Can I serve in the reserve after rotc and go to med school?

[secondchanceSam]

I have looked on other threads that discussed situations similar to mine but I cant find something closely analogous to my situation.

Background information:
I went to a community college for a year before gaining an appointment to Annapolis. The academy thing didn't work out so I ended up going back to my community college where I finished up my studies.

Present Situation:
Due to family problems I am not able to pay for college.I have decided to take a semester off for the fall of 2013 so I can earn some money. I am considering a 2 year army scholarship to help me finance my final 2 or possibly 3 years of school(it might take me 3 years if I decide to major in computer science and go to a university as opposed to some of the liberal arts colleges I am interested in attending).I do not want to do military medicine so USU and the HPSP is out of the question.

Questions: According to the army ROTC website if I take the scholarship I will owe four years in the army as a commissioned officer.


1. How feasible is it to gain a commission in the reserves after my ROTC excursion and go to medical school right after college while serving in the reserves? Do I have to perform extraordinary on the OML to choose if I can go in the reserves or is that out of my hands.

2. I would like to serve as an infantry officer If I am able to gain a scholarship. Is my MOS friendly with respect to allowing me to go to med school or is that only dependent on my unit.



I know this is alot of information but I really dont know what else to do.
All advice is welcome, thank you for reading,

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[Thor58]

Hello SCSam,

I am a commissioned officer (Second Lieutenant) in the Army National Guard applying for this cycle to medical school. I frequent the forms, but only just now registered so that I could reply to this because I am in a similar situation.

There is an option to apply for an "education delay" to pursue graduate level course work after you finish undergrad. From my understanding, if you qualify based upon your rank on the OML and hold an acceptance letter to a medical school (not sure how you'd pull one off but not the other), then there is little problems with the Army releasing you....with the understanding that you will pledge to serve a few additional years after you complete medical school. This link might help to answer a few more of your questions:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=815138

In regards to pursuing Infantry, there are few Reserve Infantry units and much more on the National Guard side of the house. This is true with all combat oriented MOS. I am currently a line platoon leader in a Cavalry unit and love it. My commander is very supportive of my pursuit and there are no problems if you can handle it...

Now is where it gets tricky.... Applying right after your undergrad or waiting until you are qualified as an officer. Once you have completed ROTC and BOLC A (Basic Officer Leadership Course), you will be required to attend BOLC B and become qualified as an 11A or Infantry officer (approx 20 weeks I believe).... Also understand that this commitment will leave you with little time to spend freely on your summers volunteering, researching, or helping to build your application.

There are a lot of variables... I would advise you to speak with one of the recruiters at the ROTC unit you are wishing to join... You may need to obtain "basic course credit" which is Leadership Training Course, or Basic Training......

If I was in your boat I would probably look to a medical care specialty on the enlisted side of the house like Combat Medic (68W)... the training and clinical experience you could gain would be invaluable.

Best of luck.

 

[secondchanceSam]

Very informative, just the type of answer I was looking for. I now have some insight into the feasibility of what I am trying to do.

Some more additional intel, I participated in army rotc (ms1 and ms2) while I was at my community college. The state university was close to my school so I figured taking those classes would give me some insight into the military, I just need to take the remaining two years of the rotc curriculum.

The ed-delay looks very appealing to me, Im just worried that the military might "say we need more family practitioners instead of cardiology doctors so you are going into residency for fp instead of cardio "

The best scenario I can hope for is for me to earn a commission in the reserve or national guard and then complete a short bolc the summer before medical school. I talked to the professor of military science at my state university but I didn't feel the colonel was giving me honest and succinct information.

If things dont go the way I see them going I might just go active and serve my obligation and then go to med school right after. A last option because I feel that I will forget all of the science and have to learn it all again, Id rather work towards making med school a realty now rather than later.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to offer some advice it is greatly appreciated.