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any active duty applying to med school
Started by explorer_tx
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I left active duty years ago, but when I was in I was under the impression that it was outside of protocol to wear your uniform to non-military events.
My own personal advice would be not to do it either way. That's just my opinion though.
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Was in the USMC and I wore my uniform to several non military functions. Not sure about the med school interview. If you are unsure I would ask your c/o if it is appropriate. If he gives you the ok then wear what you've earned. I think all uniforms in the military look better than a suit. Maybe with the exception of the white uniform of the navy, but to each their own.
I have not applied, but I am thinking about it in a few years (when I retire) and if you are on active duty I don't think that it is a bad thing ... it does say something about you and you will stand out from the others (the reason I hate to wear my uniform in public now). I am not sure how the ADCOM would view it though.
But if you do, make sure it is squared away ... you never know the background of the people interviewing you - I would hate to be telling them the wrong thing!
But if you do, make sure it is squared away ... you never know the background of the people interviewing you - I would hate to be telling them the wrong thing!
After a little thought on it I think it would be pretty cool to wear the dress blues to interview. If you are not a marine, quick reenlist so you can wear the best looking uniform ever thought of! Of course it would delay your entrance to med school by a few years, but it would be a slam dunk acceptance! Even wear your sword they wouldn't reject you
It would also depend on the image you want to project. Do you want to practice military medicine? If you're on military money attending medical school and will be a physician in the military, I think it would be appropriate. If you just used to be or are in the military, but aren't going into the military after med school, then I don't think you should.
I wouldn't worry about it not being formal enough - if you can wear it at presidential functions and get married in it - the formal dress is formal enough.
Bringing your sword would be totally awesome though.
I wouldn't worry about it not being formal enough - if you can wear it at presidential functions and get married in it - the formal dress is formal enough.
Bringing your sword would be totally awesome though.
I did not wear mine to any interviews, except to Georgetown because they told me to wear it (and USUHS of course). Whether you wear it or not, I don't think makes any difference; it's whether you can articulate your experiences in the military well during the interview, and talk intelligently about why that makes you a good candidate for med school.
Thank you for your responses, I spoke to my C/O and advised me to wear the uniform; I plan to continue my career as an officer.
If I do not have to and I get longterm training, I will not apply for the HPSP. I did not apply to USUHS but will probably apply if I do not get in this year. Since I am a USPHS officer, it is easier to separate. LCDR, USPHS
Just a minor point: you don't "win" the medal of honor you "receive" it. As in MOH recipient as opposed to MOH winner.
To the OP, good luck. You will find your military service will be a plus in your application.
I have another question for you military people... have you ever been on a crew on an AC-130 gunship? If so, how ****ing loud is this thing?
You've got 4 huge propeller engines, and like 5 massive guns, and I don't know what else. I can't imagine that anyone comes back from a mission not deaf.
You've got 4 huge propeller engines, and like 5 massive guns, and I don't know what else. I can't imagine that anyone comes back from a mission not deaf.
Awesome.
That thing is called "Puff" as in Puff the Magic Dragon. Not only does is have rows of guns but also artillery, bombs, RPG, everything.
When you're infantry, in an overwhelming situation you call in fire support and they can dispatch one of those bastards. It kills everything. I think they have one in the film Blackhawk Down? Maybe or maybe not.
Try a youtube search.
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Don't wear it.
It will be distracting and you will be accused of being a tool. Besides most people will think you are a bellhop or the member of the marching band.
My uniform is in the closet where it belongs. Besides, you're not authorized to wear via UCMJ, not that you'll get an Article 15.
Never been on a gunship, but I have flown in C-130s a lot and jumped out of a few to boot.
They are loud. Unless you are an idiot, you wear earplugs. In fact, the nice stewardessess (Air Force Crew Members) generally pass them out before hand.
The noise on a C-130 isn't the worst thing though. The worst thing is when someone pukes, then another guy pukes, and before long, it turns into a giant barf-o-rama.
Sweet.
That's kind of what I was thinking. But to each and every I suppose.
My application was already ridiculously heavy on military stuff so I didn't feel the need to advertise.
Oh well.
You having any success this cycle, Ranger?
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Whoa. When on active duty, the seasonally appropriate service uniform is authorized for any and all functions, social engagements, and even just going out in town to drink a few.
Is it ever appropriate to go to an interview wearing all your gear and that **** that looks like leaves?
