Military wife --> Med student

[Mishabella56]

Hi,
This is the first time I have ever posted. I have searched for days for a post like this so I didn't have to waste anyone's time, but alas I could not find one.
A little about myself; I am a premed student at Cal Poly university and a very happy wife to a Marine for four years. I have been involved in medicine since I was 17 years old (EMT, MA, MA instructor and phelbotmist.) This upcoming year, I am going to apply to all my schools of choice hoping to get admission for the class starting in 2012. During 2011 my husband will be in his first year of recruitment duty, which means he has to choose where he wants to go, but he can not stay here in our home state. After three years of his duty he can come back to our home state, which is most likely going to happen. This suggests a problem to which school to apply to and where I should hope to be going. I could apply to all the schools around his recruitment station and have to be away from him my lat two years, or apply to all our home state schools and be away from him my first two years. Both seem so hard to comprehend right now because being away from him and our pups is such a hard thing to do, even though we have survived 5 deployments.

I currently work at an OB office and one of our patients' husband is currently enrolled in a med school that is on the east coast but he is constantly with her because he is in his third year of MS and is doinging his clinicals on the west coast. How does this work and could i bank on doing something like this so I would not be apart from my family as long?

Any ideas or helpful hints will be welcomed gladly!! Thanks!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Don15]

What is your question?

 

[Mishabella56]

Sorry posted before I was done writing. That's what i get for doing this on the iPad!

I was able to finish after I edited. See posted above.

 

[mjscal]

What is your gpa and mcat scores?

 

[teddy bear doc]

Welcome to SDN, and welcome to the club! My husband is active duty too. It is scary to think about being away from your family for that long, but another thing to consider is that, as he is active duty marines and has likely been deployed, you must be seasoned at doing the long-distance thing. Doesn't make it EASIER per se, but it is more of a known quantity for military spouses than the average person.

In answer to your suggestion and assuming he is very supportive of you and willing to readjust his plans to accommodate yours, I would highly recommend he opt to be stationed in TEXAS. Anywhere in Texas would be good, but somewhere close to a high density of med schools would be best. As a military spouse, you can automatically take on residency in the state where your spouse is stationed (well, at least in all the states I know of, but check in with Texas first to be sure), waiving any time requirements a la, you must live here x amount of years before being considered a resident. Because Texas has a HUGE number of med schools, you have a statistically much higher chance of being accepted to a state school there than, say, CA. If you are very competitive, you could hopefully get accepted to a school very close to where your husband works, enabling you to actually live together.

Of course, that's assuming your home state isn't Texas... If TX is home, try for a place that accepts a LARGE proportion of in-state applicants. By this, I don't mean that the entire class is in-state necessarily, however. For example, U of Vermont accepts a lot of OOS, but of the only 95 +/- in-state applicants that they get, they accept a little more than half. Your odds don't get much better than that for med school!

Sorry this is so long; I can be more than a little wordy. Again, welcome, good luck, and feel free to PM me as well. It's good to see more mil spouses! Armywife06 is one too (duh!), and I'm sure she could weigh in here too...

Edit: I re-read your post and it seems like your home state is CA. If that's the case, DO NOT bank on just getting into a state school. The traditional pre-allo forum is littered with posts discussing the hardships of being a CA applicant because you just can't count on your state schools. It sucks, I am Californian born and raised too, but other states can be good too!

 

[Mishabella56]

GPA
Science 3.4
GE 3.8
MCAT 36 R

 

[Armywife06]

Another military spouse! It's good to see more of us around here. I agree with Teddy especially on the CA schools. From what I hear from other CA residents, it's like a death trap lol. If you could claim your husband's new duty station as your residence it would probably dramatically increase your chances. I completely understand not wanting to be away from your husband. It's just one of those choices you have to make. Hope everything works out for you!

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

GPA
Science 3.4
GE 3.8
MCAT 36 R

Your stats are good, although the CA schools are SO competitive, so you're still only "average" at most of those schools. According to the current MSAR, you are only likely competitive at Loma Linda. The rest, you are higher in your MCAT than some, but your SGPA is below average, and your CGPA is only average for most. That said, your ECs are good, possibly better than your competitions, and you are a resident, so of course it's worth applying to a few of them. However, as I currently live away from my husband because he is working in another state, I would say apply to the places where you think you'll get in. This isn't a life long thing, most likely, you'll spend some time apart, but even at most its 4 years. Once you hit your residency, you can apply where ever. As far as doing clinicals in a different spot, I have been told it depends on the school. Some have partnerships with places across the country, and some don't. So, to that I'd say, no you can't count on doing your clinicals where ever you feel like. Best of luck in your decision

