MSTP + military scholarship?

[wont]

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Any chance the military would provide an additional stipend for an MSTP student (supposing one was willing to enter the military after completing the degrees)? 60k a year would be nice... and it seems unlikely that an MD/PhD would be sent to Iraq, right? Any thoughts?

http://cim.usuhs.mil/geo/mdphd.htm == [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]M.D./Ph.D. Program at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

What would be the point of educating an MD/PhD and then using them as a primary care doc?
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[MDPhoDollas]

I bet if you talk to a recruiter, they'll bend over backwards to do what you want to do. Those guys measure performance by how many people they get to sign on the dotted line. think long and hard though...no turning back once you sign. don't be suprised if this ends up limiting you geographically and professionally. (Perhaps "limit" professionally is not exactly what i mean. the military obviously has piles of money and great science going on. i just mean in terms of choices...).

If you do get an answer on this issue from the military, please share. it's an interesting question and im sure we aren't the only ones curious about this. keep in mind also that a desire to join the military may dwindle over the course of such a long program...i was all about dedicating myself to translational research when i started, now i'm dying to work on wall street.

Good luck. your desire to enlist as well as your committment to academics are both commendable.

 

[solumanculver]

Hey dudes, although I don't have any personal experience researching MD/PhDs in the army, I am familiar with the general ins and outs of army life, and I'm pretty sure that it's not a good place for physician/scientists.

What would be the point of educating an MD/PhD and then using them as a primary care doc?

I think that there would be no point in the army doing this, but its very likely what would happen. The army isn't well known for appropriately using its resources. Look in the military medicine forum. Some of those guys have had to sweep out parking lots...

(Perhaps "limit" professionally is not exactly what i mean. the military obviously has piles of money and great science going on. i just mean in terms of choices...).

I think that "limit" is probably a pretty well chosen word. Did you guys know that military physicians are not in a position to choose a fellowship... they are at the needs of the army once they join.

In any case, I am applying to MD/PhD programs for 2008 and I have a military obligation stemming from ROTC green-to-gold. I have expended much effort avoiding having to go onto active duty, I'm now in the national guard. If you guys are interested in joining the army, consider joining the national guard...

 

[DogFaceMedic]

There are excellent research opportunities in the military. There are several military medical research institutes, and the NIH has many military MDs, PhDs, and MD/PhDs doing all kinds of work, especially ID and all of the wierd stuff in the third world.

On the other hand, once you sign up, they can send you where you are needed -- or where some pentagon bureaucrat needs to fill a position with an MD behind their name regardless of the real need. It's the nature of big bureaucracies.

Once upon a time, I enlisted, then a commission before med school. I like our soldiers and am proud to serve with them and take the scholarship -- but I hate the gov't bureaucracy. Also, the military is not for everyone.

So, I recommend what I tell everyone: call up the NIH or other military medical research institutes and actually talk to someone who is doing what you want to do, and find out in person if it is the right thing for you. What is right for me, isn't what is right for others, and deployment does not bother me.