All Branch Topic (ABT) Army SF medic then doctor?

[thtoneguy]

Hello everyone I'm kind of trying to figure out my career path and would love some input. I'm 20 years old and am going into my first year of college, my school has a pre health major that takes care of all the requirements for med school, I will be graduating on time no matter what even if I have to take summer classes. What I really need help with is what comes next. I've always wanted to join the military (army in particular because both parents served in the army, but I'm open to all branches). With that said I've also always wanted to do SF. My question is if I did something like Army SF medic after college what kind of contract would I be looking at signing, I think i saw its the 18D, how long is that contract for? After being in the military I would want to go to med school. Would schools like the fact that I went this route? Would I still have to do the 4 years in med school and then the internship and residency after the military even though I would already have a background in medicine or would things be slightly different? I would appreciate any guidance here as I am completely lost.
Thank you

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[orbitsurgMD]

You should post to the pre-med board. Your question really could be better answered there. The question your post seems to beg is how badly you want to be a doctor in the first place.

You are describing two very divergent career paths, one in medicine and the other as an enlisted soldier. If you don't go to medical school proximate to your undergraduate coursework, (or aren't in a related graduate school field) you will face some disadvantages. Your courses and MCAT scores both have finite validity before you will be required to re-test. That could see you repeating prerequisite courses and repeating your MCATs to be eligible to apply.

You still have to do the four years of med school and residency, like any other doctor does. Enlisted medic service experience will not count in the sense that you mean.

 

[deleted480308]

No enlisted role will do anything to shorten medical school. You can do it if you want but you are just delaying the process of getting into med school. I do go to school with a guy who is sf in the national guard, got into med school and will not be a doctor in the guard....just loves jumping out of planes and doing all the high speed s$&@

Hang out in the military subforum here

 

[RKBrumbelow]

The question your post seems to beg is how badly you want to be a doctor in the first place.

Question begging is not what you seem to think it means. To beg the question means to assume the answer is true as an unstated premise. http://begthequestion.info/

As for the original poster, talk to your local recruiter. The general rule is 1 year of service for each year of paid training, so if they pay for 7 years then they get 7 years of service. As for your desire to do SF, I hope you are already multi lingual and in great shape. SF is hard row to hoe most fail out early in the process. GL though and I hope you the best.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

Question begging is not what you seem to think it means. To beg the question means to assume the answer is true as an unstated premise. http://begthequestion.info/

An interesting if a little pedantic and obscure distinction. The common understanding of the expression is not to beg the question whether a given premise is true (their explanation) but to invoke a larger question (here, "do you really want to be a doctor at all?") In use, and not just mine, the latter is the common and fairly accepted use. The site cited admits as much, without concession.

 

[RKBrumbelow]

An interesting if a little pedantic and obscure distinction.

Hardly obscure or pedantic. In my circles language tends to mean something, I suspect in yours they are far more ;oiyj abdiopghw but when a patient ;io into you to talk about teh ;jl'hkh that hey are having words not having a strict meaning makes sense.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

Hardly obscure or pedantic. In my circles language tends to mean something, I suspect in yours they are far more ;oiyj abdiopghw but when a patient ;io into you to talk about teh ;jl'hkh that hey are having words not having a strict meaning makes sense.

Now you beg the question.

 

[ArmyTiger]

Hardly obscure or pedantic. In my circles language tends to mean something, I suspect in yours they are far more ;oiyj abdiopghw but when a patient ;io into you to talk about teh ;jl'hkh that hey are having words not having a strict meaning makes sense.

Did you have a stroke in the middle of typing that?

 

[RKBrumbelow]

Now you beg the question.

How, pray the tell, do I presume the consequent as an unstated premise?

You could say I was being hyperbolic or arguing a slippery slope or as I prefer to see it a reductio ad absurdum, but I have yet to commit petitio principii (question begging).

Sigh, in the immoral words of Lazarus long err rather the immortal words of Robert Heinlein:
Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

 

[RKBrumbelow]

Did you have a stroke in the middle of typing that?

My blood pressure spiked, but no. I was trying to give an extreme example of words having no set meaning. After all, if one is free to make words mean whatever you want to, then why bother with words at all, just make it up as you go along.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

How, pray the tell, do I presume the consequent as an unstated premise?

[Bolds mine]

You wrote:

In my circles language tends to mean something, I suspect in yours they are far more . . . .