 

[mjscal]

I am not entirely sure how to answer you question. Generally the easiest way to get into medical school is through your state public medical schools. Unfortunately it is very competitive to try to get into any of the UC med schools. Your MCAT score is terrific. The total gpa is very good but it's character will be evaluated in the context of the kind of courses you took and your undergraduate school.
Your science gpa however is low which makes you a reach for schools such as UCSF, UCLA, and Stanford. UCD, UCI and USC are possibles. You should apply to private medical schools and some public medical schools outside of California where you have a good shot of acceptance.
The question I cannot answer pertains to you military dependent status. Many states will offer instate tuition to military personal and their dependents while stationed instate.
What I do not know is whether some OOS public medical schools will treat you as in state for application/admission purposes if your husband is stationed instate. I am pretty sure this does not work unless your husband is already stationed instate. This means that if there is such a state that will give you instate status for application and tuition purposes and there is a position in that state for you husband you might want to relocate to that state before applying to medical school.

 

[teddy bear doc]

What I do not know is whether some OOS public medical schools will treat you as in state for application/admission purposes if your husband is stationed instate.

Yes. They will. But you are correct in that he must be physically stationed there before or during the admissions process. Having orders to a place doesn't cut it; you have to ACTUALLY be there.

 

[J-Rad]

...In answer to your suggestion and assuming he is very supportive of you and willing to readjust his plans to accommodate yours, I would highly recommend he opt to be stationed in TEXAS. Anywhere in Texas would be good, but somewhere close to a high density of med schools would be best. As a military spouse, you can automatically take on residency in the state where your spouse is stationed (well, at least in all the states I know of, but check in with Texas first to be sure), waiving any time requirements a la, you must live here x amount of years before being considered a resident. Because Texas has a HUGE number of med schools, you have a statistically much higher chance of being accepted to a state school there than, say, CA. If you are very competitive, you could hopefully get accepted to a school very close to where your husband works, enabling you to actually live together.

Of course, that's assuming your home state isn't Texas... If TX is home, try for a place that accepts a LARGE proportion of in-state applicants. By this, I don't mean that the entire class is in-state necessarily, however. For example, U of Vermont accepts a lot of OOS, but of the only 95 +/- in-state applicants that they get, they accept a little more than half. Your odds don't get much better than that for med school!

Sorry this is so long; I can be more than a little wordy. Again, welcome, good luck, and feel free to PM me as well. It's good to see more mil spouses! Armywife06 is one too (duh!), and I'm sure she could weigh in here too...

Edit: I re-read your post and it seems like your home state is CA. If that's the case, DO NOT bank on just getting into a state school. The traditional pre-allo forum is littered with posts discussing the hardships of being a CA applicant because you just can't count on your state schools. It sucks, I am Californian born and raised too, but other states can be good too!

Yes. They will. But you are correct in that he must be physically stationed there before or during the admissions process. Having orders to a place doesn't cut it; you have to ACTUALLY be there.

First, to OP: thank you to your husband and you for your service.

Second: the notion that being military (either member or spouse) will negate a residency duration requirement in Texas is erroneous.
http://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/medical/residency.html
(which linked to)
http://www.utexas.edu/student/admissions/residency/
(read th FAQ which addresses military members and residency status).
Your are required to reside in TX for a minimum of 12 months at the time of application (not enrollment) for in-state status. You will have to check state by state for info on residency status for in-state tuitions. Be aware that there are states that will be more stringent (ex. Massachusetts requires 5 years of residency-and that means paying taxes to MA for 5 years). Do not assume that many states will waive the duration-of-residency requirements for military, esp. when it comes to medical schools which will often have different rules applied to them (again, ex. MA).
I also wouldn't restrict yourself to one geographic area. Medical school is tough to get into. The wider your net is cast, the better. And TX schools aren't "easy-ins".
No one will be able to give you the right answer on separating for the first 1/2 vs the second 1/2 of medical school. They both will have their potential advantages and disadvantages. However, based on my experiences and interpretations of others' experiences, my inclination is to say that it may be more advantageous to allow for the separation in the 1st two years and then be in the same are for the 2nd 1/2 of medical school. My rationale is that the first two years (esp. year 1) is the most stressful time as you are adjusting to a prolonged period of adjusting to an academic setting like no other. Medical school is to college what pararescue school is to Air Force basic training (Seal:Navy, Force Recon:Marine, Special Forces:Army for any other point of reference). It's not that any given task is so hard to break you but that there are so many tasks and you are pushed to exhaustion so as to believe that any task can break you (BTW for transparency sake, my frame of reference is only from medical school and the relative ease of AF basic back in the 90s. I never did, nor ever will have anything of what it takes to be an operator, though have been acquainted with a few. However, I think the analogy holds). I have known many who struggle as much-if not more-with a partner who is around rather than not. The partner wants time with their love and their love frequently wants nothing more than time-to study-alone (or with a group of other medical students who understand). This battle of time often weighs heavy on relationships in the first two years. It's not uncommon for second year to be a little easier, but then USMLE/COMLEX I is rolling around. Third year is stressful for different reasons, but there are often downswings in the intensity (esp. with outpatient based blocks of time) and then fourth year is often quite cushy (though the stress of applying for residency can take its toll. But by third year, you've generally hit something of a groove in dealing with the stress of medical school and might be in a better place to share the time that you would have with your husband.

