Army - Active Duty Pre-Med?

[delderfield]

Hello guys, I have been running into quite a dilemma lately and was hoping for some insight.
I am currently undergoing the process of enlistment into the Army; however, the problem I cannot seem to come to a conclusion with is if I should process through the Reserves or Active Duty. I am currently a Junior at a 4-year University, working on a BS in Neuroscience and Applied Psych, while tackling my pre-med requisites. My goal, since high school, has been to become a surgeon in the Army. Therefore, Med school is in my future. However, I would be shipping out for BCT come January, and I was wondering if it was at all possible to finish my pre-med reqs while Active Duty? Because well to my understanding, it is very difficult and a long process to get a release from the Reserves to Active - and active is where I long-term wanted to end up; hence why I was thinking of just processing straight as. So my overall question is, how feasible is this? Has anyone else here managed to finish their BS and pre-reqs Active Duty and go off to med school (ideally for me USUHS)?

Thank you

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[DoctorDoom]

...I was wondering if it was at all possible to finish my pre-med reqs while Active Duty? ... Has anyone else here managed to finish their BS and pre-reqs Active Duty and go off to med school (ideally for me USUHS)?

I did not go through this process myself, but for my medics over the last few years it has been well-nigh impossible to complete their pre-med requirements on AD (lab requirements are the problem). If you complete your bachelors before you enlist you may qualify for the Enlist to Medical Degree Prep Program through USUHS (http://www.usuhs.edu/adm/emdp2.html) . But my experience for meeting pre-med requirements while AD is a resounding no.

You may want to talk to a recruiter about enlisting after you complete your BS, and then applying for the EMDPP. But if you want to join medical corps, why enlist at all? Complete your requirements and your bachelors, and then join through one of the more traditional routes. I can't see the rationale for joining the Reserves at all at this point for you as a junior.

 

[pgg]

Wait wait wait

You're a college junior, presumably a bit less than 2 years from graduation, and you're thinking of enlisting? Why?

If you want to be an Army surgeon, finish your degree, get the prereqs done, apply to med school, and go to med school via HPSP or USUHS. Or go to med school on loans and come on active duty afterwards via FAP or direct accession.

Enlisting prior to finishing your undergrad degree will make it far more difficult to become a doctor. Med school adcoms will not be impressed by some piecemeal cobbled-together undergrad degree that you finished with TA while enlisted ... and that's if you're even able to finish the degree at all while enlisted. Which you probably won't.

You're a college junior, you have a career goal, you have your **** together. Going to boot camp and grinding out an enlistment where you're treated like a helpless 17-year-old out of high school will SUCK and will seriously delay the day you become a physician.

Don't enlist if you want to be a doctor.

 

[Andrew N]

I'm currently on active duty in the Marine Corps and I'll tell you first hand, do not enlist if you want to be a doctor sooner rather than later. I'm doing as many pre reqs as I can in my spare time but it's not easy and I don't really have time for studying for the mcat or taking upper level bios and chems with labs. The greatest benefit is that I've got the GI bill to pay for med school now. I'll be 24-25 going to med school now after I get out of the Corps and finish prereqs and study for the mcat then apply, as opposed to finishing college ASAP and being in med school around 22-23. My situation is different.. Non traditional student, wife and 2 children to support - but if I didn't have children I absolutely would not have enlisted if I was a year or two out from finishing my undergrad. The army isn't going to just let you devote all the time you need to finish your degree unless you go reserves, which is also a dumb idea. Even if you managed to take night classes and finish it up on TA.. they're not going to just let you head on over to med school. You would need to get a conditional release or do hpsp/usu and that's assuming everything went smoothly and your command has no issues with it. Not something I would count on if my goal was to be a surgeon.. Unless you really don't mind putting it off a few years to go get whatever it is out of your system that wants to be in the army right this second so bad. Take my advice for what it's worth, but you should finish your degree.. Then go hpsp, compete for a kickass surgical residency following that.. and call it a day. Enlisting is going backwards brother.. Tell the recruiter to **** off and go find an army hpsp recruiter, or at least an officer recruiter.

 

[Succubus]

Wait wait wait

You're a college junior, presumably a bit less than 2 years from graduation, and you're thinking of enlisting? Why?

If you want to be an Army surgeon, finish your degree, get the prereqs done, apply to med school, and go to med school via HPSP or USUHS. Or go to med school on loans and come on active duty afterwards via FAP or direct accession.

Enlisting prior to finishing your undergrad degree will make it far more difficult to become a doctor. Med school adcoms will not be impressed by some piecemeal cobbled-together undergrad degree that you finished with TA while enlisted ... and that's if you're even able to finish the degree at all while enlisted. Which you probably won't.

You're a college junior, you have a career goal, you have your **** together. Going to boot camp and grinding out an enlistment where you're treated like a helpless 17-year-old out of high school will SUCK and will seriously delay the day you become a physician.

Don't enlist if you want to be a doctor.

I agree.

I enlisted 2 months ago, and will be ship out in late October. I wouldn't join myself, if it wasn't for the financial problems I was going through, no good job, and I didn't really accomplish much academically after being out of high school for 2 years due to personal reasons. I simply need the money, and my life is utterly miserable.

The next 3 years will be more or less a waste of time as far as helping me in my career (although can't really say that either since my career is in the military), but I am not going to regret this decision. My army job is intelligence and it's not in medical, but I'm not too concern either about that, since I plan on going to USU (my dream school)

In the big schemes of things, I am going to lose 100k of pay of potential officer pay... since my end goal is to become a military doctor. Although, my years as an enlistee will count towards my retirement, to my pension, and at the end of the day for me, being a military doctor, the pension is all that matters. All military doctors will lose out in comparison to civilian doctors when it comes to pay.