My favorite is a "map of the earth" chinook ride through the Aghani Mountains.
-Prior 82nd Airborne.
I just recently got out of the military and now I'm in medical school. OP, I would advise you not to wear your uniform to civilian school interviews. Some interviewers may not be exactly pro-military, and you don't want anything to distract them from focusing on you the applicant.
That's just my two cents.
That's just my two cents.
If you wear your uniform to show off, then I will personally fly to wherever you are and smoke you in your class A's. On my way to your neighborhood, you will notice chem-lights on the ground. You will also notice a ruck sack waiting for you and you won't be able to weigh it. From there, I will order you to carry it until I run out of chem-lights. And let me tell you, it's a long way to Venezula on foot.
Joking...dude, don't wear it, be a quiet professional, let your intelligence do the talking for you and not your clothes. ROCK ON!
Joking...dude, don't wear it, be a quiet professional, let your intelligence do the talking for you and not your clothes. ROCK ON!
Personally, I wouldn't. If your interviewer thinks favorably of military service, they already see the background in your application. If however they don't think highly of military service, you are giving a nice visual association for them to remember. Not worth it in my book.
thanks for the info. How was the reaction of the other persons interviewing?
fine, really, i'm pretty confident and it shows, so i don't think anyone would have said anything negative regardless...
my own thoughts, that uniform you wear symbolizes everything that makes you special and unique - leadership, mentorship, maturity, pride, etc - the interviewer is already going to know you are military from your app, so if he/she is anti-mil, they already know anyway. it never crossed my mind not to wear my dress uniform.
good luck!
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Wearing your service uniform depends on how much you identify with your service. Marines, for example, are much more likely to wear their uniforms to social and other functions because not only are our uniforms better-looking than the off-the-rack burlap sacks that the other services wear but we are generally fairly proud of being Marines and almost every Marine, active, retired, or discharged, still counts his Marine service as the most important part of his life.
The thing about wearing your service uniform (not "Dress Blues" or "Battle Dress" but the seasonal uniform of the day) on leave and liberty is that even back in my day it became somewhat retro. Most people wear civilian clothes on liberty, leave, or when travelling because they are more comfortable than, for example, the forest green wool Service "Alpha" uniform. If you ever watch old movies or newsreels servicemen used to wear their uniforms all of the time but this sort of tapered off in the sixties.
The point is that you have to get used to wearing service uniforms and cultivate the ability to sit in a bar, drinking cheap tequila and chatting up "low" women while maintaining your bearing and your attitude that you're wearing your uniform because it's who you are. It helps to have some stripes and a regulation but not obnoxiously so haircut. Trust me, if you're a young, fit Marine with reasonably good manners you will get a lot more respect than if you are some obnoxious punk in a high and tight puking all over his Korn T-shirt no matter where you go. My good friend and I used to go on liberty in the beating heart of liberalism and anti-military feeling (San Francisco..three day pass from Camp Pendleton you understand) and had nothing but good experiences.
My point is if you're comfortable in your uniform, feel like you've earned some distinction from your service, and more importantly are authorized to wear it (for example, I am not because I am not in the Marines anymore) then you should and screw anyone who is offended. If you own it, hardly anybody will be anyways.
By the way, when I first enlisted we were required to wear the appropriate service uniform on liberty and the Duty NCO had the responsibility of inspecting your uniform before issuing you a pass...and they checked libery passes. I was in for almost eight years and by the time I got out, like I said, it was hardly done.
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Were you Civil Affairs or SF?
I vote no. I interviewed for medical school while on Active Duty and wore civilian attire to civilian interviews.
Like some have already stated, your military experience is all over your application. I don't know what wearing your uniform adds.
Secondly, unless you are applying to USUHS, you will be going to a civilian school. As part of the adcom (I was part of the adcom for my school), I'd want to make sure that you are going to integrate well.
Lastly, if you're wearing a uniform, given that I'm prior service (and was an NCO to boot), I'm looking for deficiencies on your uniform. So if you choose to wear it, you'd better make sure it's squared away.
In my opinion, the uniform is a distraction. Both because I'm too busy worrying about what you've got on your chest and because it's as if you feel that you need bells and whistles to stand out and can't make it on your own. Depending on what you've done, a prior service interviewer may or may not be impressed. You've got Vietnam and Korean war vets that may be on the adcom. If you've deployed, that works in your favor. As a Bragg Baby myself, if you have no combat patch, airborne wings, +/- air assault badge, I'm not going to be all that impressed.