As a tangent, if you go in this direction: establish a good network of same-gender friends and friends among married couples (who socialize as a married couple). The stress of the first year and the "bond" that someone else who is going through it with you can make can make for a disastrous combination.

 

[teddy bear doc]

Second: the notion that being military (either member or spouse) will negate a residency duration requirement in Texas is erroneous.

Yes. Thus the caveat:

As a military spouse, you can automatically take on residency in the state where your spouse is stationed (well, at least in all the states I know of, but check in with Texas first to be sure)

I don't claim to be an expert, and I am just speaking from my own experience as a military spouse attending state school in a handful of different states.

Two seconds on Google turned up this:

"To provide a waiver of nonresident tuition to the member, spouse and dependent children of non-Texas members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Commissioned Officers of the Public Health Service while they are stationed in Texas.
Eligibility Requirements

Individuals who are members of the U.S. Armed Forces or Commissioned Officers of the Public Health Service from states other than Texas, their spouses and/or children.
Although nonresidents, the member, spouse and children may pay the resident rate while stationed in Texas." In my experience, resident for tuition = resident for application as well.


The bolded emphasis is mine, but the point remains the same: waivers ARE available. You have to be proactive about it, that's all.


OP: Good luck!

 

[Mishabella56]

Thanks everyone!! Such great support!! I love this board. Teddy and , if you don't mind me asking, are you guys in California? It would be amazing to actually have friends that don't think I'm completely nuts for trying to go to med school as a military spouse. Lol

And J-rad, thanks for the support! One more Marine appreciates ya just for the thanks!

 

[Salient]

First of all, Semper Fi!

You've been given great information already about the medicine side, but there were a few things I disagreed with or wanted to point out:

You're certainly competitive for CA schools other than Loma Linda. Being average or slightly below average for GPA and above average for MCAT while having such great ECs puts you above average overall, in my opinion. Additionally there are a few schools (Davis comes to mind) that appreciate non-traditional students. Some people on this board get the idea that unless you have a 4.0 it's not worth your time to apply to UC schools because they're so competitive, and that simply isn't the case. Being average means you're right in the middle as far as the type of applicants those schools accept, and there are a lot of them to apply to. I would expect your chances to get into at least one to be very high.

Also as I'm sure you know recruiting is an extremely demanding billet, especially at the beginning. Many recruiters I knew during my service would put in 18 hour days with some regularity. With you in medical school and him on a recruiting tour, it's not like you're going to see a ton of each other anyway. Two years will go by surprisingly quickly with how busy you guys are going to be.

 

[arclight610]

First of all, Semper Fi!

You've been given great information already about the medicine side, but there were a few things I disagreed with or wanted to point out:

You're certainly competitive for CA schools other than Loma Linda. Being average or slightly below average for GPA and above average for MCAT while having such great ECs puts you above average overall, in my opinion. Additionally there are a few schools (Davis comes to mind) that appreciate non-traditional students. Some people on this board get the idea that unless you have a 4.0 it's not worth your time to apply to UC schools because they're so competitive, and that simply isn't the case. Being average means you're right in the middle as far as the type of applicants those schools accept, and there are a lot of them to apply to. I would expect your chances to get into at least one to be very high.

Also as I'm sure you know recruiting is an extremely demanding billet, especially at the beginning. Many recruiters I knew during my service would put in 18 hour days with some regularity. With you in medical school and him on a recruiting tour, it's not like you're going to see a ton of each other anyway. Two years will go by surprisingly quickly with how busy you guys are going to be.

Recruiting duty is no joke, and many of the times if you get posted in a rural area the BAH will be less than what it takes to actually live.

 

[teddy bear doc]

Alas, no, we aren't in California, though I grew up there.

We are in NC (right near Armywife06 actually!). I really love it here, but it is MUCH different than CA, that's for sure!

