4-Year Army ROTC

[Arciniega91]

Here is the deal. I am a Senior interested in becoming a doctor.
Undergrad college is going to cost a lot and it seems like ROTC can be a solution, but how can this affect my college experience?
Will i have enough time to study? Sleep? Will i have time for my self?

The booklet i got says if i win the scholarship i will be committed to "serve on active duty for a minimum of four years."
Becoming a doctor will already take up more then ten years of my life, do i want to add four more years?
Is that how it works?

I am not sure how this whole thing is going to be
and i dont want to commit myself to something that will hurt my chances of becoming a doctor, I'm in a huge debate with myself,
can someone help me?

PS: My intended majors are either biochemistry or a double major with molecular biology and something else.

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[FutureCTDoc]

Here is the deal. I am a Senior interested in becoming a doctor.
Undergrad college is going to cost a lot and it seems like ROTC can be a solution, but how can this affect my college experience?
Will i have enough time to study? Sleep? Will i have time for my self?

The booklet i got says if i win the scholarship i will be committed to "serve on active duty for a minimum of four years."
Becoming a doctor will already take up more then ten years of my life, do i want to add four more years?
Is that how it works?

I am not sure how this whole thing is going to be
and i dont want to commit myself to something that will hurt my chances of becoming a doctor, I'm in a huge debate with myself,
can someone help me?

PS: My intended majors are either biochemistry or a double major with molecular biology and something else.

If you really want to do medicine I would consider HPSP, health professions scholarship program which will pay for med school. UG is cheap in comparison. Also consider USHS, uniformed services health sciences university for med school. The ROTC is 4 years active duty plus usually 4 in the reserves. Most ROTC duty related things are on weekends and summers. I think it maybe harmful to becoming a physician. Go premed then military med.

 

[xmsr3]

ROTC, HPSP and USUHS are for those who have done their research and know that military medicine is for them. People who sign up just to pay for college end up regretting it badly, just check out the military medicine forum.

If after careful research and consideration you decide that military medicine is for you, ROTC and USUHS is a great way to go through under grad and med school with 0 debt. Just make sure you realize that if you do ROTC then at USUHS you are required to stick with that service, so make sure you do your research into what branch you want, there are definate pros and cons for each, (check military med forums on SDN for info on these).

Or if you're really gung ho for the life of a medical officer you can do what my sister is doing, become a gunner early on, get straight As in high school, take every AP course you can, get on student council, volunteer at a hospital from the earliest possible date and contact your senator early, apply to West Point, and use it as a spring board for USUHS.

Of course that road is only for very specific people, and requires a lot of planning and A HELL OF A LOT OF HARD WORK, since West Point is crazy competative and USUHS is also competative as with any MD school.

 

[DoctorS_]

As a fellow high school student who has considered joining the military and has done extensive research on the topic, I'd like to warn you of something. If you are sure you want to be in the US Army, by gaining your commission through ROTC, understand that you may have to serve as a line officer, before going to medical school. To be able to go to medical school while doing ROTC, you would have to apply for a deferment. This may or may not be accepted by the Army, and you may have to serve in another capacity.

 

[sgtbrushes]

Credentials: I served five years active duty in the Marine Corps before starting undergrad this fall.

Do not, under any circumstances, join the military for any other reason other than wanting to be in and work in the armed forces. Do not do it to pay for school. That's why there are part-time jobs and student loans. Having said that, if you have decided to pursue military medicine, HPSP, as others have said, may be a better alternative to ROTCS. You will probably pay your own way through UG, and our tax dollars will pick up the bill for med school.

Of course, there are no Marine doctors - we just mooch off the Navy, so you cannot become a Marine doctor. The three branches' programs are similar, but do have some differences. More info:

Navy HPSP: http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navme...rofessionsScholarshipProgram_Prospective.aspx
Army HPSP: http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/hpsp.jsp
Air Force HPSP: http://www.airforce.com/opportunities/healthcare/education/

 

[NickNaylor]

I don't pretend to know much about the military medicine programs, but I would suggest doing your research - LOTS of research - before committing to these programs. As others have said, I don't think it's a good idea to simply use these programs to pay for your education. If you want to be in the military, fine, but these should be used as a last resort in all other cases.

 

[Terpskins99]

If you really want to do medicine I would consider HPSP, health professions scholarship program which will pay for med school. UG is cheap in comparison. Also consider USHS, uniformed services health sciences university for med school. The ROTC is 4 years active duty plus usually 4 in the reserves. Most ROTC duty related things are on weekends and summers. I think it maybe harmful to becoming a physician. Go premed then military med.

IF you decide that the military is for you... then shucks, go all out.

ROTC for college is 4 year payback.
USUHS for medical school 7 year payback.
Thats 11 years of payback, plus time in residency (which I hear counts towards retirement... thats going to be between 3-7 years depending on the specialty).

heheh, by the time you're done with residency and payback, you'd only have a few years remaining in active duty to reach 20 year retirement-pay. Not to mention, you'll probably make full-bird colonel by then.

 

[Arciniega91]

IF you decide that the military is for you... then shucks, go all out.

ROTC for college is 4 year payback.
USUHS for medical school 7 year payback.
Thats 11 years of payback, plus time in residency (which I hear counts towards retirement... thats going to be between 3-7 years depending on the specialty).

heheh, by the time you're done with residency and payback, you'd only have a few years remaining in active duty to reach 20 year retirement-pay. Not to mention, you'll probably make full-bird colonel by then.

