All Branch Topic (ABT) Will certain MOS help me as a doctor?

[HighPriest]

I gotta agree with Wernicke. Of course military service looks good on a CV. Unless you're applying for a job with the anti-militant wing of PETA, they're going to look favorably on prior service. Is it better than any civilian application bullet? No. Is it better than most? Probably. Does the MOS matter? Meh. Maybe? I think that would really depend upon who was looking at your application. Some might see that you were a medic and see it as evidence that you've had a long-standing interest in caring for people. Others might now, honestly. But no one is going to look at it and feel like you're ahead of the curve with regards to the study and practice of medicine - and for good reason. What they teach combat medics is not the same as what they teach you in medical school or a surgical residency. Personally, if I was choosing between an 11B and someone with medic experience, I'd go with the medic. But I don't think it's worth joining a branch of service to be a corpsman or medic just for the benefit it provides your resume. There are plenty of EMS/EMT guys applying as well, and again I'd say it's not worth doing that JUST for the application. If your grades are excellent, you have research experience, and you're looking for more without compromising those things then it's helpful. If not, you should definitely concentrate on grades and research. Keep in mind that at MANY medical schools, the staff spend as much or more time doing research than they do actually taking care of patients, and so in many of those cases they really do want to see some research interest. As someone who has done a lot of research and who hates doing research: that sucks, but it is true. With regards to age and delaying medical school: I also agree with what was posted above. Schools are becoming more comfortable with non-traditional applicants. I was a non-traditional student. I think things will continue to change to make non-trads more accepted, but there is still some bias. Most medical students go straight to medical school from the university, and that's not entirely due to statistics. It's due to preferential acceptance on one hand, and it's due to the exponentially increasing likelihood the further away one is from undergrad that one won't actually attend medical school - no matter how much they think they want to go.

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[Shikima]

Could always get a shiny new NOS!

... lulz

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

Could always get a shiny new NOS!

... lulz

 

[Apollyon]

I gotta agree with Wernicke. Of course military service looks good on a CV. Unless you're applying for a job with the anti-militant wing of PETA, they're going to look favorably on prior service. Is it better than any civilian application bullet? No. Is it better than most? Probably. Does the MOS matter? Meh. Maybe? I think that would really depend upon who was looking at your application. Some might see that you were a medic and see it as evidence that you've had a long-standing interest in caring for people. Others might now, honestly. But no one is going to look at it and feel like you're ahead of the curve with regards to the study and practice of medicine - and for good reason. What they teach combat medics is not the same as what they teach you in medical school or a surgical residency. Personally, if I was choosing between an 11B and someone with medic experience, I'd go with the medic. But I don't think it's worth joining a branch of service to be a corpsman or medic just for the benefit it provides your resume. There are plenty of EMS/EMT guys applying as well, and again I'd say it's not worth doing that JUST for the application. If your grades are excellent, you have research experience, and you're looking for more without compromising those things then it's helpful. If not, you should definitely concentrate on grades and research. Keep in mind that at MANY medical schools, the staff spend as much or more time doing research than they do actually taking care of patients, and so in many of those cases they really do want to see some research interest. As someone who has done a lot of research and who hates doing research: that sucks, but it is true. With regards to age and delaying medical school: I also agree with what was posted above. Schools are becoming more comfortable with non-traditional applicants. I was a non-traditional student. I think things will continue to change to make non-trads more accepted, but there is still some bias. Most medical students go straight to medical school from the university, and that's not entirely due to statistics. It's due to preferential acceptance on one hand, and it's due to the exponentially increasing likelihood the further away one is from undergrad that one won't actually attend medical school - no matter how much they think they want to go.

I'm nobody no one, but, if I was looking at apps for med school, I would find an 18 to be a LOT more interesting than a 68W. Hell, even a bullet catcher (11B) would give me something about which to talk.

 

[HighPriest]

I'm nobody no one, but, if I was looking at apps for med school, I would find an 18 to be a LOT more interesting than a 68W. Hell, even a bullet catcher (11B) would give me something about which to talk.

That's because you know what those things are. Your typical med school admissions guy doesn't. And frankly, they don't care. Military service has a check box, but by itself it isn't getting you in to school. If you jazz up the bullet by saying you were SF that would probably raise an eyebrow. Just like having a heartbreaking objective about how your parents struggled to immigrate to the US from Crapistan will raise an eyebrow. For the three guys out there who were 18D and then actually applied for med school, good for them. But if your grades suck and you have no research, you'all just be something they're talking about over coffee as an interesting thing they saw, rather than a candidate.
Also, if those 18D guys do what so many of them do when they rotate through their surgery rotations (i.e.: flat out tell people that they're basically surgeons) that's going to immediately undo all the goodwill their MOS bought them.