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Do be careful. Some members of the National Guard are deployed, sometimes for months. You might head over to Military Medicine forum and ask the vets what experience they've had with the Guard. Sadly, recruiters are well known for painting a rosy picture... you need to get a dose of reality before you sign on any dotted line.
 
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apollodorus said:
As a graduating senior, I was planning on applying this upcoming cycle in June and taking 1 gap year. Recently however, my dad suggested that I join the National Guard for my gap year (which would mean serving into my medical school years as it is a 6 year contract for officers). I am willing to take a second gap year pretty much just for the National Guard (so that I don’t have to serve my sixth year in residency training) as it has always been a personal goal of mine to have some form of military service in my life as my dad has always spoken fondly of his days as an active duty service member at the beginning of his own career (he doesn’t say it directly, but I suspect he would be proud of me for serving as well which is a big factor). The Guard would not be as intrusive as active duty as it is ~3 days of training a month, ~2 weeks of active duty training a year (and I believe that once in medical school the number of mandatory trainings could potentially be drastically reduced by my commanding officer). The fact of the matter is, would you advise me to join the Guard and take the second gap year? I believe my application is competitive as is (516 mcat, 3.95 gpa, 1000+ clinical, 300 non clinical, 1000+ research) so I would purely be doing it for this personal goal of mine. What do you think? And would serving in the Guard while studying for medical school be too overwhelming? Thank you!

tldr - should i take a second gap year just to fulfill a personal goal of mine of serving in the National Guard (which I would have to continue serving throughout medical school)
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Why not just knock out two birds with one stone and just apply to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences or do the HPSP pathway?
 
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As a graduating (college) senior, I hope you have the maturity to make your own decisions about post-graduation plans. If you want to go into the National Guard, do it because you want to do it. You should look into other service opportunities like Peace Corps. If you want to go into a military lifestyle, see @Arbitas 's advice.
 
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Arbitas said:
Why not just knock out two birds with one stone and just apply to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences or do the HPSP pathway?
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I considered this as well, but ultimately I want to match into a civilian residency, not a military one.
 
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Serving in the military as a combatant or combatant-adjacent support person is worlds different than serving in the military as a physician.

First things first - with your stats (3.95 gpa and 90%+ percentile MCAT), you don't need the "help" of a military story to gain admission to medical school. Assuming you have no felony convictions or other red flags, you could just apply and get in somewhere.

But if you want to serve for a few years, because you want to be a combatant or combatant-adjacent support person, go for it! There are lots of people who spend some time in the military and then apply to medical school. (Serve long enough and the GI Bill will pay for medical school for you!)

I do not recommend either HPSP or USUHS to most people these days. I feel there's too much uncertainty regarding what the state of inservice GME programs will be a decade from now when a current medical school applicant will be a resident. Those programs may make sense for certain people who've already served on active duty, who (1) sorta know what they're getting themselves into, and (2) and are taking a good chunk of years of creditable service with them that will put them on the cusp of an AD retirement when their medical ADSOs are fulfilled. I am presently of the opinion that no civilian should walk into either of those programs.
 
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pgg said:
Serving in the military as a combatant or combatant-adjacent support person is worlds different than serving in the military as a physician.

First things first - with your stats (3.95 gpa and 90%+ percentile MCAT), you don't need the "help" of a military story to gain admission to medical school. Assuming you have no felony convictions or other red flags, you could just apply and get in somewhere.

But if you want to serve for a few years, because you want to be a combatant or combatant-adjacent support person, go for it! There are lots of people who spend some time in the military and then apply to medical school. (Serve long enough and the GI Bill will pay for medical school for you!)

