Entering USMA, Figuring out Schedule

[NeverQuit]

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First of all, if anyone has attended the USMA and received the Medical School option I would LOVE to talk to you.

Otherwise, take a look at this schedule. I plan to take MCAT/apply for Medical Schools after my Cow (Junior) year. Anything look out of place?

LEGEND:
Red = Overload (more than 5 courses a semester)
Italisized = Science Courses
Green = Must take this course at this time


2009-2010 // First Semester
Math Modeling/Intro to Calculus
Chemistry I
English Composition
US History
General Psychology

2009-2010 // Second Semester
Calculus I
Chemistry II
Literature
US History
Intro to Computing and Information Technology
Intro to Biology (Overload)

2010-2011 // First Semester
Calculus II
Physics I
Foreign Language
Economics
Physical Geography
Intro to Cell Biology (Overload)

2010-2011 // Second Semester
Prob & Stats
Physics II
Foreign Language
Political Science
Philosophy
Human Physiology (Overload)

2011-2012 // First Semester
Intro to Analytical Chemistry
Theory/Prac Mil IT Sys
International Relations
Organic Chemistry I
Advanced Composition
Individual Research I (Overload)

2011-2012 // Second Semester
Engineering Course I
Genetics
Military Leadership
Organic Chemistry II
Biochemistry
Individual Research II (Overload)

2012-2013 // First Semester
Engineering Course II
Military History
Biological Psychology
Methods & Apps of Biotech

2012-2013 // Second Semester
Engineering Course III
Military History
Microbiology
Constitutional and Military Law

 

[dwb8p]

If you're dead set on going to medical school right after you finish college, attending USMA would be unwise. Your desire to pursue medicine is not inline with the purpose of USMA, which is to train line officers. USMA authorizes only a small number of its cadets to even apply for medical school admission each year.

I say this as an ROTC grad who's starting USUHS next year.

 

[colbgw02]

If you're dead set on going to medical school right after you finish college, attending USMA would be unwise. Your desire to pursue medicine is not inline with the purpose of USMA, which is to train line officers. USMA authorizes only a small number of its cadets to even apply for medical school admission each year.

I say this as an ROTC grad who's starting USUHS next year.

I agree with this. I have strong family ties to USMA, and I lived at West Point multiple times growing up. I applied to USMA but ultimately decided it wasn't for me. In any case...

If you want to be an Army officer, then you'll get no finer training than at West Point. If you want to be a physician, military or otherwise, then USMA isn't the best way too get there. You'll be pulled in too many directions, and there's a lot less academic flexibility as compared to regular universities. Hell, I did ROTC, and seeing that I went straight into medical school after college, I'm not even sure that was worthwhile.

Many people in Army medicine have spent time in the "real" Army prior to going to medical school, including many West Point graduates, so that's certainly a viable career path. On the other hand, if you want to get into medicine as quickly as possible, then consider withdrawing. It's much better to decide that now than after you show up, which is especially true now since there's still time for an alternate to take your place. R-day is fast approaching, and it looks a lot worse to quit than it does to just not start.

 

[NeverQuit]

I need guidance, all advice is helpful-- especially from current mildocs.

 

[grotto]

Whats up there, kaydet. I went to the superior academy with the football team that destroys you guys every year in early december - its actually getting sort of embarrassing. I also teach there now. I got accepted to West Point but decided not to go there, so I know a bit about the academic program. First off, are you going to do the life science major? That is probably a good choice rather than chemistry - where you will take some hits in classes like inorganic and p-chem, which is an absolute nightmare.

First, I hope you have a good idea about what you are getting into, because overloading at a military academy is a big hit. Since you are carrying 20 credit hours base most semesters, the overload is going to hurt (high school cannot prepare you for carrying 25 hours per semester at college). You are getting a BS for a reason - you are basically minoring in engineering although you don't realize it yet. The military program at USMA is no joke, and being in class from 0730 to 1600 everyday doesn't make things any better, especially when you have mandatory sports right after class, drill practice, and mandatory dinner. By the time you sit down to study it is 1930, and when you are a plebe you have to be in bed by 11. Try to take the Bio classes during the summer if you can - my school offers courses during the summer and I am almost positive yours does as well.

