Military trying get to Med School

[michael yurchak]

Hey Everyone!,

I received this forum website from a friend in my unit and thought I'd check it out. A little about me, my name is Michael and I recently turned 22. I'm currently in the Air Force Reserves and have been in for just under 5 years. I joined the military right out of high school in the career of a flight medic. The training for that career field is LONG! I wasn't able to attend college until nearly 2 years after I graduated from high school. When I finally got the opportunity to return to school I attended a community college to get some of the GEN ED classes out of the way and cut down the over all cost of school (the military pays for a good chunk but the benefits aren't endless). After 1.5 years at that community college I deployed to Afghanistan from DEC2012-MAY2013. I switched schools and now i'm at a 4 year university, and i'm having a VERY difficult time. I've always loved school and learning but now I feel like i'm falling behind. The kids in my classes are 4-5 years younger than me and it's almost making me regret joining the service. Then to top everything off I was having family issues (2 family members were in the hospital for different issues both VERY serious) and that plus the stress of adjusting to coming home from Afghanistan was making keeping up with school difficult and I ended up dropping a class. Today I went to register for my Spring 2014 semester and now I really screwed myself because that class, Ochem 1, was a major stepping stone for me to move on to the higher level classes I need. Also, my college has this crazy strict fall/spring offering for their courses so basically I can wait until summer to retake Ochem or I have to wait until Fall 2014! I wanted to retake Ochem at my old community college but I was told that would be a big mistake and would look unfavorable to medical schools because I took a hard science at an "easy school". I feel like even though I've accomplished nearly 2 years of college i'm further from my life long dream of making it to medical school. Additionally, my unit is deploying again next September and that's my biggest and pretty much my ONLY source of income, but this of course pushes me back further and further. I feel like i'm never going to make it out from underneath my undergrad degree, i'm becoming extremely burned out and honestly sick of school.

QUESTION: Does anyone else that is a non-tradtional student feel like no matter how much work you do to move forward you seem to be standing at a stand still at the start line? If so what helps you keep on keeping on? I care so much about medicine and i've literally helped transport and provide life saving care to 100's and 100's of injured troops, but I don't know how much longer I can keep going working so hard to move no where.

Thanks for reading, and if no one reads this it was just nice to type out my feelings instead of keeping all the frustration in.

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[QuantumJ]

Dropping one class won't hurt you and taking some community college courses won't either. I took ochem 1, 2 and bio prereqs at a cc and it hasn't been an issue. Just keep in mind that some med schools might not take cc credit so if you go that route be sure to check.

Your service and deployment make an amazing EC that you can talk about. I say this to let you know that you're starting ahead of the game.

The way I've countered losing sight of the end is shadowing and volunteering. I loved shadowing because it got me excited all over again. My volunteering also allowed me to connect with patients and helped reinforce why I was doing all this.

 

[CW 2010]

Does anyone else that is a non-tradtional student feel like no matter how much work you do to move forward you seem to be standing at a stand still at the start line?

Oh, I feel this way ALL the time, LOL! I think the key is to realize that you ARE moving, albeit in very small steps. It is truly one step at a time And I also keep reminding myself about the final goal, about WHY I am actually doing it. Shadowing or some patient contact could be very beneficial in reinforcing this motivation of yours. And then people do burn out... So, maybe just take a little break... and after that start moving forward again.

And just like QuantumJ said, a CC class is unlikely to hurt you. The fact that it is at a CC doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be easier. Make sure this class transfers to your University, though.

 

[Derpz]

Feel your pain brah...just keep grinding...crew chief myself, in the ANG right now, drills get annoying and deployments can seriously screw up class timing. I've seen them totally derail people's ambitions b/c of how badly they mess up timing/sequence of classes. Any chance you can skip out on the deployment and let someone else go in your place? Feel free to PM me for a more private convo

 

[alpinism]

Be patient. You're only 22. I dad to wait till after I got out of the AF to do my pre-reqs at 24. Medicine is a very long path. On the bright side, you've already got your clinical experience and shadowing out of the way.

Don't worry about taking CC classes if needed. Most med schools will understand that you had military obligations.

Also, get a new username that doesn't include your real name.

 

[pietachok]

It's a long process, and when there are setbacks, it's painful. But since you've already started at 22, you're really not going to be that far behind. There are many people in their 30s by graduation. By the time you get to medical school, you'll realize you're a better student because of your maturity -- you are better clinically b/c you interact more effectively with patients, and you can be better academically b/c you have your life and priorities a little more sorted out.

As an aside, I'd suggest using something other than your real name on the forum