Will the military allow a doctor to apply to OCS?

[NeedToStudy]

Would the military allow somebody who has finished residency to go to OCS and train for a mos other than physician? Or will they push you into medicine whether you like it or not?

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[68PGunner]

Would the military allow somebody who has finished residency to go to OCS and train for a mos other than physician? Or will they push you into medicine whether you like it or not?

Why go OCS to become an officer? You need to enlist and train to be a real soldier.

 

[deleted480308]

Would the military allow somebody who has finished residency to go to OCS and train for a mos other than physician? Or will they push you into medicine whether you like it or not?

you can sign up for anything you meet the qualifications for.....but you'll have a rougher life than doctors and get paid less

 

[Shikima]

Hello Frank Burns!

 

[Vandalia]

Sure. However, be aware that in the event of a "national emergency" (whether real or the result of bad military personnel management) you will very likely be moved to serve as a physician.

Back before Desert Storm, there was an orthopedic surgeon who was a pilot and the Deputy Commander for Operations of a reserve air refueling wing. He was known to boast that he "out-smarted" HQ AF and as a senior staff member of an operational wing, the SG could not touch him. Nope. When things kicked off, he was quickly reassigned despite his protests to a medical position.

Physicians are considered the most valuable asset in the military, even more so than pilots. (Although the Pentagon rarely acts that way until things become desperate.) So although the situation I describe above is different because the guy was an orthopedic surgeon in the "real world", do not be surprised if you quickly end up back in the medical world.

 

[NeedToStudy]

Sure. However, be aware that in the event of a "national emergency" (whether real or the result of bad military personnel management) you will very likely be moved to serve as a physician.

Back before Desert Storm, there was an orthopedic surgeon who was a pilot and the Deputy Commander for Operations of a reserve air refueling wing. He was known to boast that he "out-smarted" HQ AF and as a senior staff member of an operational wing, the SG could not touch him. Nope. When things kicked off, he was quickly reassigned despite his protests to a medical position.

Physicians are considered the most valuable asset in the military, even more so than pilots. (Although the Pentagon rarely acts that way until things become desperate.) So although the situation I describe above is different because the guy was an orthopedic surgeon in the "real world", do not be surprised if you quickly end up back in the medical world.

That's actually exactly what I was wondering about, if they would just switch you. Will they make you go through COT or Officer Basic Course before they switch you?

And what if you join a branch that doesn't have a medical corps, like the marine corps or the coast guard?

 

[Cooperd0g]

If you have already gone through OCS as a line officer you won't have to go through COT, BOLC, ODS, etc again if they subsequently switch you to medical corps.

Keep in mind that if you did join the military as a line officer via OCS you don't have to blatantly advertise that you have an MD or DO degree every time you meet someone. Sure, some part of the system will know, but that doesn't mean that everyone will always know. The chances of a major conflict breaking out, someone realizing you happen to also be a physician, and being forced to switch to medical corps is going to be incredibly small. Sure, it is possible, but highly unlikely. If you joined the Marines or Coast Guard the chances of being forced to medical are even smaller I would venture to guess.

 

[j4pac]

No serious...why?

 

[Helpful Troll]

NeedtoStudy -

Here is a link to ArmyOCS. It has links to the Navy, Coast Guard, Marine, and Air Force OCS portals. Please don't join any service as a line officer unless you truly have a passion to lead young men and women.

Do you intend to get an unrestricted medical license before you join the military? If not, that's another way to avoid a force transfer to any 'Medical Corps'.

Do you have a US Bachelor Degree? If not, start gathering your foreign degree documents and transcripts to have them officially translated. The OCS application process and timeline for all services is long, time consuming, and includes rigid eligibility criteria.

j4pac - NeedtoStudy's post history indicates he is an IMG and unhappy with medicine for years. What he doesn't realize is he would likely be trading one 'unhappiness', medicine, for another possibly worse option, military officer.

 

[Helpful Troll]

Would the military allow somebody who has finished residency to go to OCS and train for a mos other than physician? Or will they push you into medicine whether you like it or not?

NeedtoStudy - Have you passed Step1 and 2's yet? Are you in a US Residency yet? I'm beginning to agree with 68PGunner.

Why go OCS to become an officer? You need to enlist and train to be a real soldier.

 

[Perrotfish]

No serious...why?

I'm going to guess the OP wants to join the reserves to live out a lifelong fantasy of being in the military, without sacrificing his stable medical career. He also has the insight to realize that military medicine isn't going to fulfill any of those military fantasies, so he wants to do something more focused on warfighting.

 

[deleted480308]

I'm going to guess the OP wants to join the reserves to live out a lifelong fantasy of being in the military, without sacrificing his stable medical career. He also has the insight to realize that military medicine isn't going to fulfill any of those military fantasies, so he wants to do something more focused on warfighting.

I go to school with a ms4 who is in a reserve/guard special operations team. He's been offered to commission and go medical and turned it down....just really likes running around shooting at stuff