Leaving active-duty Army, advice on plans appreciated

[ebbo]

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Hello, SDN! I come here humbly seeking the advice of those before me.

I am due to leave active-duty Army by the end of the year, and I am going to get back on the med school track after. Ideally I wanted to apply for a post-bacc, pre-med program, but I have too many science credits from the last time I took pre-med courses with only an overall 3.4 GPA and science GPA of 3.1~ish. The last pre-req I took was from 2011; I completed Biology, Gen Chemistry and one semester of Orgo, with all attached labs.

My other option is to finish the remaining courses to raise my grades, and perhaps apply to an SMP. I need/want to take on a job during this time, preferably something that will help my resume. Unfortunately I spent the last three years wasting away in military intelligence. I was thinking that going Reserves and changing jobs to Combat Medic (68W) or Lab Tech (68K), which will provide training and civilian certification, would help with experience/extracurriculars. Is this a bad idea? I contacted a friend about this plan, but he says that a great MCAT score will count more than any medical training or certification I can get.

I'm not that keen on going into Army Reserves, but I will do it if it will help me. My concern here is that I will be wasting more time in a job outside of the Army that won't help me in any way (except financially).

I appreciate any advice about these tentative plans, and thank you for taking the time to read.

 

[Brorthopedic]

Your friend is right. Doing really well on the MCAT will do more for you than any amount of extra time spent in the service at this point. Being in the army is going to look great on your resume, but anymore than that it won't make that big of a difference. I would say your best shot, at the moment, is to crush the MCAT and apply DO. If you want to apply MD, do an SMP to bump up your GPA.

 

[Goro]

Agree 100%. And to OP, many thanks for your service to our country. Hooahh!

Start shadowing and getting in some patient contact experience.

Your friend is right. Doing really well on the MCAT will do more for you than any amount of extra time spent in the service at this point. Being in the army is going to look great on your resume, but anymore than that it won't make that big of a difference. I would say your best shot, at the moment, is to crush the MCAT and apply DO. If you want to apply MD, do an SMP to bump up your GPA.

 

[ebbo]

Thanks for the speedy and helpful reply, Brorthopedic, and thank you for your support, Goro 🙂 I thought that having lab training would help with getting in on research EC, but it seems like that's secondary to a nice MCAT score. I will be looking into volunteering and shadowing starting next week at the local military hospital (after a little weekend visit to Vegas). I have always leaned more towards D.O. than M.D., so I will definitely keep your advice in mind, Brorthopedic.

I will still have to take my remaining pre-reqs, and financially, I can't go to school part-time without at least a part-time job. Do you advise trying to find one that's somewhat medical-related? I know people who worked as receptionists in small private practices and got into med school (along with great numbers, I presume) that way. There's a contracting job I've been looking at that's related to what I've been doing in the Army; the pay is decent, but the hours are inflexible and not related to health care in any way.

I mean, the MCAT is very important but it can't possibly trump a resume so completely? Should've become a combat medic from the start.

 

[Brorthopedic]

Thanks for the speedy and helpful reply, Brorthopedic, and thank you for your support, Goro 🙂 I thought that having lab training would help with getting in on research EC, but it seems like that's secondary to a nice MCAT score. I will be looking into volunteering and shadowing starting next week at the local military hospital (after a little weekend visit to Vegas). I have always leaned more towards D.O. than M.D., so I will definitely keep your advice in mind, Brorthopedic.

I will still have to take my remaining pre-reqs, and financially, I can't go to school part-time without at least a part-time job. Do you advise trying to find one that's somewhat medical-related? I know people who worked as receptionists in small private practices and got into med school (along with great numbers, I presume) that way. There's a contracting job I've been looking at that's related to what I've been doing in the Army; the pay is decent, but the hours are inflexible and not related to health care in any way.

I mean, the MCAT is very important but it can't possibly trump a resume so completely? Should've become a combat medic from the start.

In reality, it does. If a person has a solid MCAT and decent GPA, the rest can be average. Average hours spent in the hospital, average hours spent shadowing, etc. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't work for all schools, specifically those that are top tier, but it will for the majority. When people view your application, they'll be impressed by your MCAT, GPA, and service. The rest is more of a buffer so you don't get flat out rejected for having zero clinical experience. That is assuming you're just trying to get into any medical school and not into an extremely competitive school.

If you need a job, picking the one that's medical related is going to help you a little bit but it won't make or break your application.

 

[ebbo]

In reality, it does. If a person has a solid MCAT and decent GPA, the rest can be average. Average hours spent in the hospital, average hours spent shadowing, etc. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't work for all schools, specifically those that are top tier, but it will for the majority. When people view your application, they'll be impressed by your MCAT, GPA, and service. The rest is more of a buffer so you don't get flat out rejected for having zero clinical experience. That is assuming you're just trying to get into any medical school and not into an extremely competitive school.

If you need a job, picking the one that's medical related is going to help you a little bit but it won't make or break your application.

Thank you for the info, very useful and a great relief that I don't have to go Reserves to make the cut. I appreciate your help very much, Brorthopedic. I'll do what I'm able to, one step at a time.

 

[trev5150]

Forget the Reserves. Fine-print time-suck populated by skater uber-POG's and infinitely more childish than you'll be able to muster the ability to tolerate (especially coming off AD) for minimal experience payoff. By minimal experience you might see much of anything at all and as a newb in whatever MOS you'd have to be there for years before you were actually allowed to do anything considered valuable. You'll be much better served gaining experience in the sorts of environments you'd actually encounter in real-world day-to-day.

 

[Brorthopedic]

Thank you for the info, very useful and a great relief that I don't have to go Reserves to make the cut. I appreciate your help very much, Brorthopedic. I'll do what I'm able to, one step at a time.

No problem, and best of luck. Don't half ass the MCAT prep! Don't do a full-time job, don't even do a part-time job. Get rid of distractions, but always keep a few friends around that are down to pound some beers on the days that you really need it. And believe me, those days will come...

 

[ebbo]

Forget the Reserves. Fine-print time-suck populated by skater uber-POG's and infinitely more childish than you'll be able to muster the ability to tolerate (especially coming off AD) for minimal experience payoff. By minimal experience you might see much of anything at all and as a newb in whatever MOS you'd have to be there for years before you were actually allowed to do anything considered valuable. You'll be much better served gaining experience in the sorts of environments you'd actually encounter in real-world day-to-day.

Yeah I'm now convinced that Reserves and changing MOS just for qualifications isn't worth the trouble. That'd be a year in TRADOC followed by a part-time job I can't quit (as I've heard Reserves and NG described)... I'm better off putting my efforts where they'd matter. Thank for the input, trev.

 

[trev5150]

Yeah, man. Just a former AD Marine and no first-hand experience in the Reserves, but I spent 10 years after my time working with the army and heard every possible version of that common theme. Throw your boots over the wire, come back the the real world, get your brains back, and enjoy your life a little bit.

Edit: Forgot to mention the power-hungry game-playing permanent party staff NCO's that revel in torturing fellow service members with endless reams of buck-passing bureaucratic bull.