Second, kind of like the poster above said, it is totally up to the whims of your superintendent whether he wants to let anyone go to med school - because legally the service academies are required to provide non-staff or line officers (eligible for command of units - not sure what the Army term for that is because I don't roll around in the dirt). So, as many of the long grey line have learned, if the Army doesn't have enough infantry or armor officers and you really want to go to med school and have all of the numbers, sorry, you're screwed. I know a few guys that have had this happen to them, med school acceptances in hand.

Third, there are other cadets trying to get into med school in your class, probably more than you think. Since there are a limited amount of spots (about 15), you are not only competing with the 50,000 other undergraduates trying to get into med school, but you are competing with your classmates for the privilege to get a medical corps spot out of west point - this is no mean feat. So, even if you have a 35 MCAT and a 3.5, if there are 15 cadets with 36's and 3.6's - you are screwed even if you get into Harvard.

The final thing I'm concerned about is that you aren't going right into calculus, you are taking pre-calc. This means you are behind already. You can't be overloading if you aren't up to speed and if I was your ac-advisor I would be cautious about letting you register for more courses than you can handle.

This all being said, you can definitely do it if you keep your nose to the grindstone. You are going to wake up many days and want to jump out of your window, but in the end, you are going to make a lot of great friends and have some awesome experiences, so it is worth it. Congrats on getting into USMA and your drive is there, so you can pull it off. Just heed what I said and don't get yourself in too deep - find an upperclass right away who is doing what you are trying to do and take all of his/her advice, use them as a mentor. Unless you grew up with a military mom or dad or went to a military school, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into.

 

[ieatpizza]

I need guidance, all advice is helpful-- especially from current mildocs.

I went to USMA and then straight to med school (currently an M4). I would take Intro to Cell Bio before the MCAT (perhaps move it 1st semester yuk year). Otherwise, schedule looks fine. I had a lighter load 2nd semester cow year to study for the MCAT, but that was back in the day when the MCAT was pencil and paper and you had to take it before the end of the semester. now that the MCAT is computer-based, I wonder if you have time to study after classes end.

 

[tscottturner]

I am a West Pointer ('97) and graduate med school in 5 days. First things first - do not go to USMA if you plan on going to med school right after graduation. I'm not telling you, but I am asking you. The Army may need physicians, but it does not need West Point trained physicians. You will be taking a slot from someone that would otherwise want to serve their country in a combat arms position. It may not be what you want to hear, but it's true. You go to West Point to lead troops into combat. Anything less and you SHOULD NOT BE THERE. The second thing is that as other posters (from lesser schools whose ONLY bragging point is that they beat us in football) have stated, there is a very limited number of slots to med school straight from USMA and it can change at a whim. I did not decide to go to med school until I was actually a company commander (and in Iraq) but I found out that with my military experience, I was much more desirable to med schools than your typical biology/chemistry major 4.0 GPA, 36 MCAT schmoe just graduating out of college. As it turns out, med schools LOVE students with non-traditional backgrounds. ALL of them. And you know what? The same thing applies to residency and the match. So, if you are going to go to West Point, don't try to go to med school right away. Go be a real officer for a few years, save up some money, then leave active duty and go to school. Let the National Guard pay for it if possible, then let them pay you $70,000/year on top of that as a student recruiter (look up the post on the new National Guard ASR student recruiter program). It doesn't have to be exactly that, but please please please do not go to West Point and then straight to med school. The tax payers will appreciate you and your classmates and fellow graduates will still have respect for you.

 

[NeverQuit]

Solid posts. Addressing a few issues:

1) We are required to take the Math Model/Intro to Calculus
2) I am pursuing the Life Science Major.
3) I realize the long-term commitment.
4) I understand the competition.
5) With the new MCAT it is possibly to study/take the test during summer.
6) Finally, I fully respect and understand that I may not be selected for the 2% (15-20) Medical School Option, in this case I would be more than happy to serve my country in the branch of my choice (should it come to that decision).

