Hi All!
I am currently an MS I in Army ROTC. I joined ROTC thinking I would pursue a career as a doctor within the military, both serving my country and easing the financial burden placed on my parents in regards to my undergraduate and medical schooling. However, following a shredded ACL, reconstruction, and what has now become 5 months of physical therapy I've come to realize that I want to do for injured soldiers that what my PT has done for me. I think that while both PM&R physician and PT are intriguing and respectable professions it is the later that I can truly see my self doing as a career. But becoming a PT is significantly more complicated in terms of financial support than it is to become a doctor.
Within the last 3/4 of the year I have heard some rather unsettling information (with questionable validity) -
1) More and more ROTC cadets are being denied extended study (meaning it would take 4 years to get back to doing what I sought out to do in the first place)
2) HSPS and HSCP are not offered for PTs
3) ROTC is not ideal for those trying to enter the medical professions (including PT)
Right now I am looking at Baylor's Army DPT program. I think it is fantastic and I'd love to go. But I also need to think realistically-usually the program only accepts about 26 applicants per year.
As it stands I can pay for undergraduate but pt school would more than likely require loans and I'd rather owe the military than a bank.
As it stands now my main questions are:
1) has anyone become a physical therapist through the army (or other branches of the military)?
2) Should I stay in ROTC or get out asap and start accumulating observation hours at VA hospitals?
3) Are there any available military programs or scholarships besides Baylor for PTs or should I just suck it up and join the military after obtaining my DPT?
Any help would be appreciated (including redirection to PT/military threads I may have missed)
I am currently an MS I in Army ROTC. I joined ROTC thinking I would pursue a career as a doctor within the military, both serving my country and easing the financial burden placed on my parents in regards to my undergraduate and medical schooling. However, following a shredded ACL, reconstruction, and what has now become 5 months of physical therapy I've come to realize that I want to do for injured soldiers that what my PT has done for me. I think that while both PM&R physician and PT are intriguing and respectable professions it is the later that I can truly see my self doing as a career. But becoming a PT is significantly more complicated in terms of financial support than it is to become a doctor.
Within the last 3/4 of the year I have heard some rather unsettling information (with questionable validity) -
1) More and more ROTC cadets are being denied extended study (meaning it would take 4 years to get back to doing what I sought out to do in the first place)
2) HSPS and HSCP are not offered for PTs
3) ROTC is not ideal for those trying to enter the medical professions (including PT)
Right now I am looking at Baylor's Army DPT program. I think it is fantastic and I'd love to go. But I also need to think realistically-usually the program only accepts about 26 applicants per year.
As it stands I can pay for undergraduate but pt school would more than likely require loans and I'd rather owe the military than a bank.
As it stands now my main questions are:
1) has anyone become a physical therapist through the army (or other branches of the military)?
2) Should I stay in ROTC or get out asap and start accumulating observation hours at VA hospitals?
3) Are there any available military programs or scholarships besides Baylor for PTs or should I just suck it up and join the military after obtaining my DPT?
Any help would be appreciated (including redirection to PT/military threads I may have missed)