College + MCAT -> 4 years Marines -> Med school?

[will.i_am]

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I'm only 17 at this point and I know that thinking this far into the future doesn't make much sense, but I want to see options that I might have. So theoretically, could I go through the whole pre-med process along with taking the MCAT. Then serve two years in the Marines (I love my country and always wanted to be part of active service, but didn't want it to affect my passion for medicine as a long term goal), and as far as I know my MCAT score is valid for 2 years for most medical schools. So after those 2 years I use my MCAT that I had in college to apply for medical school. I then take a 2 year gap, finish my 4 years in the Marines, come home, go to medical school, and pursue a career in medicine. Again, this is only to see what options I might have in the future, I just want to know if there's any holes in this theoretical plan.

 

[astrostellar]

In my experience, despite how much of a positive influence it was on me as a person, it is now almost unbearable to know that all I want to do is medicine, but I still have to show up to a job I don't *really* care about until the end of my contract. I'm just waiting. YMMV. If you were interested in serving as a physician in the Marines, you can check out the Military Medicine forum for their perspectives.

 

[Bobsaget121]

In my experience, despite how much of a positive influence it was on me as a person, it is now almost unbearable to know that all I want to do is medicine, but I still have to show up to a job I don't *really* care about until the end of my contract. I'm just waiting. YMMV. If you were interested in serving as a physician in the Marines, you can check out the Military Medicine forum for their perspectives.

Agree with poster above, you should definitely look into becoming a military physician and the Military Medicine thread for more information. You could also join your states National Guard while attending college if you are interested in that. Also I think the discussion would serve a better purpose if placed in the pre-med section, military medicine or hSDN section.

 

[Just Call Me Doc]

I'm only 17 at this point and I know that thinking this far into the future doesn't make much sense, but I want to see options that I might have. So theoretically, could I go through the whole pre-med process along with taking the MCAT. Then serve two years in the Marines (I love my country and always wanted to be part of active service, but didn't want it to affect my passion for medicine as a long term goal), and as far as I know my MCAT score is valid for 2 years for most medical schools. So after those 2 years I use my MCAT that I had in college to apply for medical school. I then take a 2 year gap, finish my 4 years in the Marines, come home, go to medical school, and pursue a career in medicine. Again, this is only to see what options I might have in the future, I just want to know if there's any holes in this theoretical plan.

If you truly want to serve then definitely join the military, but there are many different paths you can take depending on how you want to serve and how you want to balance that with your interest in medicine. The experiences and lessons learned by being a medical officer versus a line officer versus an enlisted grunt versus a medic are all different. Truth is you have plenty of time to make that particular decision while you go through college. And your experiences in college may change these goals as well.
Regarding your plan to take the MCAT, join the military, apply in the middle of your contract, and then defer for two years will most likely not work out. Most schools seem to be reluctant to defer for even a year unless you have a REALLY good reason and it may be variable whether the school will consider continued military service a good enough reason. Two years would really be pushing it. (maybe others will have different insight but that's my impression) Also, you MAY be able to apply for med school during your service but that will depend on your command and how open they are to you traveling for interviews so I wouldn't count on it either. If you take that path, I would recommend on starting to study for the MCAT during your service and take it soon before you apply.
You'll need to figure out how you want to balance your desires for military service and medicine. The above posters have good advice regarding a way to balance both. Enlisting as a grunt Marine may let you learn how to shoot guns but you'll also spend a lot of time picking up cigarette butts from the parking lot, painting rocks, and sweeping floors. Serving as a doctor may be a more palatable way to do so.

 

[Goro]

Paging @Gastrapathy and @sb247!!!

 

[deleted480308]

If your first goal in life is to be a doctor this is a bad plan.

Keep your priorities straight, do undergrad (no military, no rotc) and get into med school. Then, if you still want some service time you can sign up when you are a doc or med student.

Trying to throw a two year enlistment in between undergrad and med school is a complication that mess you up. What if you don’t make it in first cycle and your mcat expires? What if you cannot attend interviews because you are active duty and/or deployed. What if you get hurt and can’t apply that year and your mcat expires. What if we really get in some mess and you get stoplossed and that 2 yr enlistment ends up being three.

If yoy want to be a rifleman, then go do it. But do it knowing full well you are choosing that over being a doctor and it could stop you from having that career.

 

[will.i_am]

I do agree with this. If you want to enlist; enlist, then go to med school. Or med school, then, join the service. You can't just mix and match. Most importantly, you have to KNOW what you're signing up for. You don't get a lot of choices in the military. So once you're in, throw any plans out of the window, until you finish your enlistment.

Can I take a 4 years of gap then? Get into med, then military, come back a few years later, then go to med school?