Will move Intro to Cell Biology to 2010-2011 // 1st Semester

Any other advice?

 

[tscottturner]

6) Finally, I fully respect and understand that I may not be selected for the 2% (15-20) Medical School Option, in this case I would be more than happy to serve my country in the branch of my choice (should it come to that decision).

You still don't seem to get it. It's about your intent and priorities. West Point is a leadership school for Combat Leaders. If your INTENT is to do anything other than lead troops, you will not have enough time to focus on being a good leader OR a strong candidate to be eligible for med school. Any troops that will be led by you DESERVE a leader that has been focused and determined in their training, not someone that ALMOST made it into med school but has no idea how to motivate or lead them effectively. It seems as though your priorities are 1. Med School 2. Leading troops in branch of choice. You may want to re-think this.

I'll be happy to put you in touch with some of your future instructors (several are my classmates) to let you know why the "med school option" really isn't much of an option.

 

[dwb8p]

...I would be more than happy to serve my country in the branch of my choice (should it come to that decision).

* the US Army's choice. Sorry, but that was a glaring typo.

(Unless you are top of your class you probably won't be guaranteed the branch you request.)

 

[edmadison]

I did not got to the USMA, but several of my very close friends did, including some who are struggling to get accepted to medical school. You semesters are way too overloaded. Your second semester schedule for freshman year is ridiculous -- even for a school where you did have free time. By my count that is 22 credits (at least it would be at my school). Of those six classes, two will be homework heavy: chem and calc; two will likely have lab: chem and calc. One other may be homework heavy: the comp sci class (it was at my school).

Remember this: If you do poorly early on, it will be difficult to recover. The difference between a 3.7 and 3.4 when applying to med school is huge. If you get a 3.0 (which isn't too bad at West Point from what I hear), you likely won't go to med school ever.

Ed

 

[mslall]

If you're absolutely set on going to USMA then the first semester of your 2nd year and the 2nd semester of your third year are ridiculous, and will be way too intense. I'm going to reiterate what everyone else has said, if you want to go into medicine dont go to an academy or ROTC, unless you dont want to apply until you're 26-27.


That being said though, taking Calc II, Physics, and Cell Biology all at one time would be ridiculous. Where I went to school the intro Econ class was a 'weed-out' class and ridiculously difficult, but I think you'll see variability in that course depending on where you are. I'm sure it won't be easy at West Point.

Also, taking Engineering, Organic II, Genetics and Biochemistry in the same semester would be near suicide. You'll have a lab associated with Organic II, and I'd assume either genetics or biochem, or both.

I can't speak to the strength of the academics at West Point. I've heard that its tough. In all honesty though this schedule wouldn't even be feasible/manageable at a lot of civillian schools. If you were planning on attending a bottom tier state university you might be able to manage if you were to bust your balls. From my experiences as an undergrad, at a small private institution, and a grad student at a large state school, I'll tell you that unless the academics are complete crap, you won't be able to manage that schedule with grades that medical schools are looking for. I'm doubting the academics at West Point are complete crap. Add onto all the mandatory extras at West Point and you might have time to study for a course load thats about one-half to two-thirds as rigorous as what you suggest.

Also, at a lot of places math courses fall under the heading of 'sciences.' Math intensive course (calc, chem, engineering) tend to carry the most workload, especially at larger schools.

 

[grotto]

His schedule isn't abnormal at a service academy. In fact, it is quite normal. A normal candidate for med school at my school - a chem major's junior year first semester is:

Bio II (which combines cell bio with Anatomy and Physiology) (4 credits)
Biochem I (3 credits)
Physical Chemistry (3 credits)
Integrated Lab III (a 6 hour per week lab that includes biochem and pchem) (2 credits)
Electrical Engineering I or Thermo I (core engineering)(4 credits)
Professional course of some type (2 or 3 credits)

roughly 21 credits, which is normal. If you are not a chem major and trying to do med school, its even worse.