Don't worry though, you can still have a friend in the same boat that doesn't think you're crazy... just a long-distance internet friend.

 

[Mishabella56]

Alas, no, we aren't in California, though I grew up there.

We are in NC (right near Armywife06 actually!). I really love it here, but it is MUCH different than CA, that's for sure!

Don't worry though, you can still have a friend in the same boat that doesn't think you're crazy... just a long-distance internet friend.

Aww! Thanks!
I'm on AIM as well if ya ever want to chat or vent. lol Angel67889
My sis-in-law in moving to NC for her husband. He is a Marine and just got done with his recruiting duty in KY.

 

[Salient]

Aww! Thanks!
I'm on AIM as well if ya ever want to chat or vent. lol Angel67889
My sis-in-law in moving to NC for her husband. He is a Marine and just got done with his recruiting duty in KY.

Oh good, so you know what you're getting into.

 

[NCOWife]

Hi,
This is the first time I have ever posted. I have searched for days for a post like this so I didn't have to waste anyone's time, but alas I could not find one.
A little about myself; I am a premed student at Cal Poly university and a very happy wife to a Marine for four years. I have been involved in medicine since I was 17 years old (EMT, MA, MA instructor and phelbotmist.) This upcoming year, I am going to apply to all my schools of choice hoping to get admission for the class starting in 2012. During 2011 my husband will be in his first year of recruitment duty, which means he has to choose where he wants to go, but he can not stay here in our home state. After three years of his duty he can come back to our home state, which is most likely going to happen. This suggests a problem to which school to apply to and where I should hope to be going. I could apply to all the schools around his recruitment station and have to be away from him my lat two years, or apply to all our home state schools and be away from him my first two years. Both seem so hard to comprehend right now because being away from him and our pups is such a hard thing to do, even though we have survived 5 deployments.

I currently work at an OB office and one of our patients' husband is currently enrolled in a med school that is on the east coast but he is constantly with her because he is in his third year of MS and is doinging his clinicals on the west coast. How does this work and could i bank on doing something like this so I would not be apart from my family as long?

Any ideas or helpful hints will be welcomed gladly!! Thanks!!

I am so happy you posted this!!!!

Glad to see there are other ladies out there just like me.

I am an Army wife and I thought I was alone.
I finished all my preqs but have not yet taken the MCAT.

Please PM me if you have gotten your answer. I would love to know!! I even considered not applying to med school at all just because being apart from my hubby 4 yrs+ may be too much for me to handle.

 

[mrbrowncanmoo]

I am also a Navy wife and premed. My husband has recently decided he would like to stay in the Navy and will be deployed on and off during the time I would be in med school and then shore tour during the time I would be completing residency. We have a 1 year old son and would like to have more children eventually. We are California residents and this spring, I plan on applying to all CA schools - though UCSD would be most ideal since it is a fleet concentration area. I am very curious as to any advice from other military spouses in how they dealt with medical school and residency as a part time single mom or dad (when spouse is deployed). I'm assuming a nanny will be inevitable as day care hours will not work with the hours and on call nights of residency? Also, the residency match is a big concern. Not only for trying to get a residency I want (I am not sure what specialty I would like to pursue yet) but also for getting a residency in the same area where my husband might be stationed during that time and more importantly - how will the frequent moves I'll need to make to be with my family affect my future career as a physician? Does the fact that we'll need to move around (at least a few times) mean I should consider only non-competitive specialties that could accomadate frequent moving (and what are those specialties?) I realize it will be difficult being away from my husband while he is deployed but this would be the case whether I'm a stay at home mom or pursuing my dream of becoming a physician. Oh, also - I am former navy and looking into whether I would have the option to re-enter and serve in the Navy to pay off med school through HPSP in which case I believe the Navy would do their best to co-locate us. I would love to hear of other military spouses's experiences and their advice on this matter. Thanks so much!

 

[brookiepooh]

Hello Everyone! I was not sure who to go to about my current question and future situation, I was hoping to get more incite and advice. I am a military spouse and we have been stationed at the same post going on 2 and half years. My husband believes he will be here for a few more, but the military is so unpredictable... I am going into my third year of undergraduate school. I plan to graduate in May of 2015 with a BS in Health and Human performance. My question is if I get accepted into a PT school close to post and begin it, lets say half way through PT school we have to move to a different post... Would all that work be for nothing and I would have to get accepted somewhere else anddd start all over with the program... or how does that work if you have to leave during Physical therapy school? Is it like undergrad school where as long as you finish a class and get the grade it will count and follow you on your transcript?.... I am stressing some over this some.... I really appreciate any advice or direction to someone who could help! (would there be a way to request he stay for those 3 years I am in PT school or would the military somehow help me to be able to afford staying to finish while he goes to his new duty station?.... we own our home and keeping it while he would be living somewhere else wouldn't be affordable and all... a lot to think about... or even holding off till he gets somewhere else... but that will put me back further from getting my own career in geer...
Thank You!