Like some have already stated, your military experience is all over your application. I don't know what wearing your uniform adds.
Secondly, unless you are applying to USUHS, you will be going to a civilian school. As part of the adcom (I was part of the adcom for my school), I'd want to make sure that you are going to integrate well.
Lastly, if you're wearing a uniform, given that I'm prior service (and was an NCO to boot), I'm looking for deficiencies on your uniform. So if you choose to wear it, you'd better make sure it's squared away.
In my opinion, the uniform is a distraction. Both because I'm too busy worrying about what you've got on your chest and because it's as if you feel that you need bells and whistles to stand out and can't make it on your own. Depending on what you've done, a prior service interviewer may or may not be impressed. You've got Vietnam and Korean war vets that may be on the adcom. If you've deployed, that works in your favor. As a Bragg Baby myself, if you have no combat patch, airborne wings, +/- air assault badge, I'm not going to be all that impressed.
Irony...
As to the uniform thing, I personally feel it's best to dress understated and let your accomplishments speak for themselves. Whether your interviewer is pro or anti-military, the sight of you in your uniform isn't going to sway them one way or the other. You'll have plenty of time to speak about your military service and how it's contributed in making you who you are. The uniform isn't necessary. Just my $0.02...
well, it certainly sounds like there are real, genuine military members posting here on sdn, and on both sides of the fence, so i would say - personal preference. if you feel more comfortable in the uniform, go for it; if not, don't. i do agree, if you are going to wear it, check it twice, and be squared away - i know i did/was! i do think it shows you can present a professional, confident appearance. but yes, you can do that in a suit as well.
as far as your accomplishments go, i agree with this poster. you aren't going to get in simply b/c you are mil - you better have a strong app, stats, etc. that said, as an active duty (or prior) military member, you have a lot to offer a medical student body.
integration, that really depends on the person. i know i won't have any issue integrating into a student body. i spent a semester in a post-bacc program at PCOM; some nights, i wore my uniform straight from work, some nights, no. presentations? dress blues. worked out just fine...
oh, and i've never chatted up any "low" women while in uniform - is there a warfare pin for that?
Yeah, I had a Force Recon Viet Nam Vet in one of my interviews. Needless to say, I felt a little silly talking about my military service to him.
I agree that integration depends on the person. I am talking about the perception that wearing a uniform to an interview implies. Wearing a uniform means you want to be identified with the military, which is kind of dubious to me. After all, I am admitting the student, not the uniform. The uniform by default acts as a barrier/prop and makes me wonder if this student can stand on their own without the ribbons to "prove" that he is worthy.
Dress blues for presentations?😕 Well, maybe I just come from a more low-key school of thought. I've never worn my uniform in the presence of any of my classmates, and even before they knew I was in the military, I was told on numerous occasions that I had an air of authority and command presence. For me, the uniform does not make the woman, and it has a time an place, rarely in a civilian capacity.
You know the crazy thing? When they try and thank you for your service! Like you did anything compared to what they did! I was at Jumpmaster school when a whole bunch of WWII vets came by, some jumped in on D-Day...and they were thanking (and saluting) me!😱 I was so humbled and not worthy to even stand in their presence. I've had the honor to meet some true heroes - Buffalo soldiers, Bataan survivors, and regular joes from various wars who went and did their duty.
I am always honored to take care of our vets. Luckily, we work at a VA at my school, and when any of my classmates try to say anything remotely disparaging, you can bet I put them in their place!
i thank all of you who serve. we definitely live in different times, but we still carry out a very worthy and important mission as a military...
how many of you are using hpsp thru school, how many of you are at usuhs, and how many of you are applying to either/both?
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Whoa Nelly. A Marine Infantryman or an Army Ranger (as examples) is so far ahead, generally speaking, of his cohort of civilian applicants as to being able to stand on his own that to even consider the converse is puzzling. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your miltary service, especially when it has required a massive commitment time and considerable personal risk. It is not, repeat not, the sign of some character flaw to wear your uniform as a matter of course.
You are not a civilian while on active duty and there is no requirment that you pretend to be one, once again, the inference that you should be ashamed of your identity or at least hide it to avoid offending the one person out of a thousand who would be offended is puzzling. It is always appropriate to wear your uniform in any capacity except if you look like an ass-bag in it in which case maybe you should wear civilian clothes. I find the notion that one should be ashamed of their uniform, stripes (or bars), service ribbons, and medals to be unfathomable.