 

[mslall]

do credit hours correlate to the amount of time spent in class weekly? (with the exceptions of labs)

Also why not spread some of those classes out into senior year when he'd be taking classes that would be a little less math/problem solving intensive. Maybe taking genetics or biochem senior year would be a good idea. Do the service academies require all the engineering the classes? or would those be electives?

 

[ieatpizza]

If your INTENT is to do anything other than lead troops, you will not have enough time to focus on being a good leader OR a strong candidate to be eligible for med school. Any troops that will be led by you DESERVE a leader that has been focused and determined in their training, not someone that ALMOST made it into med school but has no idea how to motivate or lead them effectively.

Tscott, I'm sorry but I think this is complete B.S. or at least half B.S. I understand that you very much believe in the pathway that you chose--USMA, combat officer, post-bacc, then med school--but it is not uncommon to excel in both pre-med and the leadership aspects while at West Point. As a recent grad, many of pre-med classmates now at med school or now in the "real" Army have excelled militarily. I think it's a bit self-righteous to say that troops are somehow misserved by a pre-med who ended up in a combat unit rather than med school.

Will move Intro to Cell Biology to 2010-2011 // 1st Semester

Any other advice?

I would try to lighten your Cow year load. Ask if you can push International Relations to Firstie year. Then shift around courses so that 2nd semester Cow year is not overloaded.

Or, since Firstie year is underloaded (minimum course load requirement is 5), I would consider moving your research to Firstie year. But if you're really wed to the idea of completing research before submitting your med school applications, I would ask to move Military IT and International Relations to Firstie year and shift your courses around Cow year to make it 5 courses 1st and 2nd semester. This is unconventional as these are Cow courses, but it may be workable. These are just some ideas. Definitely discuss this with an advisor.

(Unless you are top of your class you probably won't be guaranteed the branch you request.)

Top half of your class and you're pretty much guaranteed branch of choice, unless it's one of the smaller branches, i.e. Med Service Corps. I think you'd even be guaranteed an Aviation slot if you were top-half of the class. Top third of the class, you'll get the branch of your choice for sure.

I did not got to the USMA, but several of my very close friends did, including some who are struggling to get accepted to medical school. You semesters are way too overloaded.

I agree that your schedule is going to be tough. I don't know how you'll do. Some cadets do fine; some definitely struggle. Too bad you didn't validate any courses--that would've lightened your load. But understand that a lot of majors at West Point will have schedules like this, particularly the engineering majors which have even greater curriculum requirements. So this is not unheard of. Also if you rearrange the courses as I described previously, you would have 3 overloaded semesters versus 5 overloaded semesters.

His schedule isn't abnormal at a service academy. In fact, it is quite normal.

Agreed.

 

[grotto]

do credit hours correlate to the amount of time spent in class weekly? (with the exceptions of labs)

Sometimes, but not usually - 4 credit hour Biology is 5 hours of class per week (3 hr lecture, 2 hr lab), 4 credit engineering courses are the same. 3 hour classes are 3 hours per week except for professional classes, which are usually 4 hours per week (2 lectures, one lab).

Basically, if you are overloading in any semester other than your first class year you are going to be carrying well over 20 credit hours. It is a lot of work getting an accredited major and an engineering minor in 8 semesters.

I agree that your schedule is going to be tough. I don't know how you'll do. Some cadets do fine; some definitely struggle.

I've seen a lot of good kids burn out, but it is definitely do-able if you stick to it. I've also seen kids get knocked down and still get med corps and get into good schools with grades that people on SDN would laugh at.

I'm going to stay out of the whole debate about whether service academies should allow a direct path to med school. What do you tell the rhodes scholar who completed the above schedule with a 4.0 and wants to go into medicine - are his skills better used in medicine or in combat? We obviously have some extremely smart, mature kids coming to our schools and we have to provide challenging options. On the other hand, the mission of these schools is clearly to train line officers. Personally, I think that the skills I learned, and the places I got to see provided me with some maturity that I didn't have coming out of school, but that is just me. Frankly, I did not have the maturity or discipline to do 8 straight years of school and then residentcy - and the hard edge you get from having to solve real world problems is invaluable in the world.