You imply in the explanation that your "circles" are different from mine, at least in the expectations of meaning from language and then by your illustration suggest I am somehow satisfied by meaningless garble. How you come to that premise is a mystery, unless we are acquainted and I am not aware of the fact. If you are deriving that from my comment to the OP, then you are making quite a stretch, seriously and incorrectly overdrawing, although illuminating here a little more of yourself than might be flattering, if you get my drift. You post as a 41-year-old male and as a "pre-med." I cannot say I know anyone fitting that description.

Sigh, in the immoral words of Lazarus long err rather the immortal words of Robert Heinlein:
Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

You have added absolutely nothing of value to this thread. All the same, best of luck in whatever endeavors you have. You may need some.

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

My question is if I did something like Army SF medic after college what kind of contract would I be looking at signing, I think i saw its the 18D, how long is that contract for?

~5-7 years

Would schools like the fact that I went this route?

Really depends on who happens to be on the admissions for the medical school that year. Some people are aware of what it means to be a veteran from the special warfare community but most really have no clue or do not comprehend the significance. At the very least you'll be able to have stories to tell...unless your stories are classified TS/SCI haha. The only medical school I know of that will always understand the value of recruiting 18D's, or PJ's, or SEAL's into their class is USUHS, the military's medical school.

For now do well in college, get as close to a 4.0 as possible. When you start getting closer to graduation you will need to make a choice. Join the Army or go to medical school. SF selection is ridiculously difficult and if you fail you cannot back out, the Army will still own your butt and make you assemble parachutes and/or hand grenades for the next 4-5 years. On the other hand if you have a nice GPA and a decent MCAT score by graduation you stand a great chance of getting into medical school.

 

[RKBrumbelow]

You have added absolutely nothing of value to this thread.

Fortunately, your opinion as to the value of my statements is simply that, your opinion. You avoided the question entirely as to which premise I used as part of begging the question and show that you really do not understand what begging the question really means. You have stated that someone trying to correct your misuses of the English language is pedantic and obscure. I can thus derive that you must believe that words to not have a set meaning and I have responded to your posts as such. Feel free to ignore my comments, I can assure you, yours will be taken at their actual value.

 

[Jtun84]

It seems like there has been a glut of odd posters on this forum recently. It started with that IDMT necrobump and has only been getting weirder.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Fortunately, your opinion as to the value of my statements is simply that, your opinion. You avoided the question entirely as to which premise I used as part of begging the question and show that you really do not understand what begging the question really means. You have stated that someone trying to correct your misuses of the English language is pedantic and obscure. I can thus derive that you must believe that words to not have a set meaning and I have responded to your posts as such. Feel free to ignore my comments, I can assure you, yours will be taken at their actual value.

I prefer short monosyllabic words like TOOL but this sort of situation requires reaching deep for something like DOUCHENOZZLE.

Feel free to antagonize one of the precious few attendings that give their time to this community after you've signed a contract sparky.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I prefer short monosyllabic words like TOOL but this sort of situation requires reaching deep for something like DOUCHENOZZLE.

Feel free to antagonize one of the precious few attendings that give their time to this community after you've signed a contract sparky.

He was correct, at least using the strict definition of begging a question. (Although in common modern use, there is a diversity in meaning which, as Mr. Brumbelow believes, is an imprecision that renders statements meaningless, at least to him. He appears not to appreciate context as an element of meaning. For a better discussion, see the Wikipedia article on begging the question, footnote 25, annotated.) That said, he hijacked the thread and did little service to the OP, for which I can apologize for my part. Mr. Brumbelow, for whatever contributions of value he may choose to make elsewhere also has his particular issues about use of language and meaning (e.g., don't misuse the term "codex") and has come here as the web vagabond to raise more of the same.

 

[Homunculus]

to the entertaining sidebar: it reminds me of hannibal if anyone watches that show. some of the conversations between he and will graham have a similar complexity.
i think brumbelow lacks insight into context and meaning, and perseverates on a detail and misses the big picture. i suspect aspergers (though it doesn't technically exist anymore) at best and an axis II issue at worst. or maybe he's/she's just a troll.

to the OP-- this:

You should post to the pre-med board. Your question really could be better answered there. The question your post seems to beg is how badly you want to be a doctor in the first place.

You are describing two very divergent career paths, one in medicine and the other as an enlisted soldier. If you don't go to medical school proximate to your undergraduate coursework, (or aren't in a related graduate school field) you will face some disadvantages. Your courses and MCAT scores both have finite validity before you will be required to re-test. That could see you repeating prerequisite courses and repeating your MCATs to be eligible to apply.