Money isn't the most important thing in my life, although it's high up there. Right now the reason I join is for money, survival, and I'm tired of being so poor.

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But I wouldn't do it if I was you.

 

[HomeSkool]

Enlisting prior to finishing your undergrad degree will make it far more difficult to become a doctor.

You're a college junior, you have a career goal, you have your **** together. Going to boot camp and grinding out an enlistment where you're treated like a helpless 17-year-old out of high school will SUCK and will seriously delay the day you become a physician.

Don't enlist if you want to be a doctor.

This.

Why in the world do you want to enlist if your goal is to be a high-level professional and Medical Corps officer? Enlisting will do nothing to facilitate that goal and in all likelihood will actually severely complicate or even prevent it.

Finish your degree, then join through HPSP or USUHS. Those are the programs specifically designed to further the exact career goals you say you have.

 

[bryce]

I've done what you're talking about doing. Though my case is different (I enlisted in response to 9/11), I originally planned on doing my 4 year stint & knocking out my prereq's simultaneously between deployments (as I had been told it wouldn't be a problem to do so). Twelve years later, as an O-3/E, I am only now preparing to apply to medical school.

Again, my case is extremely rare, as I was selected to earn my commission (in brutal fashion) via accelerated ocs, prior to even having my undergrad degree. But I only did so because I found that I am pretty good at this game... and most days I enjoy it. That said, I'm to the point where I am ready to move on to something new (though I am going to do HPSP & just retire; hopefully as an O-5 or above). However, I have been through HELL just to get into my current position to where I can even apply.

With deployments not really going away (you will always be going somewhere), the delay for what you want to do can be potentially catastrophic if you've never really been tested emotionally before. Do what you will, but you'd probably be happier just doing either USHUS/HPSP. PM me if you require further guidance & good luck.

 

[jabreal00]

Hello guys, I have been running into quite a dilemma lately and was hoping for some insight.
I am currently undergoing the process of enlistment into the Army; however, the problem I cannot seem to come to a conclusion with is if I should process through the Reserves or Active Duty. I am currently a Junior at a 4-year University, working on a BS in Neuroscience and Applied Psych, while tackling my pre-med requisites. My goal, since high school, has been to become a surgeon in the Army. Therefore, Med school is in my future. However, I would be shipping out for BCT come January, and I was wondering if it was at all possible to finish my pre-med reqs while Active Duty? Because well to my understanding, it is very difficult and a long process to get a release from the Reserves to Active - and active is where I long-term wanted to end up; hence why I was thinking of just processing straight as. So my overall question is, how feasible is this? Has anyone else here managed to finish their BS and pre-reqs Active Duty and go off to med school (ideally for me USUHS)?

Thank you

Unless you are in severe financial problems and have a family to support your plan doesn't make much sense. You will not complete your pre-reqs as many have already alluded while on active duty. You'd have to finish whatever your obligation is before you could really knock out the prerequisites and start applying for the MCAT. I guess in the way that you do it you'd have the GI bill to go towards medschool and be free and clear of any further obligation?

 

[ARAMP1]

Let me assure you that it will be very, very difficult to finish pre-med requirements while on active duty. Between TDYs, exercises, deployments, etc that will almost never line up with a semester that you need to be in class with labs. It took me 8 years to finish mine. Partly due to getting my wife pregnant and one PCS, but it wouldn't have been easy otherwise. My pre-reqs are from 4 different schools because I took classes that were available. I've dropped Organic Chemistry three times due to military commitments. The first time, I had to fly a jet to Kadina AB in Japan and was leaving the day of the first test. I went in to meet with my instructor to explain to him the situation that I was in the military, etc and try to take the test the day before. He wouldn't budge, my options were to miss the first test (which everyone knows is the easiest) and get a B in the class or drop it. I've also had great professors. I had a short notice deployment where I missed the last three weeks of my anatomy class. My professor gave me an A instead of an incomplete even though I didn't take the final.

If I had to do it all again, my undergrad degree (mathematics) would have been biology or chemistry and included the pre-reqs. My advice, from someone who has taken every pre-med class from chem 1 on up while on active duty, would be to finish it now and get in a position to where you can join as a medical student. Good luck!

 

[Kingfisher]

Preface: I am prior enlisted and many of my prior enlisted shipmates have done their enlisted tour and lived with their self respect intact. However......

I really do not like enlisted recruiting as a whole. The process is based on performance and a lot of stress is placed on these folks NOT to get a donut (zero enlistments for the month). That highly competitive environment allows for some to let their "honor" and "commitment" to slide ever so slightly and allow some folks to enlist where they would be better served as an officer or NOT in the military all together. Through my interviews with patients I can say I often (TOO often) run into guys/gals that were counseled to:
1. Not report psych history. A REALLY bad idea because it will ALWAYS resurface. Usually on deployments or other stressful situations.
2. Not report medical conditions. (Oh, if I had a dime...)
3. Sign up for another A school because their are no positions available right now. Results in years doing something they do not want to do.

And my favorite.
4. Enlist as a college grad. Are you kidding me? Now granted, some people actually WANT to go this route for various reasons, but almost all of the ones I have spoken to ( n of ~20) didn't realize that there was a difference between officer and enlisted when they signed up. As crazy as that sounds, they just wanted to serve and they just talked to a recruiter who they trusted to look out for their best interest. They did not realize that because of their level of education they could have been placed on a separate track that could have given them a better quality of life and higher pay.

Stepping off soap box now.