I agree with tscott that the real move is to ace all of your pre med courses, then go fly apaches or something for a few years and then revisit medicine. That West Point degree means a lot more when you add a few years of operational experience, but that is just my, somewhat learned but by no means definitive, opinion.

 

[tscottturner]

Tscott, I'm sorry but I think this is complete B.S. or at least half B.S. I understand that you very much believe in the pathway that you chose--USMA, combat officer, post-bacc, then med school--but it is not uncommon to excel in both pre-med and the leadership aspects while at West Point.

That's fine - we are all entitled to our own opinions. I know that your route to becoming a physician has been the very same route that I am advising this future cadet against. Yes, there are those that have truly excelled in both the pre-med and military aspects. They are the exception and not the rule, and their numbers are far fewer than those accepted into the medical school option. However, I would say that it was actually quite uncommon for someone to truly excel at both.

As a recent grad, many of pre-med classmates now at med school or now in the "real" Army have excelled militarily. I think it's a bit self-righteous to say that troops are somehow misserved by a pre-med who ended up in a combat unit rather than med school.

It may sound self-righteous, but it's opinion based on experience. I actually have worked with LTs as peers and subordinates that 'just didn't make it in this year'. More often than not they were atrocious leaders that ended up in the 3 or 4 shop, as far from troops as they could be. As a company commander I even had one that was eventually kicked out for fraternization. The bottom line remains the same - don't go to USMA with the INTENT of becoming anything other than a combat leader.

 

[ieatpizza]

That's fine - we are all entitled to our own opinions. I know that your route to becoming a physician has been the very same route that I am advising this future cadet against. Yes, there are those that have truly excelled in both the pre-med and military aspects. They are the exception and not the rule, and their numbers are far fewer than those accepted into the medical school option. However, I would say that it was actually quite uncommon for someone to truly excel at both.

Most of the cadets who make it into medical school excelled in all aspects, including academics, physical, and military because of overall good work ethic and competence. Cadets who don't to make it into med school tend to be poor military leaders not because they focused too much on academics, but because they had poorer work ethic and less aptitude in all aspects. I know that engineering majors had a more difficult course load than I did as a Life Science major. Are you saying everyone should major in something easy or military science so they can focus on being a combat leader? You seem to think excellence in academics excludes excellence militarily or that that is the rule anyway.

 

[BeatNavy]

I agree with ieatpizza. The cadets who are chosen to go directly to medical school have excelled in all aspects of cadet life. This is noted by the fact that the board at West Point that selects you for medical school is made up of not only the commander of the hospital but representatives from The Brigade Tactical Office and DPE. At least in my interview, the questions focused more on leadership than it ever did on my academics. I have classmates who, along with myself, were on Brigade Staff as cadets before going to medical school, so obviously there were some leadership skills present.

I respect TScott's opinion and think that the majority of graduating cadets should go on to lead combat troops, but its hard to say that all of them should. Why then do we allow cadets to branch into AG? I think they are about as far removed from leading "combat" troops as are the medical officers leading forward surgical teams or hospitals. That also brings up the question of allowing women into the academies. If the goal of West Point is to train combat officers, then where do women fit into the equation as they currently cannot be Infantry, Armor, or Field Artillery Officers? I think that the goal of West Point and the Service Academies are to train leaders for all branches of their respective services. The Medical Department needs good leaders just as much as the Infantry. We also need officers who are committed to service and understand how the line side of the Army Operates to buffer against all those people who are just here for the money. I think that everyone brings something different to the table and the Army needs all those different viewpoints. As TScott points out many of the prior cadets that turned out to be horrible officers, I have just as many anecdotal stories from personal experience about prior line officers who turned out to be horrible doctors or not be able to hack it in Medical School, so what does it really mean I have no idea.

