medical school and the military. help!

[Tannersousa]

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So as I search and search all I can find is posts from 10 years ago regarding going to medical school through the military in a VERY non traditional fashion. so my question is this: I am currently enlisted in the army (I'm in basic combat training and I'm on holiday block leave until jan 4th) and I have no college education, I have a 6 year contract and my goal is to obtain my bachelors degree as fast as possible. I would like to attend medical school with either two options emdp2 program, or just apply as a civilian normally would. so heres the actual question part of the question, will the emdp2 program give me a high enough chance over not doing it to spend the 2 years( assuming I actually get accepted into it). And can I just apply to medical school while enlisted either usuhs or civilian medical school, because I will have taken the mcat by then but I will have literally no other material on my application such as shadowing, volunteering, extra circulars and other things of that nature. so will I be a really bad candidate or will the acceptance committee see that I was serving so it was virtually impossible for me to have done all those extra circulars? what should I do to become a competitive candidate without having to get out of the military and getting back in because thats silly.

any help would be appreciated, preferably someone who has actually be accepted into a medical school while enlisted no matter the path.

also if I'm missing any huge obvious programs regarding getting into med school please let me know the only program I've found so far is the emdp2.

thanks in advance for the feedback if any.

 

[Tannersousa]

also, side question, does getting a bachelors in the army look bad on a med school app?

 

[Dr.Sticks]

I don't know about your other questions; But veteran status can be a benefit to your med school application.

 

[Goro]

BEING in the Army looks good. And many thanks to you for your service to our country. Hoooahh!

also, side question, does getting a bachelors in the army look bad on a med school app?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I'm applying for the EMDP2 program now, so I can give you some limited information.

It is competitive. Each service has 5 available spots, though that may get increased to 6. Not sure yet. In the Navy alone, there were ~100 spots last year (the first cycle for USN) for those 5 spots, and there were probably more this year. If you get accepted, my understanding is that you are more or less guaranteed a spot at USUHS so long as you don't bomb the prereqs or MCAT.

That said, it is a big commitment. Not sure about the Army, but the Navy requires a 60-month obliserv just to enter the prep program. The 7-year commitment that USUHS incurs is on top of that. You can always go to a civilian school and only incur 4 years, but that will still be on top of your 5 year commitment for the prep program (though you serve 2 of those in the actual prep program itself). You will likely not be GMO and GTFO, but it's still possible I guess. AFAIK, GMO tours between pgy-1 and pgy-2 are rare in the Army.

You should not apply to school or even EMDP2 without a great list of ECs. Even for EMDP2, you need a CO letter and an active duty physician assessment, and if you haven't done anything they won't have anything to write about. You need to be an all-around stellar Soldier to be selected, just like you need to be an all-around applicant to get into medical school. Use the time you have while you're finishing your degree to volunteer, get clinical experience, etc. I was able to get 400+ hours of volunteering, ~400 hours of research, multiple pubs, a merit award, and tons of clinical experience.

Additionally, you must have your bachelors prior to applying. That will take a lot of time, since you have no college education and are just finishing basic. You can expect to serve at least 12 months at your first command before they let you take college courses or approve a TA request. Again, being in a different branch, I can't comment on what your optempo will be like, but it was hard to finish my degree at an operational command, and I only needed ~45 credits.

As far as applying to USUHS directly, you can go that route, but you will have to take all your prereqs and study for and take the MCAT while active duty and possibly (probably) deploying. The safer bet would be to either apply to EMDP2 or get as much of your degree done as possible, then get out and finish what's left, take the MCAT and apply as a civilian.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask either here or PM.

Edit: just to make it clear, since we're not in the same service, we wouldn't be competing for an EMDP2 spot, and even if we were, by the time you are ready to apply, I'll either be in medical school or out of the Navy.