You still have to do the four years of med school and residency, like any other doctor does. Enlisted medic service experience will not count in the sense that you mean.

you need to dig down into your motivation for each. maybe there's a commonality that will help you choose one or the other. while semi-related, they don't overlap enough to give one an advantage for the other. why SF? what did your parents do? what is it you think you will do as an SF medic? why do you want to be a physician? not to overly rely on cliches, but the SF groups are really good at killing people and breaking things, and teaching other people how to kill people and break things. this runs counter to the typical "i just want to help people" pre-med cliche. is it the prestige? being "the guy?" maybe sorting this out may lead you in a third field that's an even better fit.

--your friendly neighborhood don't mind me just patching up the guy i just blew up caveman

 

[RKBrumbelow]

I prefer short monosyllabic words like TOOL but this sort of situation requires reaching deep for something like DOUCHENOZZLE.

Feel free to antagonize one of the precious few attendings that give their time to this community after you've signed a contract sparky.

The single syllable answer for my comment is "right", correct and educational could be considered alternatives.

As for your description of me, well you can act like you do all you want to since you hide behind a veil of anonymity, you need fear no repercussion for your inane comments and general poor social interaction.

to the entertaining sidebar: it reminds me of hannibal if anyone watches that show. some of the conversations between he and will graham have a similar complexity.
i think brumbelow lacks insight into context and meaning, and perseverates on a detail and misses the big picture. i suspect aspergers (though it doesn't technically exist anymore) at best and an axis II issue at worst. or maybe he's/she's just a troll.

You are a mod and I will respect the office.

I have not missed the big picture, if anything you all have. I commented a minor area of correction that should have resulted in a response of "Oops, thank you for pointing that out." Instead, and you all have come back to say being wrong is not only OK but you encourage it. You are proud of being wrong and will deride others for suggesting that there are actually meanings for words. That is fine anyone with a clue as to philosophy and argumentation will simply think you are an idiot for using the phrase "begs the question" incorrectly. At least I tried to make the commenter not look like a an idiot, for that effort I was rebuffed.

 

[Shikima]

The single syllable answer for my comment is "right", correct and educational could be considered alternatives.

As for your description of me, well you can act like you do all you want to since you hide behind a veil of anonymity, you need fear no repercussion for your inane comments and general poor social interaction.



You are a mod and I will respect the office.

I have not missed the big picture, if anything you all have. I commented a minor area of correction that should have resulted in a response of "Oops, thank you for pointing that out." Instead, and you all have come back to say being wrong is not only OK but you encourage it. You are proud of being wrong and will deride others for suggesting that there are actually meanings for words. That is fine anyone with a clue as to philosophy and argumentation will simply think you are an idiot for using the phrase "begs the question" incorrectly. At least I tried to make the commenter not look like a an idiot, for that effort I was rebuffed.

Your calling out was misplaced, boorish and pedantic. No need for it. This is why you were rebuffed.

 

[deleted480308]

Haha, "i will respect the office"...immediately disrespectful

 

[RKBrumbelow]

Haha, "i will respect the office"...immediately disrespectful

My comments to him ended at the statement I will respect the office.

Please explain how anything I have said is disrespectful.

 

[Apollyon]

I have not missed the big picture, if anything you all have.

"When you think everyone else has the problem, YOU have the problem." This is a well-known aphorism in the psychological/sociological world.

 

[RKBrumbelow]

"When you think everyone else has the problem, YOU have the problem." This is a well-known aphorism in the psychological/sociological world.

Thank you for your diagnosis. Could it also be a group think phenomenon where an aside comment results in a pack mentality to defend ones own regardless of the actual status of the perceived wrong? Could it be important enough for you to post off topic to a thread just to insert an opinion no one asked for? Obviously that is not the case right comrade?

 

[Apollyon]

Thank you for your diagnosis. Could it also be a group think phenomenon where an aside comment results in a pack mentality to defend ones own regardless of the actual status of the perceived wrong? Could it be important enough for you to post off topic to a thread just to insert an opinion no one asked for? Obviously that is not the case right comrade?

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" - Hamlet, Act III, Scene II. I'm guessing you're a dude, but the sentiment holds.

 

[Homunculus]

:troll:

--your friendly neighborhood zookeeping caveman