- Joined
- Oct 3, 2015
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 11
Howdy y'all,
I've been a ghost around SDN for some time, but I have no real posting experience - I apologize in advance for any feats of ignorance that I manage to pull off in this following post. I appreciate all of the dialogue that has continued throughout this forum, and it has undoubtedly given me (as well as other medical students/pre-meds) insight into the complex machine that is MilMed. I'll try to keep my explanation of my background and my reasoning brief, but this will probably be a lengthy post.
BLUF: I'm considering HPSP as an opportunity to gain "military" discipline/leadership qualities, potentially do some cool things as a GMO (FS/UMO?), and serve my country before transitioning to a civilian residency.
I'm currently an undergraduate student in a BS/MD program with my university. I have neither prior experience with the military nor any family members with such experience. However, I would not be here today without the intervention of the military in the 60s-70s - for that I am extremely appreciative. The university that I attend is a senior military college, but I am regretfully not a member of its Corps of Cadets. This all being said, my university is steeped in strong military values, and I have acquired a deep appreciation for those that serve. The medical school that I will be matriculating to is also part of my university system and also has a focus on military medicine - we have a considerable number of veteran students and have several connections/clinical rotations with Army and AF facilities.
While I am somewhat enamored with the prospect of pursuing service with the military, I am hesitant to commission due to the considerable amount of negativity expressed by SDN towards the current MilMed system. It seems evident that pursuing a long term career with the military would be a poor decision. With the uncertainty surrounding DHA acquisition of MTFs, the upcoming provider cut, and slashing of residencies, pursuing an HPSP scholarship has a considerable amount of unknowns. In addition to this, my medical school has an extremely cheap tuition, so while the financial bonuses of HPSP would be nice during my schooling, the military would be getting me for a very good deal.
What keeps on drawing me back to the prospect of HPSP is what I believe to be a desire to serve, or at least some sort of pseudo-desire conferred to me by the values of my university. I enjoy the prospect of providing care for those that put their lives on the line for us every day, and am aware of the BS oftentimes attributed with it. In addition, there is the possibility of gaining interesting experiences and personal development from the process. From what I have read, the most enjoyable/interesting times in MilMed have been those spent doing specialized training as a FS or UMO - those are opportunities that seem to close off after one pursues a residency, starts a family, grows older, etc. I have been locked in to my BS/MD since senior year of high school, so I'm pretty comfortable with being "locked-in."
While I am currently considering primary care or aerospace medicine, it's possible that that decision will change through medical school - if I still decide to pursue those, military training and post-residency compensation is reportedly about the same as civilian (or I can GMO and pursue civilian training). If I decide not to specialize in those areas, I can once again do GMO and pursue the civilian track. This way, I'll dodge most of the uncertainty with all of the incoming DHA reform and billet cuts.
In any case, I wanted to know whether or not pursuing a GMO and experiencing the original, forward operating, core concept of MilMed would be a worthwhile experience. Is four years (five including intern?) of GMO a good formative experience for a young adult, and does it really help in matching to civilian residencies afterwards? I'd ideally like to obtain a wide variety of experiences by spending time as an FS, travelling overseas, doing humanitarian work (if the opportunity arises), and gaining military traits before moving on with my career. Compared to the more mundane, "traditional" track that most med students take, I feel that both the good and bad experiences associated with the military will leave a more lasting impression on the way that I live my life.
I'm considering AF, Navy, and Army (though to a lesser extent). If I recall correctly, USAF has less flight time, while the Navy gets much more. I do not know anything of the Army's FS program, though it seems more likely that I'd be deployed as a battalion surgeon upon GMO. I think that AF and Navy both get pretty good locations and have shorter deployment times, but I'm not sure about their humanitarian work - it seems like Navy does a bit more. Does anyone have any insight between these two services?
Thanks for your service and advice.
I've been a ghost around SDN for some time, but I have no real posting experience - I apologize in advance for any feats of ignorance that I manage to pull off in this following post. I appreciate all of the dialogue that has continued throughout this forum, and it has undoubtedly given me (as well as other medical students/pre-meds) insight into the complex machine that is MilMed. I'll try to keep my explanation of my background and my reasoning brief, but this will probably be a lengthy post.
BLUF: I'm considering HPSP as an opportunity to gain "military" discipline/leadership qualities, potentially do some cool things as a GMO (FS/UMO?), and serve my country before transitioning to a civilian residency.
I'm currently an undergraduate student in a BS/MD program with my university. I have neither prior experience with the military nor any family members with such experience. However, I would not be here today without the intervention of the military in the 60s-70s - for that I am extremely appreciative. The university that I attend is a senior military college, but I am regretfully not a member of its Corps of Cadets. This all being said, my university is steeped in strong military values, and I have acquired a deep appreciation for those that serve. The medical school that I will be matriculating to is also part of my university system and also has a focus on military medicine - we have a considerable number of veteran students and have several connections/clinical rotations with Army and AF facilities.
While I am somewhat enamored with the prospect of pursuing service with the military, I am hesitant to commission due to the considerable amount of negativity expressed by SDN towards the current MilMed system. It seems evident that pursuing a long term career with the military would be a poor decision. With the uncertainty surrounding DHA acquisition of MTFs, the upcoming provider cut, and slashing of residencies, pursuing an HPSP scholarship has a considerable amount of unknowns. In addition to this, my medical school has an extremely cheap tuition, so while the financial bonuses of HPSP would be nice during my schooling, the military would be getting me for a very good deal.
What keeps on drawing me back to the prospect of HPSP is what I believe to be a desire to serve, or at least some sort of pseudo-desire conferred to me by the values of my university. I enjoy the prospect of providing care for those that put their lives on the line for us every day, and am aware of the BS oftentimes attributed with it. In addition, there is the possibility of gaining interesting experiences and personal development from the process. From what I have read, the most enjoyable/interesting times in MilMed have been those spent doing specialized training as a FS or UMO - those are opportunities that seem to close off after one pursues a residency, starts a family, grows older, etc. I have been locked in to my BS/MD since senior year of high school, so I'm pretty comfortable with being "locked-in."
While I am currently considering primary care or aerospace medicine, it's possible that that decision will change through medical school - if I still decide to pursue those, military training and post-residency compensation is reportedly about the same as civilian (or I can GMO and pursue civilian training). If I decide not to specialize in those areas, I can once again do GMO and pursue the civilian track. This way, I'll dodge most of the uncertainty with all of the incoming DHA reform and billet cuts.
In any case, I wanted to know whether or not pursuing a GMO and experiencing the original, forward operating, core concept of MilMed would be a worthwhile experience. Is four years (five including intern?) of GMO a good formative experience for a young adult, and does it really help in matching to civilian residencies afterwards? I'd ideally like to obtain a wide variety of experiences by spending time as an FS, travelling overseas, doing humanitarian work (if the opportunity arises), and gaining military traits before moving on with my career. Compared to the more mundane, "traditional" track that most med students take, I feel that both the good and bad experiences associated with the military will leave a more lasting impression on the way that I live my life.
I'm considering AF, Navy, and Army (though to a lesser extent). If I recall correctly, USAF has less flight time, while the Navy gets much more. I do not know anything of the Army's FS program, though it seems more likely that I'd be deployed as a battalion surgeon upon GMO. I think that AF and Navy both get pretty good locations and have shorter deployment times, but I'm not sure about their humanitarian work - it seems like Navy does a bit more. Does anyone have any insight between these two services?
Thanks for your service and advice.