All Branch Topic (ABT) How is life after not getting your specialty?

[qwy]

After months of reading this forum on the subject of joining the military to pay for medical school; I think I finally have a good understanding of it. I know you don't join it for the money and that their is no guarantee that you will go into your specialty.

However my question is about the specialty. I just can't afford medical school on my own and I want to make getting a loan the very last option (I know there are people on here who have said you can easily pay that money back in a few years if you go the civilian route, but just humor me...please).

If I use one of the military scholarships to pay for medical school and then after internship, the military does not have a spot open in my specialty, they will just have me serve out my obligated time in that branch as a general doctor (I can't find what it is called in other branches, I know it is GMO in the navy and I think flight surgeon in the air-force), I will have 4 or more years not practicing my specialty.

My question is, after you pay back your 4 years and you are a civilian again, do you have to go back to medical school after you get out to refresh your memory on things or do you just jump back into the specialty as a resident? I know many people speak of moonlighting, but that is not guaranteed, so I would just like to see what other options are out there.

I want to be an orthopedic surgeon (I am a sophomore in college now) and the branch that will accept me doesn't matter (though I continually read on here that air-force has the best lifestyle). I don't have a wife or kids, and I don't care about deploying.

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[HighPriest]

You do not have to repeat med school.

 

[pgg]

Lots of people do GMO and get out, then do residency as a civilian. It's not a problem, beyond the delay and having to spend a few years doing work you probably wouldn't have chosen otherwise.

Every service trains orthopedic surgeons every year. It is, of course, one of the most competitive specialties to get into, whether you're in the military or not.

As a pre-med, it's not unlikely that you'll change your mind about orthopedics ... or you may not have the grades & board scores to get it. Everyone starts med school planning to be a superstar but most of us aren't. I'm not telling you not to reach for the stars, just give some thought to how plan B and C might work out, in or out of the military.

 

[DeadCactus]

I won't humor you because it's a stupid thought process that continues to be perpetrated. You afford medical school by choosing a lower cost option, taking the loans, and paying them back. That's how the majority of people do it and that is the most financially sound method of doing so. There is nothing wrong with the disciplined use of debt for long term financial success. To say you can't afford medical school and then sign up for the military despite the almost inevitable loss of hundreds of thousands in the long term is asinine. Just as in the rest of life, when you ask someone else to make the investment they are doing so to take money out of your pocket later.

Also, your thoughts on specialty choice, family, and deployment 6 to 11 years early are almost entirely irrelevant.

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

I just can't afford medical school on my own

Why not?

 

[jabreal00]

Why not?

Bad credit. Maxed out on prior private loans. Not everyone has the same credit worthiness. Though I would assume if one has crummy credit that would also make them a liability to get the secrete security clearance needed for the HPSP scholarship.