have to worry about all of the costs and bills. Ultimately, that worrying can interfere with patient care."

According to Dr. Neiberg, there are several things that differ between the Air Force and civilian medical worlds.

"Over 15 years in my private practice, I took 11 weeks off," Dr. Neiberg said. "I literally worked 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Although we are a '24/7' Air Force, I still get time with my family."

"I also really enjoy my fellow physicians in the military - there is definitely more of a teamwork aspect, which is the nature of the military. In a private practice and the private sector, that isn't always the case."

Since joining the Air Force, Dr. Neiberg's duty title has slightly changed. In his 3,000-patient private practice, Dr. Neiberg was an internist. Now, he works as a flight surgeon - somewhat different than his previous position.

"Flight medicine is the connection from the medical to the operational side of the Air Force," he said. "We take care of the flyers and understand their mission."

As a flight surgeon, Dr. Neiberg is required to fly with air crews four hours a month, in addition to one night flying mission every six months. Helping the pilots and air crews learn fatigue management goes along with it, too.

"We have to meet the same flying standards as the flyers, so we know what they're going through in the air," Dr. Neiberg said. "That is a significant component to flight medicine."

He also operates the administrative side to things, including handling waivers and "enabling flyers to fly," he said.

"We are only supposed to be in the clinic seeing patients 50 percent of the time," Dr. Neiberg said. "We're supposed to be writing waivers, conducting shop visits, public health visits, etc.," he said.

The shop visits include inspections of on-base barber shops and restaurants, he said. When out in the field, for example, they would ensure food was properly cooked.

"We also handle occupational medicine," he said. "We are responsible for anyone who is injured in shops on base."

Dr. Neiberg's leadership seems to have tremendous respect and admiration for his work in the Air Force. Though fairly new to the Air Force, he seems to have left a positive impression.

"Although Dr. Neiberg has only been in the Air Force for two years, he has been a doctor for a long time," said Lt. Col. Michael Paston, 305th MDG deputy commander and 305th Aerospace Medicine commander. "He has brought a lot of experience and knowledge to the Air Force medical world.

"From having his own practice, he really understands the 'business' end of medicine," Colonel Paston said. "He helped identify a lot of work not previously documented, which has helped our productivity reach 140 percent. Dr. Neiberg is an invaluable asset to our team."

Since joining the Air Force, Dr. Neiberg said the training he's received has been one of the biggest benefits. "I really took a lot from officer training - we had a remarkable group of people in my class. The Aerospace Medicine Course was also phenomenal," he said. "It was very interesting, and it was a great experience working with my peers."

After almost two years in the Air Force, Dr. Neiberg seems to be very happy and confident about his decision to leave his private practice and join the Air Force medical world. Even Michelle, his wife of 15 years, who originally had doubts about the decision, completely supports his choice.

"Overall, my family was really for me joining," he said. "My kids (Jason, 12, and Adam, 10) thought it was really neat. My wife was initially skeptical, but if it made me happy and gave us options, she was very much for it. Two years into it, she thinks it's one of the best things we've done."

Initially, the Philadelphia native was somewhat concerned about assignment locations and deployments. "My biggest concern was leaving the Philadelphia area," he said. "It's a very unique city, and most people who live there, stay there.

"Deployments were also a concern for me and my family," Dr. Neiberg said. "Any time away from family is too much, but we really felt the Air Force offered the best options for us. I decided if they were my biggest concerns, I could deal with that."

Dr. Neiberg was able to experience deployments first-hand when he went to Turkey in 2006. Although it meant time away from family, it also meant a new experience, personal and career growth, and tons of unforgettable memories.

"I spent about 40 days in Turkey," he said. "The best part was definitely the people. It was my first experience as a doctor in a deployed location, and it was truly an amazing experience. That's where the rubber meets the road."

For now, Dr. Neiberg continues to see blue in his future. "I would definitely like to stay in the Air Force - go for more training," he said. "The military medical world is so different than the private sector; I'm still in the infancy of understanding how everything works.

"My plan is to finish 20 years in the Air Force," Dr. Neiberg said. "If the Air Force is able to fit me the way it has so far, I have no intentions of going anywhere."