Interested in USUHS and Navy

[don_Genaro_27]

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Hi all! Thanks for answering my question with care and patience.

I am a 30-yr old, background is Bachelor's in Bio with a 3.5 gpa, 34-MCAT, and pretty good experiences and LORs all-round.

Firstly, I am very interested in the Navy, and would like to be a part of the military and make it my primary career. I am a person who considers himself somewhat patriotic, and my background has shaped my values immensely towards loving this country -- even though I immigrated here -- and makes me feel like a part of it. Thus, all put-together, I would really like to be a part of our fighting forces.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions for anyone with specific experience with this sort of thing.

I am trying to sign up before it is too late for me, age-wise, so that I can pursue my dream of being a military doctor. I suppose the question of deployment has crossed my mind -- however, at this point in time, I have seen so much in my life, that it seems like a sacrifice well worth it. Not to mention that it may not even materialize.

So, my question is, if I wanted to go to the USUHS, what would be best chance to get in?

Just work on some job and apply next year with the requisite skills rounded off such as volunteering, talking to docs, etc.?

Or, sign up now for the Navy and hope they can help me get into the medical field as a physician?

Please understand that I am still new to this, and would appreciate any information. I have yet to speak to a recruiter about my aspirations.

Thank you.

AI

 

[IgD]

The Navy is short handed right now so I suspect it would be very easy for you to get in through a variety of paths. Serving the country is important and rewarding. At the same time your decision is a major one and I encourage you to research and understand the risks and benefits of all the options.

 

[TheGoose]

Or, sign up now for the Navy and hope they can help me get into the medical field as a physician?
AI

the only way the navy can have you "get into the medical field as a physician" is if you are a physician. So, either apply to USUHS or go to a civilian med school and do HPSP or FAP. You're stats are fine for USUHS and a ton of civilian schools. start applyin'

 

[BigNavyPedsGuy]

You have to be a US citizen to be a commisionned officer. You said you'd immigrated here - unless you are a citezen it won't work out.

 

[don_Genaro_27]

Hi guys! Thanks for the wonderful feedback! I am rather thrilled about my decision, and would like to say that the positive atmosphere in this forum has made me want to say Boo-ya!

Given that our armed forces are short-handed right now, as IgD pointed out, would it be likely that if I join the Navy right now, I could make a year or two work for me in the right way?

I guess what I am looking for is a solid preparation in the Military ethic to ground me in the basics so that once I get to med-school and beyond, I will be making the right decisions from day-one.

Also, one poster seemed to point out that the Navy doesn't accept your decision to go into medical training if they take you in before as an officer. By the way, I have a Green Card, and am eligible to apply for citizenship, which should be another issue to be taken care of....

My question is based on the FAQ in IgD's post, based on the GME handbook, that you can obtain a Letter of Approval, LOA, from your commanding officer to let you pursue medical training. I also understand that they stipulate that you cannot change the branch of choice, i.e., if you join the Navy you got to go Navy in USUHS and so on.

You guys have a happy thanksgiving, and kindly let me know how I can work this out.

Also, are there are web-sites out there that can help me talk to physicians in the military? I live in the North-East, Delaware to specific. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

AI

 

[IgD]

The best thing to do would be to head over to http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/US-Navy-Healthcare/58255525412 and sign up!

Good luck.

 

[pgg]

Given that our armed forces are short-handed right now, as IgD pointed out, would it be likely that if I join the Navy right now, I could make a year or two work for me in the right way?

[...]

you can obtain a Letter of Approval, LOA, from your commanding officer to let you pursue medical training.

One of my most angry, bitter Marines said he was pissed at the Marine Corps because his recruiter told him he could get a journalism MOS where he could draw political cartoons or some such nonsense. This guy joined thinking he was going to write comic books. Instead, they gave him a rifle and sent him to the infantry.

If you enlist in the Navy thinking some commanding officer is going to write you a "Letter of Approval" to be a doctor, you're liable to find yourself chipping paint and scraping barnacles off a big gray ship for 4 years.

You're a college graduate with good grades and a solid MCAT score. Go to medical school. Finance it with loans. (Neither USUHS and HPSP are options because you're not a US citizen.) Do a civilian residency in the field of your choice. By now, if you're a citizen, you can come into any branch of the military through FAP. Some or all of your loans will get paid off by the government and you'll be a military physician.

Enlisting is not a path for a 30-year-old non-citizen to become a military physician.

 

[IgD]

One of my most angry, bitter Marines said he was pissed at the Marine Corps because his recruiter told him he could get a journalism MOS where he could draw political cartoons or some such nonsense. This guy joined thinking he was going to write comic books. Instead, they gave him a rifle and sent him to the infantry.

One of my patients was a Marine and a journalist. I think there is a journalism MOS in the Marine Corps.

 

[pgg]

One of my patients was a Marine and a journalist. I think there is a journalism MOS in the Marine Corps.

Of course there is.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Joker!
Private Joker: Sir, yes, sir!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: 4212. Basic Military Journalism. You gotta be ****tin' me, Joker. You think you're Mickey Spillane? You think you're some kind of a ****in' writer?
Private Joker: Sir, I wrote for my high school newspaper, sir!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Jesus H. Christ! You're not a writer. You're a killer!
Private Joker: A killer, yes, sir!

I'm just saying that my disgruntled Marine had a better chance of enlisting and drawing cartoons all day than the OP has of enlisting and getting fast-tracked (or even slow-tracked) into medical school.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

Hi guys! Thanks for the wonderful feedback! I am rather thrilled about my decision, and would like to say that the positive atmosphere in this forum has made me want to say Boo-ya!

AI

You reading the same forum I am?

Seriously though, too bad you're not a citizen. You sound like someone who might actually be very happy as a military doc.