Hello everyone!
I am currently finishing my time as a military PA and will be retiring in almost 2 years, I had previously considered medical school but as it is the norm with most of us non trads life (wife, kids, work, war, etc) took us in a different route away from our dreams. I joined right after 9-11 at the age of 17 and I am due to retire at 40. My journey into medicine has been exciting but I feel I can give more and want to give more.
A bit of my background, I am a migrant who arrived in this great country right after Y2K with a few bucks in my pocket (I know that story gets old but it is the truth...), finished high school and just wanted to go my own way and make my life outside of my parents supervision so I joined the military and "traveled the world". About 6 to 7 years later and on my second deployment I was fortunate to be able to help some wounded soldiers and to my surprise they all survived. Although I had no medical background, that experience stayed with me and pushed me to start looking into career fields within medicine. A few years later I became part of the special operations world working as their version of what a paramedic does in the US EMS system.
During these years I began taking college classes online, mostly while deployed (not a very easy task to submit assignments when your jungle antenna doesn't work and you are in the middle of a storm in the amazon jungle!). I came across our unit physician assistant and he educated me on the day to day duties of a military PA. I had been considering medical school but it was a time of military deployments and I did not want to leave my teammates in a barren wasteland without their medic, at the time I felt becoming a PA was the fastest route to the front lines.
Fast forward a few years and now I have 2 bachelor degrees (1 from an online university, lol), a master degree and a doctoral of science degree. My cumulative GPA is 3.48, GRE is 308, MCAT preparation will begin on 1 October 23 then take the test on March or April 24. I also plan on retaking all chemistry classes along with math to boost my science GPA, the plan is to start this on January of 2024. Tuition will be paid for by a combination of GI bill, VRE and Hazelwood act, plus out of pocket since I have been able to save some money in the last decade.
I plan on applying on the TDMSAS site in early May / June 2024 and hopefully get some interviews then get acceptance. I would prefer to stay in Texas as their tuition is a lot easier to afford with my military benefits. I know it is a long post but I am trying to put as much as possible on the table to get some advice and expectation management about getting into a Texas medical school.
Any advice is greatly appreciated and if any of you have walked this path please let me know, I am all ears.
I am currently finishing my time as a military PA and will be retiring in almost 2 years, I had previously considered medical school but as it is the norm with most of us non trads life (wife, kids, work, war, etc) took us in a different route away from our dreams. I joined right after 9-11 at the age of 17 and I am due to retire at 40. My journey into medicine has been exciting but I feel I can give more and want to give more.
A bit of my background, I am a migrant who arrived in this great country right after Y2K with a few bucks in my pocket (I know that story gets old but it is the truth...), finished high school and just wanted to go my own way and make my life outside of my parents supervision so I joined the military and "traveled the world". About 6 to 7 years later and on my second deployment I was fortunate to be able to help some wounded soldiers and to my surprise they all survived. Although I had no medical background, that experience stayed with me and pushed me to start looking into career fields within medicine. A few years later I became part of the special operations world working as their version of what a paramedic does in the US EMS system.
During these years I began taking college classes online, mostly while deployed (not a very easy task to submit assignments when your jungle antenna doesn't work and you are in the middle of a storm in the amazon jungle!). I came across our unit physician assistant and he educated me on the day to day duties of a military PA. I had been considering medical school but it was a time of military deployments and I did not want to leave my teammates in a barren wasteland without their medic, at the time I felt becoming a PA was the fastest route to the front lines.
Fast forward a few years and now I have 2 bachelor degrees (1 from an online university, lol), a master degree and a doctoral of science degree. My cumulative GPA is 3.48, GRE is 308, MCAT preparation will begin on 1 October 23 then take the test on March or April 24. I also plan on retaking all chemistry classes along with math to boost my science GPA, the plan is to start this on January of 2024. Tuition will be paid for by a combination of GI bill, VRE and Hazelwood act, plus out of pocket since I have been able to save some money in the last decade.
I plan on applying on the TDMSAS site in early May / June 2024 and hopefully get some interviews then get acceptance. I would prefer to stay in Texas as their tuition is a lot easier to afford with my military benefits. I know it is a long post but I am trying to put as much as possible on the table to get some advice and expectation management about getting into a Texas medical school.
Any advice is greatly appreciated and if any of you have walked this path please let me know, I am all ears.
(joking)
