Air Force Jobs after Med school

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shamyaw00

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I know the topic may seem like it’s not in the right topic but essentially my questions is if I got to USUHS, or do the HSPS scholarship, could I do any other job besides medicine in the Air Force? I have a lot of interest and medicine definitely is my calling but I would like to do other things as well.


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I know the topic may seem like it’s not in the right topic but essentially my questions is if I got to USUHS, or do the HSPS scholarship, could I do any other job besides medicine in the Air Force? I have a lot of interest and medicine definitely is my calling but I would like to do other things as well.


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the air force didn't pay all that money to have you do something else, you're going to be among the most difficult slot to fill and unlikely to be allowed to empty that slot.
 
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Pretty sure the only way to pull that off would be to flunk out.
The .gov isn't interested in funding your medical education for hundreds of thousands of dollars for you to do something else.
 
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I know the topic may seem like it’s not in the right topic but essentially my questions is if I got to USUHS, or do the HSPS scholarship, could I do any other job besides medicine in the Air Force? I have a lot of interest and medicine definitely is my calling but I would like to do other things as well.


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Sort of

You might serve as a GMO / flight surgeon. There's some non-medical duties associated with that. In the Navy there's some flight training, or things to do with the Marines as a GMO. These are all still primarily medicine though. And not always enjoyable.

What kind of "other jobs" are you thinking of?
 
I know the topic may seem like it’s not in the right topic but essentially my questions is if I got to USUHS, or do the HSPS scholarship, could I do any other job besides medicine in the Air Force? I have a lot of interest and medicine definitely is my calling but I would like to do other things as well.


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What are you doing now? Why would you go to USUHS or otherwise join the military? What do you want to do?
 
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I’m in undergraduate now trying to lose weight for ROTC. I want to be a doctor regardless but I’ll also have a teaching certificate when I graduate so maybe teaching. I’m just interested in many things. I want to go to USUHS for medical but I also would want to do more jobs in the military


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Medicine and medical education is a large and long-term time commitment, in or out of the military. You can teach in medicine, but that comes after first going to medical school and residency and probably fellowship. As far as practicing medicine in the military, in a general sense, that is what the military will expect you to do, and not something else. Some find opportunities to work in medical research or administration, but those come after first completing residency training after medical school.

A teaching certificate as a secondary school teacher has no relationship to medical education or teaching in medicine. That is a fundamentally different career.

ROTC doesn't exclude the possibility of your going to medical school, but you should understand the main purpose for ROTC from the military's point of view, is to produce line officers, not doctors. Its demands may delay your being able to complete medical school prerequisites, which can be an obstacle. ROTC also doesn't exclude your becoming a teacher someday, but it is a program meant to direct you toward a military officer career, not an educational professional career.

USUHS and HPSP have military entrance physical requirements that must be met, similar to ROTC.

Becoming a competitive med school applicant takes a lot of work and time, and requires a mindset committed to that goal. Getting other qualifications, in teaching, law, business or engineering, for example, are possible, but eventually you will have to prioritize one over the other, and certainly if you are serious about medicine.
 
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I’m in undergraduate now trying to lose weight for ROTC. I want to be a doctor regardless but I’ll also have a teaching certificate when I graduate so maybe teaching. I’m just interested in many things. I want to go to USUHS for medical but I also would want to do more jobs in the military
So again what "other jobs" do you want to do? Just teaching? You've said you're interested in "many things" and want to do "other jobs" and "more jobs" but we have no idea what that really means.

If you want to teach, there are lots of opportunities (and requirements) for doctors to teach. As an intern you'll teach medical students. As a resident you'll teach students and interns. As an attending you'll teach students, interns, and residents ... assuming you're at a teaching hospital.

But you'll be teaching medicine, not welding, not literature, not cooking.

It's hard to overstate just how much medical school, internship, and residency, and then initial steep learning curve of independent practice dominate your life for at least a decade. It's not just medical school, but 3-5 or more years of residency, and then a steep learning curve when you finally start independent practice. There really isn't much time for other pursuits or interests. I'm not sure a lot of premeds really grok this, beyond knowing on some level that becoming a doctor is "hard" ... but hard just half of it, and the other half is time.
 
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I’m in undergraduate now trying to lose weight for ROTC. I want to be a doctor regardless but I’ll also have a teaching certificate when I graduate so maybe teaching. I’m just interested in many things. I want to go to USUHS for medical but I also would want to do more jobs in the military


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Why are you trying for ROTC if you want to do medicine in the military and pursue medical scholarship?

If you want to be a line officer or do hua schools then by all means drop the weight, join ROTC, and then don't do medical scholarship. Sounds like it would not match your wants/desires. You could do ROTC, line officer route, and then easily get put in charge of a school house and teaching enlisted soldiers.
 
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