Well, its actually my father pushing me to this . Since its going to be his money that pays for college (at least the first years
), i thought it was my duty to look into these programs. I had been considering some military medical graduate school when i first started liking the idea of becoming a doctor, but i didnt do much research as i knew it would be a few years before i began applying.

As i said i do like the military path, i have a problem though. I am Catholic and i wouldn't desire taking someone else's life if it came to that. Again, i just want to be a doctor; saving lives is my thing, not taking them. The money with joining the military is like the cherry on top. I more so seek the special training, discipline, and recognition.

I have a special inquiry about what i had mentioned earlier about the double major. What if i double majored in molecular biology and philosophy? Ive been reading a book on philosophy and im overjoyed. But then again, philosophy isnt a good backup plan. I would do philosophy alone and just do the requirements for medicine school but then again what can i do with a mere philosophy degree? I dont like the idea of becoming a teacher. And the medicine reqs wouldnt help me at all at finding a job either would they?

im thinking of attending either UC San Diego or U-Michigan, whichever accepts me. AS of now,those are the schools i like, not that i cant change my mind. Reasons i like them is because both teach excellent science and philosophy, they fit my personality, and they are both good graduate schools.

Just laying out my thoughts.

OH, and i appreciate your help, thank you

 

[silverhorse84]

As i said i do like the military path, i have a problem though. I am Catholic and i wouldn't desire taking someone else's life if it came to that. Again, i just want to be a doctor; saving lives is my thing, not taking them. The money with joining the military is like the cherry on top. I more so seek the special training, discipline, and recognition.

I'm just saying this in case you don't know. When deployed, military physicians carry guns and are expected to use them if needed.

 

[Artimacia]

I'm just saying this in case you don't know. When deployed, military physicians carry guns and are expected to use them if needed.

Yea, it seems you (OP) are just considering it for help to pay for college, which is a bad idea. Another thing, yes, defending your life and missions are part of the military, but the military isn't about "taking lives", that's not the point at all, and if that's how you view the military to be, than it's probably not for you. Keep in mind, like said above, everyone is still given a rifle and is expected to use them if needed. If your squad is getting shot at, you won't be given a pardon to not shoot to protect yourself and others because of religion. The military is a big decision, you really have to do research and really have to do it for the right reasons.

 

[speed of dark]

I know I'm new to this forum, but I'm not new to the military. Have you considered the Guard? The Army National Guard is paying for my undergrad degree by way of student loan repayment, up to $4500 a year from federal tuition assistance, additional state tuition assistance and $530 a month from the Montgomery GI Bill. And I'm not even in ROTC. Though the Guard does offer a two year ROTC scholarship which would obligate you to serve 8 years part-time instead of 4 years full-time like with the Active Duty component.

 

[Artimacia]

Also, something I noticed above, with ROTC, you only serve 4 years active duty, and you don't serve any years in reserves.

 

[sonofva]

Yeah. Your best strategy is to sign up for military service as late as is possible. Once they get their hooks in you, your flexibility in life choices and career paths decreases exponentially.

It is often times very difficult to get a med school exemption once you sign on for ROTC. If you sign up for FAP or HPSP once you get accepted to med school, you can call more of the shots (as a credentialed physician, you kind of have them over a barrell).

I would say don't do ROTC unless you are sure you want to do career military.

 

[sumstorm]

Remember that things change over time, so what I am writtig may no longer be accurate. I wanted to share my husband's experience and advice. He did ROTC in undergrad to pay for his education because his parents had him very late in life and asking them to part with thier retirement to fund his college was unreasonable (they were over retirment age when he started college) but was part of the EFC (expected family contribution.)

So, ROTC paid for his schooling. He says the only way to insure that you are never expected to participate in killing is to register as a conscientious objector (not the easiest process) which may or may not keep you from getting into the ROTC. If you do file and then join as such, you will be limited in MOS's (military occupational specialty) to non-combatant jobs. That does NOT mean you won't end up in combat, just that you can't pick up a weapon. In combat, the Geneva convention 'protects' non-combatants. It can also be a bit shakey when it comes to a conflict with non-uniformed combatants (ie terrorists.)

OK, that all said, med school and how it goes after undergrad in the ROTC will be dependent on thousands of factors, including where our military is, what their needs are, your education and abilities, etc.

Now, everyone says 'don't do this if you don't want to be part of the military.' And maybe that is true for the current generation; if you aren't use to ever having to do really tough stuff to get to where your dreams are, then maybe it is a really stupid thing to do. My husband never wanted to be military, but it was well worth it to put him in his current six figure income career, which he never would have had otherwise. He could not have excelled as an engineer in school if he had to work FT to cover the EFC that his parents couldn't contribute. I worked FT through undergrad, and it does affect your GPA, which can affect your ability to get into school.

While in undergrad, the ROTC commitment will include a series of classes in military science, drill days, summer camp (normally between Jr/Sr year), officer course after college. He did have ample time to hang out, party, study, and have a relatively normal college life. Actually, far more normal than my 50-60 hour work week scheduled around classes.

As noted, things change all the time, so do due diligence, and DO NOT trust what recruiters say to you. Insist on seeing things in writing if any promises are being made. Best wishes.