Now to the original poster, You schedule looks fine, but I would not really worry about it right now. Get through BEAST and Re-Orgy week first. Once Academics start you can go talk to some people in the Chemistry Department as they will be your best advisors. COL Mundie is excellent if he his still there. You will honestly not have much ability to change your schedule once you pick your major because most of the classes will be mandatory and you will only really get electives 2nd semester Cow year and Firstie year. I doubt you will even be able to talk about schedules until you declare you major Yuk year and get an advisor. So just do well in those mandatory plebe year classes and do not listen to those people saying taking that many credits is impossible. I had an even worse schedule than the one you put forward as I validated Chemistry, Math, and History so I took my language Plebe year along with History of the Military Art plebe year and organic chemistry Yuk year. I was a nuclear engineering track and used my extra electives to take extra Physics classes. I did this all while excelling in the military aspect and physical aspect of Cadet Life and having time to have a few beers in Highland Falls. Its all possible if you are dedicated enough to work at it.

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

 

[Mirror Form]

I salute your commitment to serve the country and society. That said, you're certainly setting yourself up for a very long and senselessly tough road.

You need to decide what you want to do for your future career right now. Going to West Point is going to be a huge waste of both your life and the military's time if you go to medical school immediately afterward. Furthermore, you'll be obligating yourself to a career in the military at the age of 18 which IMHO is kind of young to make that decision.

By going into medicine you'll basically be sarificing a decade of your life. If you go right after college that decade turns out to be your 20's. Now by going to West Point you're also sarificing what most people (at least my friends anyway) think of as some of the best years of their life. I worked my tail off in college (ivy league school, ROTC, premed, and engineering) but it was honestly a dream world.

So do yourself a favor and go ROTC. You'll have a very good shot at getting approval for medical school right after college, while also having the flexibility to go directly into the line.

 

[GeraldMonroe]

Thanks for making this thread, NeverQuit.

I asked him to go here and I stated that "EVERY attending on this site would agree with me" in that it would be the worst decision of his life. Even if he did excel and get into medical school, which would be far harder than it already is, the other issue is that he's signing away almost 20 years.

4 years at USMA. 4 years medical school, assuming he gets in straight away. 3-5 years residency. During medical school, I understand he has to take HPSP and rack up more service time : he doesn't even have the option of not taking the scholarship money and not owing extra time. If so, that means he owes at least 8 years following residency.

I've also heard that if you do a 5 year military residency (surgery/ortho for instance) another year or two gets tacked on. So at the minimum, even if everything went perfectly, he'd owe 19 years from today of military service. Without spending any time in an active service component, even in training : he's right out of high school.

 

[mslall]

Thanks for making this thread, NeverQuit.

I asked him to go here and I stated that "EVERY attending on this site would agree with me" in that it would be the worst decision of his life. Even if he did excel and get into medical school, which would be far harder than it already is, the other issue is that he's signing away almost 20 years.

4 years at USMA. 4 years medical school, assuming he gets in straight away. 3-5 years residency. During medical school, I understand he has to take HPSP and rack up more service time : he doesn't even have the option of not taking the scholarship money and not owing extra time. If so, that means he owes at least 8 years following residency.

I've also heard that if you do a 5 year military residency (surgery/ortho for instance) another year or two gets tacked on. So at the minimum, even if everything went perfectly, he'd owe 19 years from today of military service. Without spending any time in an active service component, even in training : he's right out of high school.

The commitment that he picks up from the HPSP scholarship will be equal to the number of years he's in medical school or the length of his residency, whichever is longer, with the caveat that intern year does not count for or against him. So with ortho he would be 5 years - intern year, leaving him with the 4yr commitment, which would be equal to school. Surgery, in the army, is a 6yr residency (everyone has to do a research year now) and would leave him with a 5 yr commitment from medical school. Tack that on to the time he owes from USMA and the time spent in residency and he'd be pretty close to 20 in the military. If he were to go to USUHS he'd get another 7yrs.

Either way, he would, at 18, be signing away the next 20yrs of his life.

 

[GeraldMonroe]

Thanks for the clarification. I was pretty close, though.