 

[deleted480308]

Can I take a 4 years of gap then? Get into med, then military, come back a few years later, then go to med school?

are you asking if you can apply and get accepted......then tell them to wait while you go to the military for 4 yrs.....then show back up for med school?

because no

 

[star.buck]

I think a few other people have alluded to this, and I’ve seen several classmates do this... why don’t you want to do the pre-med route, then medical school with a military scholarship, you’ll match into a military residency and serve you country as a physician for the designated amount of years per your scholarship. It seems like an amazing way to give back, to serve in a way that will potentially save your fellow soldier’s lives. Plus, between the stipend for life expenses and tuition reimbursement, you’d be debt free from med school.

 

[RNthenDoc]

Take a commission, don’t enlist.

(That’s the opinion of a civvy raised in a mil-heavy family)

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Afterwards, you incur a service requirement for 10 years (I think), starting as an O-3.

Pros: You graduate med school with no debt (this is important to keep in mind). You go through residency with a stable income. You serve your country as a Physician for 10 years after residency.

I'm not 100% on this but I believe its 4 years but then they add 1:1 if your residency is over a certain number of years (but its like >5-6 yrs).

 

[deleted480308]

I would usually recommend that. But if he does commission, he will not get the GI Bill. Seeing that his goal is attending med school, enlisting would be a far better choice. It'll help pay for school.

No no no....

Anyone who is healthy enough to enlist is healthy enough to get a commission as a medical student. The hpsp pays for med school and doesn’t jack up your timeframe to get to med school.

 

[deleted480308]

Keep in mind that the need of the military supercedes the individual's. Waiting for residency matching of the individual's choosing might take a while. And while waiting, they are required to serve. I think they call it GME? I don't remember.

Gmo.....but if you never get the residency of your choosing, you are done in 4yrs and can go civilian residency

 

[deleted480308]

The OP wants to join the MARINES. I don't think they have an HPSP program or anything similar to that.

Marines don’t have doctors, you are right if the marines are more important than med school

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

But I believe for Navy you can do something like only a year or 2 GMO then go to residency then pay the rest of the time off after

 

[will.i_am]

This has been said multiple times in this forum I'm sure: Most people who go to med school cannot imagine themselves doing anything else. I think it's time to reevaluate what you really want to do. COMMIT to one thing, then move on once its done. Do NOT underestimate the military or med school.

The problem with this is.. there is no Physician position in the Marines. You have to join the US Navy to do that.

As for the OP, are you really set on enlisting for the Marines? Would you consider AF, Army, or Navy? If you would, there is the USUHS Med school. If you get accepted after college and MCAT, you get through med school for free. Afterwards, you incur a service requirement for 10 years (I think), starting as an O-3.

Pros: You graduate med school with no debt (this is important to keep in mind). You go through residency with a stable income. You serve your country as a Physician for 10 years after residency.

Cons: It will not be in the US Marines.


I suggest.. figure out what you really want to do. Does your desire include serving your country? Or just enlisting in the US Marines? Would you consider serving your country as a Physician? If or when you figure that out, I'm pretty sure you can find a SMART way to progress on your career path.

The Army does also look pretty good

The OP wants to join the MARINES. I don't think they have an HPSP program or anything similar to that.

Did some research, and the Army it might

The OP wants to join the MARINES. I don't think they have an HPSP program or anything similar to that.

The Army also looks pretty good, however if I did enlist I would probably go for combat medic. I personally don't like to be behind everything, (which is why med/surgery looks good to me, direct action) and would rather be there with the other troops where they directly need the help. The HSPS program seems almost like a residency program? (correct me if i'm wrong) But ignoring all other military programs, how hard would it be to come back after 4 years, take the MCAT and apply to med school? Would I need to retake any pre-req courses?

 

[MusicDOc124]

Since you want to do both, I'd suggest you go to college on NROTC. This way, you graduate debt free, get a degree, and get to be an officer. With NROTC, you can choose Marines or Navy. You can apply to med school in your sr. year, and if you get accepted, do Navy HPSP and become a Navy doctor FOR and WITH Marines, and if you don't get in, then choose Marines and be a Marine officer. Then when your service is up, reapply to med school again.

If you do ROTC/NROTC/AFROTC, you CAN apply to med school, and continue to med school on HPSP. If you do not get in, then upon graduation, you must service your commitment. I have a classmate who did Army ROTC for college and is now Army HPSP in med school, straight through. With that said, he basically has to serve until retirement if you include him doing an Army residency.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Did some research

Do some more. Half the Army cats in my cohort are desperately trying to transfer to the Navy.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Also, to clarify, USUHS carries a 7 year commitment, not 10. And hpsp is 4 years if you take the full scholarship. If you just want to take care of Marines and then get out, you can easily do Navy hpsp, do an internship, then do your 4 as a gmo with the Marines and then gtfo to a civilian residency.