I do not recommend either HPSP or USUHS to most people these days. I feel there's too much uncertainty regarding what the state of inservice GME programs will be a decade from now when a current medical school applicant will be a resident. Those programs may make sense for certain people who've already served on active duty, who (1) sorta know what they're getting themselves into, and (2) and are taking a good chunk of years of creditable service with them that will put them on the cusp of an AD retirement when their medical ADSOs are fulfilled. I am presently of the opinion that no civilian should walk into either of those programs.
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thank you for your thorough response. my main worry is that i will be overwhelmed in medical school completing school work and serving in the Guard (albeit with the medical student MOS which i believe is a lesser commitment). i guess it really comes down to my conviction. i just don’t want to look back at this moment regretting not joining when i could’ve done it, and alternatively if i join, don't want to regret signing onto a 6 year commitment when im very busy with school.
 
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apollodorus said:
thank you for your thorough response. my main worry is that i will be overwhelmed in medical school completing school work and serving in the Guard (albeit with the medical student MOS which i believe is a lesser commitment). i guess it really comes down to my conviction. i just don’t want to look back at this moment regretting not joining when i could’ve done it, and alternatively if i join, don't want to regret signing onto a 6 year commitment when im very busy with school.
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Your convictions? OMG you just sound so young. Do the military or do medicine. Don't mix the two. You will regret it.
 
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No one will think less of you if you just go to medical school and become a doctor. There at many ways to serve our country and the public. Consider the impact a doctor can make when free to donate labor and money at times and places of their choosing.

Enlisting or OCS'ing into the military is a an honorable path that is right for many people. I'm not trying to dissaude you from joining to serve in the line.

I just advise most people to avoid mixing military and medicine during the education and training phase.

The military is, broadly speaking, an obstacle to becoming (and being!) a doctor. It's not an insurmountable obstacle by any means, but it will not ease or facilitate the path. The military exists to field people and stuff who can go abroad to kill people and break things. Doctors are an important supporting piece of that, but they are very much treated like specialized widgets.

It has become harder to be a doctor and also serve in the military in the last 25 years. There have always been compromises required, but they have grown.
 
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Mr.Smile12 said:
You should look into other service opportunities like Peace Corps.
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I advise against Peace Corps. I have several friends who had gone through it and they found it to be a huge waste of time. Their experiences were incredibly dependent on where you were sent to.

Additionally, if you need quality medical care when out on your assignment, good luck.
 
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apollodorus said:
guess when you’re young conviction is all you got when you don’t have experience lmao
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Well that be true, there are two old aphorisms: 1. "Youth is wasted on the young" and 2. "If youth knew, if age could".

Write yourself a letter right now. Put it away until you are 40. When you are 30, write yourself another letter. You might be surprised.

And, since it's from you to you, be brutal. Be as raw as you can, rip yourself up now, or for the future. As Hemingway said about writing, "You just sit at the typewriter and bleed". It's very liberating.
 
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Apollyon said:
Well that be true, there are two old aphorisms: 1. "Youth is wasted on the young" and 2. "If youth knew, if age could".

Write yourself a letter right now. Put it away until you are 40. When you are 30, write yourself another letter. You might be surprised.

And, since it's from you to you, be brutal. Be as raw as you can, rip yourself up now, or for the future. As Hemingway said about writing, "You just sit at the typewriter and bleed". It's very liberating.
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those are beautiful aphorisms, thank you. i’m going to go write those down somewhere so i don’t forget
 
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apollodorus said:
As a graduating senior, I was planning on applying this upcoming cycle in June and taking 1 gap year. Recently however, my dad suggested that I join the National Guard for my gap year (which would mean serving into my medical school years as it is a 6 year contract for officers). I am willing to take a second gap year pretty much just for the National Guard (so that I don’t have to serve my sixth year in residency training) as it has always been a personal goal of mine to have some form of military service in my life as my dad has always spoken fondly of his days as an active duty service member at the beginning of his own career (he doesn’t say it directly, but I suspect he would be proud of me for serving as well which is a big factor). The Guard would not be as intrusive as active duty as it is ~3 days of training a month, ~2 weeks of active duty training a year (and I believe that once in medical school the number of mandatory trainings could potentially be drastically reduced by my commanding officer). The fact of the matter is, would you advise me to join the Guard and take the second gap year?
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No.

apollodorus said:
I believe my application is competitive as is (516 mcat, 3.95 gpa, 1000+ clinical, 300 non clinical, 1000+ research) so I would purely be doing it for this personal goal of mine. What do you think? And would serving in the Guard while studying for medical school be too overwhelming? Thank you!

tldr - should i take a second gap year just to fulfill a personal goal of mine of serving in the National Guard (which I would have to continue serving throughout medical school)
Click to expand...