 

[RD2MD]

I think I can answer a few things. My DH is Active AF and I am currently starting a post-bacc pre-med program (this is just for background). Requesting an extension for a duty station is really hard. And depending on what you husband does, it may not be possible it all. What service is he in? You could always try, but I wouldn't hold out for this. As far as the military helping you stay in one place while the sponsor is stationed somewhere else is also highly unlikely. The shift in BHA will come from his location not yours, and to the best of my knowledge they don't provide any sort of financial assistance just becusae you didn't move with him. As far as they (the military) are concerned you chose to stay there, school or not, so you have to deal with it on your own. This isn't to sound harsh, but since you are a mil-spouse you should be pretty used to this sort of stuff. Now, with all of the budget nonsense happening any sort of request for more money for any reason is not likely to even remotely be a possibility.

I started my program after my husband got a new position on base as it came with a 4 year controlled tour. You may have to wait for PT school until you can be somewhere for the length of time you need.

I wish you a lot of luck and I hope you find some way to make this work for you!

 

[Pinky642]

Hello everyone! I am a "soon-to-be" military wife and am also starting my master's degree in pathology with plans to attend medical school after. I am trying to figure out if there are any special considerations when is comes to matching for residency. I am hoping there is something that will help keep us together after medical school since being split is inevitable. My fiance is active duty army and is currently in his 2nd year of recruiting and then it's back to regular army, God knows where...if anyone has any insight on this particular topic, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

 

[alpinism]

There are no "special considerations" besides the ability to apply to and rank residency programs nearby your husband's duty station. Unless you get extremely lucky, chances are you'll be separated during a portion of med school/residency. Not to mention if your husband gets new orders, you can't just pick up and leave in the middle of med school/residency.

 

[figway]

To the MilSpouse posters,

I'm not a doctor but my girlfriend (hopefully fiance soon) is just finishing up the last year of her fellowship. We've been together for a while, but because I'm active duty most of it has been apart. Unfortunately I'm stationed about as middle of no where as you can get with no chance of moving for another 6 years at least. I understand that for any kind of career she can't live with me, or near me, and her best chance at a good job is over 5 hours of commercial flying away. It's an amazing opportunity with growth potential, the quality of life that she is used to, and near her family so I don't resent her for it, but it will be a strain.

I'd like to hear how things worked out for the several posters here that mentioned having to spend time apart. I'm curious how a new marriage and, later, kids were able to handle it.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[trev5150]

You just re-resurrected a six-year-old thread.

 

[BluMist]

technically only 1.5 year given the last reply was semi-recent

You just re-resurrected a six-year-old thread.

 

[figway]

That's a good amount of time for feedback then

 

[k3nichol]

Hi,
This is the first time I have ever posted. I have searched for days for a post like this so I didn't have to waste anyone's time, but alas I could not find one.
A little about myself; I am a premed student at Cal Poly university and a very happy wife to a Marine for four years. I have been involved in medicine since I was 17 years old (EMT, MA, MA instructor and phelbotmist.) This upcoming year, I am going to apply to all my schools of choice hoping to get admission for the class starting in 2012. During 2011 my husband will be in his first year of recruitment duty, which means he has to choose where he wants to go, but he can not stay here in our home state. After three years of his duty he can come back to our home state, which is most likely going to happen. This suggests a problem to which school to apply to and where I should hope to be going. I could apply to all the schools around his recruitment station and have to be away from him my lat two years, or apply to all our home state schools and be away from him my first two years. Both seem so hard to comprehend right now because being away from him and our pups is such a hard thing to do, even though we have survived 5 deployments.

I currently work at an OB office and one of our patients' husband is currently enrolled in a med school that is on the east coast but he is constantly with her because he is in his third year of MS and is doinging his clinicals on the west coast. How does this work and could i bank on doing something like this so I would not be apart from my family as long?

Any ideas or helpful hints will be welcomed gladly!! Thanks!!

I know this post is super old, but how did everything turn out? Im literally in this EXACT same boat, except im a pre med at UCSD! Did you end up getting in close to your husband? My husband is about to re-enlist and be on shore duty, hopefully recruiting as well, but there is such a low chance I will get into a cali school honestly! Any Advice? Im entering my senior year and have to start making decisions soon!