I realize that some services and some military specialties are like regular nine-to-five jobs but it's not like that for everyone.
Oorah!!!
I never implied that one should be ashamed of their service - I certainly am not ashamed of mine. Although others brought up the point of possibly offending an interviewer, I never made that point. After all, if they were going to be offended, it's going to happen whether you're in uniform or not as long as it's on your application. However, just as I would be puzzled if a police officer wore his uniform to a medical school interview, I am puzzled as to what the point of wearing a military uniform to a civilian medical school (or civilian business interview, law school, etc.). I don't think that wearing a nice suit with your credentials on your resume/application shows any sort of embarrassment or in any way implies that you are trying to hide what you've done. If a civilian even understands what it means to be a Ranger or Marine Infantrymen, they'll understand it in writing just as easily as on your chest. To me, you're applying for a civilian spot - wear civilian clothes. My opinion. YMMV.
Regarding the 9-to-5...If you're implying that this is the sort of military job I had, you couldn't be more wrong. I lived and breathed my job while I was on active duty, missed it during these past 4 years, and am looking forward to going back in as a medical corps officer. But even if it was, that does not make my opinion less creditable. I'm giving my perspective as a former NCO, commissioned officer, and a former member of a medical school admissions committee.
I wholeheartedly agree - I am just in awe because they did it in worse conditions (and sometimes with less support) than we currently enjoy. Never meant to imply that we are doing less.
I am using HPSP.
Personally, I enjoyed my time in the military, but am looking forward to moving on to the civilian phase of my life. I don't plan to apply for the hpsp.
Also, on the whole uniform thing. I did wear my uniform to get married in. I wasn't on active duty when I applied so it was a moot point. I have plenty of wazoo badges and medals to stick on my uniform to look sharp and be proud of, but I wouldn't have worn my uniform to a civilian interview.
It's just individual preference I suppose.
Yeah, that always makes me feel odd. I could fit my experience under fire in a thimble compared to them.
Still, it's nice to know that vets generally respect each other. The type of person that would find themselves in Iraq in 2005 is the same type of person that would find themselves on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. I think their is a recognition of that.
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Because you're not a civilian and in a way (retro as this sounds, see my earlier post) have no business wearing a suit when you have a perfectly decent uniform. My concession to not "over-doing it" would be that I wouldn't wear "Dress Blues" to an interview because that would be a little over the top. Service Alphas? That's our equivalent of a suit and tie.
And I'm not implying your job was nine-to-five, just pointing out that there are varying levels of committement and intensity in the military and the degree to which you identify with your service may (may) be related to this.
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Just a general comment: The fear of wearing your uniform is the fear of being labled as a conformist, someone who is not an individual and thus not attractive to medical school admission committees that purport to value individualism. Philosophically, however, and I'm sure the veterans here can attest to this, Soldiers and Marines are highly varied in their opinions, upbringing, education, and politics. Much more individualistic than the general population in a typical university and even at most medical schools. It's just that we have a little bit of self-discipline and the common sense to realize that we don't have to act like goddam individuals all the time and don't mind subordinating some of our personal liberties to an organization.
Hence you can still project your individuality, your personality, and your opinions while wearing your uniform. Come on. My buddy and I pub-crawled in ours.
Again philosophically, you will be a good deal more constrained in medical school and residency than you ever were in the military. Try, for example, criticising anything in residency and see the shrieks of outrage that will ensue, so sensitive is the "establishment" to dissent. Even in the Marines it is all right to admit that a lot of what we do sucks and nobody will get their panties in a wad if you decide not to reenlist.
Hence you can still project your individuality, your personality, and your opinions while wearing your uniform. Come on. My buddy and I pub-crawled in ours.
Again philosophically, you will be a good deal more constrained in medical school and residency than you ever were in the military. Try, for example, criticising anything in residency and see the shrieks of outrage that will ensue, so sensitive is the "establishment" to dissent. Even in the Marines it is all right to admit that a lot of what we do sucks and nobody will get their panties in a wad if you decide not to reenlist.
To clarify, if it even matters now, but I did wear Service Dress Blues with ribbons (suit and tie equiv). Certainly not mess dress, or full medals, or anything like that...
I wore my SDB to my med school interview and did not have any problems. Thanks for all the advice.
How are you planning to play for med school? will you take a leave of absence>?