Military service versus serving the civilian population as a physician : Either way, you're helping a lot of people. The catch is that in the military, you have hugely less freedom, less compensation, and cannot serve your patients as well because the military does many things that prevent you from being the best physician you could be. The only way that they can get anyone to sign up is by enticing them into long contracts. If someone offers you a 20 year deal you can't get out of when you're nobody but a high school student with high grades, perhaps they don't have your best interests at heart.

 

[acbyrd]

I am a USMA grad and am about to start my M3 year.

I would say that there is nothing wrong with you going to USMA with the intent of going straight to medical school. However, like the above posters have said, it is highly, highly competitive. My roommate had the same plan. He worked his tail off and had a great GPA, but did not get one of the coveted medical school slots directly after graduation. However, he did serve as a combat arms officer for just a couple years before getting accepted into USUHS where he is now.

You have to understand. A 4.0 is more difficult to come by at West Point when compared to a civilian college. This is an under-statement!

You may be very smart and disciplined, but it would be wise to consider it likely that you will have to serve some non-medical time directly after graduating before getting into medical school. That's not a bad thing though. I used to be an armor officer. I really enjoyed my experience. I'm very thankful for my non-medical background. I had a lot of great experiences in my combat unit.

So good luck, and get ready for some hard work! But it's worth it.

Byrd

 

[acbyrd]

GeraldMonroe, you haven't a clue what you're talking about. Patient care? Consider that the military medical corps has really pioneered trauma care and prosthetic technology and who-knows what else. Consider that a combat casualty who is still breathing upon arrival to a military field hospital has about a 95% survival rate with current practice. Have you even started med school yet? What do you know about the military other than what you've seen on Family Guy or some other tv show.

 

[GeraldMonroe]

GeraldMonroe, you haven't a clue what you're talking about. Patient care? Consider that the military medical corps has really pioneered trauma care and prosthetic technology and who-knows what else. Consider that a combat casualty who is still breathing upon arrival to a military field hospital has about a 95% survival rate with current practice. Have you even started med school yet? What do you know about the military other than what you've seen on Family Guy or some other tv show.

Ask some of the attendings here. Most of them seem to feel that the military medicine creates mediocrity most of the time.

My own experiences with the military have led me to believe that this is an inherent, inescapable property of a massive organization that is centrally controlled and receives all its income from taxes.

I don't hate the military, per say - I had a lot of good experiences mixed in with the bad. Some things the organization does very well. However, you don't want to shackle yourself to it for 20 years. You just don't, it's one of the dumbest decisions you could ever make.

 

[tscottturner]

This is noted by the fact that the board at West Point that selects you for medical school is made up of not only the commander of the hospital but representatives from The Brigade Tactical Office and DPE.

So you're saying that even though you have excelled in all areas, it is still a board select process to go to med school?

I respect TScott's opinion and think that the majority of graduating cadets should go on to lead combat troops, but its hard to say that all of them should. Why then do we allow cadets to branch into AG?

The system has to have an 'out'. As we all know, just because you make it into and through USMA doesn't mean that you should be in front of troops. Some realize it is a lack of desire to be in charge, others realize they don't have the ability. This is a generalization. Don't read into it.

That also brings up the question of allowing women into the academies. If the goal of West Point is to train combat officers, then where do women fit into the equation as they currently cannot be Infantry, Armor, or Field Artillery Officers?

Um, women serve in 4 out of 7 combat arms branches including Field Artillery. Lets not forget those serving as Aviators, Engineers, and MPs. This was completely off topic of going to med school after USMA, but I thought I would address it anyway.

The Medical Department needs good leaders just as much as the Infantry.

I couldn't agree with you more. Most Medical Department leaders are Medical Service Corps, not doctors in the Medical Corps. Don't forget that this was one of your branching options.

As TScott points out...I have no idea.

Medicine, like the military, isn't for everyone.

To the original poster. I think it is great that you want to serve your country and that you have chosen West Point. I just want you to make sure that you are doing the right thing for the right reason.

 

[alphagojo]

OP, I had an identical plan to do what you are about to do (had already told USMA I was going and everything), but ultimately chose to do ROTC to have a far higher probability of going to medical school. It has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

That said, it sounds like you are pretty committed to USMA, so I wish you best of luck.