Yes. People have done it without interruption but it requires a stable environment where the two weekend a month is actually realistic goal. (which it isn't I think). I was active duty in 2009 during the tail end of the Iraq War. I met plenty of national guard and reserve guys over there. Even a smallish confict on the tail end can require national guard deployment (that's not too mention natural disasters and other deployments). You should honestly expect it at some point.
 
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LizzyM said:
Go play weekend soldier but don't come crying to us when you are deployed as part of the scheme to capture the Panama Canal and wind up missing a year of med school.
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sup.

what do national guard actually have to do. anyone else can comment as well.

if like the OP said it's just weekend training (working out lol) and something every 2 months, isn't that a sweet deal for military advantage (to med schools or residencies)?

is the only risk that if we go to war I'm getting dragged in?
 
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pink_panther said:
sup.

what do national guard actually have to do. anyone else can comment as well.

if like the OP said it's just weekend training (working out lol) and something every 2 months, isn't that a sweet deal for military advantage (to med schools or residencies)?

is the only risk that if we go to war I'm getting dragged in?
Click to expand...

National guard also respond to natural disasters and emergencies domestically. You could be shooting some protestors or migrants at the border instead of invading Panama.
 
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xffan624 said:
Maybe not on the frontline of a protest response, but if you're part of the unit and they deploy somewhere to respond like a natural disaster, you go with them.
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what are the odds and also what are the odds they logistically somehow forget about me.

the military boost for residency apps is so insane (and vet benefits + lower taxes)
 
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pink_panther said:
what are the odds and also what are the odds they logistically somehow forget about me.

the military boost for residency apps is so insane (and vet benefits + lower taxes)
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don’t just do it for the applications come on now…joining the military should never be just another “extracurricular” imo

but to answer your question based on what i’ve researched there’s no chance they logistically forget you, but you won’t be deployed during schooling with the right MOS
 
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Moderator note:
Please keep the thread on topic. Some non-constructive posts have been deleted to avoid derailing this thread. Thank you.

For everyone else, here's a meme for your time:
1736708240689.png
 
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National Guard units respond to natural and man-made disasters here and abroad. You could be assigned to help in the wild fires of Southern California or an earthquake-affected area in Central America. Some units "hold down the fort" out of state while a local unit from there is deployed abroad. So, you go into it hoping that it is just 2 weekends a month and two weeks per year but it could end up being 8-12 months if your unit is deployed. Just have your eyes wide open to what you've signed up for.
 
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I don't think military service is in any way justified by being a CV booster. The thought itself is very disturbing, actually. I'd strongly recommend that the OP not involve their parents in this decision making. I'm not sure what their dad's career was, but regardless, it's a different time. The order of operations here should be medical school, residency and then (if still desired) the initial making of any sort of military service commitment.
 
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comp1 said:
I don't think military service is in any way justified by being a CV booster. The thought itself is very disturbing, actually. I'd strongly recommend that the OP not involve their parents in this decision making. I'm not sure what their dad's career was, but regardless, it's a different time. The order of operations here should be medical school, residency and then (if still desired) the initial making of any sort of military service commitment.
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this whole thread is disturbing. Just the other day, I had an OR nurse ask me why after my experience people still sign up, and I was like, "They just don't listen. They don't care. They think they know more, and they keep going. There is no reason to try to retain docs bc there is a steady stream of dummies who sign up for the HPSP scholarship no matter what we say." So ...yeah. Sigh. I don't even know why we try.
 
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