Pre Med looking at Navy Reserves advice needed

[mellsworth21]

Hello All!
Im a mere Pre-Med at the University of Akron in Akron Ohio. I decided late last year to persue medicine. Im in the process of taking Pre-reqs and hope to apply in 09.
Heres my quesiton: Although my dad is paying for tuition, and I do live at home and commute; I wish to be able to save some dough for medical school and the costs the come along with it, and have a little dough to play with. I was looking at the Navy Reserves and saw some info on a 'Medical Assistant'. Does anyone know anything about this? about the benefits, and if it helps on the medical school applicaitons, and how many years I will be obbligated to be a reserve. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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[Droopy Snoopy]

Hello All!
Im a mere Pre-Med at the University of Akron in Akron Ohio. I decided late last year to persue medicine. Im in the process of taking Pre-reqs and hope to apply in 09.
Heres my quesiton: Although my dad is paying for tuition, and I do live at home and commute; I wish to be able to save some dough for medical school and the costs the come along with it, and have a little dough to play with. I was looking at the Navy Reserves and saw some info on a 'Medical Assistant'. Does anyone know anything about this? about the benefits, and if it helps on the medical school applicaitons, and how many years I will be obbligated to be a reserve. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Ack
Aaaaaaaaackkkkkkkkkkk

You want to join the Navy because it might look good on your application? There no emoticons available to express my incredulousness.

 

[midn]

Hello All!
Im a mere Pre-Med at the University of Akron in Akron Ohio. I decided late last year to persue medicine. Im in the process of taking Pre-reqs and hope to apply in 09.
Heres my quesiton: Although my dad is paying for tuition, and I do live at home and commute; I wish to be able to save some dough for medical school and the costs the come along with it, and have a little dough to play with. I was looking at the Navy Reserves and saw some info on a 'Medical Assistant'. Does anyone know anything about this? about the benefits, and if it helps on the medical school applicaitons, and how many years I will be obbligated to be a reserve. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

From what I know about applications, any active duty time in the military will improve your "Z" score (General formula for an interview: GPA(10)+MCAT+Z must be greater than or equal to 68). You're much better off just getting a better GPA or studying harder for the MCAT.

The benefit of being a medical assistant will be outweighed by the costs to your studies. If you want to do something medically related, go take paramedic classes over the summer and get your basic certifications. To be a "medical assistant" (I have never heard of such a job, are you referring to Corpsman?), you're going to have to spend one summer in training that may bleed over into a regular school semester. Also, after your training, you're liable to be activated for active duty during your college years (happened to my brother) so you might have to get up and go serve a tour in the middle of a semester.

Don't do it if you really want to be a doctor and if you don't want any major academic disruptions. If you really want a taste of the Navy, go join NROTC for at least more than a year (so you start to see the redundancies of each year and have to sit through the same exact briefings multiple times). It'll allow you to experience the rigorous military bureaucracies that you will have to put up with.

I'm a pre-med (08) by the way that just got out of NROTC just so you can prioritize my advice with the other actual doctors here.

 

[NavyFP]

Hello All!
Im a mere Pre-Med at the University of Akron in Akron Ohio. I decided late last year to persue medicine. Im in the process of taking Pre-reqs and hope to apply in 09.
Heres my quesiton: Although my dad is paying for tuition, and I do live at home and commute; I wish to be able to save some dough for medical school and the costs the come along with it, and have a little dough to play with. I was looking at the Navy Reserves and saw some info on a 'Medical Assistant'. Does anyone know anything about this? about the benefits, and if it helps on the medical school applicaitons, and how many years I will be obbligated to be a reserve. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

What you would be doing is enlisting in the Navy as a Corpsman. As big a fan of the Navy as I am........No, don't do it. More likely to hurt you than help.

If you go the HPSP route, you can join the Navy, get med school paid for, and have a small amount of money in your pocket.

(I will now duck beneath my desk and prepare for the onslaught of anything but military comments.)

 

[Dr. Dukes]

From what I know about applications, any active duty time in the military will improve your "Z" score (General formula for an interview: GPA(10)+MCAT+Z must be greater than or equal to 68). You're much better off just getting a better GPA or studying harder for the MCAT.

I've gotten into 4 schools this app cycle, and never heard of this forumla. For one, this would mean that once you got one interview you got a billion, and that isn't often the case.

The benefit of being a medical assistant will be outweighed by the costs to your studies. If you want to do something medically related, go take paramedic classes over the summer and get your basic certifications. To be a "medical assistant" (I have never heard of such a job, are you referring to Corpsman?), you're going to have to spend one summer in training that may bleed over into a regular school semester. Also, after your training, you're liable to be activated for active duty during your college years (happened to my brother) so you might have to get up and go serve a tour in the middle of a semester.

When you go to your doctor's office, the person who takes your vitals and all that is either a medical assistant or a nurse. If you're a medical assistant you're basically a secretary, but you get medical "training". A Corpsman is a medic (EMT).
By the way, a paramedic and an EMT are very different. To get your EMT-B you have to take a class that is ~120 hours, and to get your EMT-P (medic) you have to go to school for a year.

 

[mellsworth21]

I was wondering if it would be an added benefit to the app! Its sounds like a big "No"! as to joining. I guess I should stick to my tutoring job? And yes I beleive its a "corpsman" sorry for that.
Anyone have any insightful information on the NROTC? Thanks.

 

[GMO_52]

k

 

[midn]

I've gotten into 4 schools this app cycle, and never heard of this forumla. For one, this would mean that once you got one interview you got a billion, and that isn't often the case.



When you go to your doctor's office, the person who takes your vitals and all that is either a medical assistant or a nurse. If you're a medical assistant you're basically a secretary, but you get medical "training". A Corpsman is a medic (EMT).
By the way, a paramedic and an EMT are very different. To get your EMT-B you have to take a class that is ~120 hours, and to get your EMT-P (medic) you have to go to school for a year.

My bad. That's why I added my little disclaimer. The formula was just something touted by my MCAT prep class and I'm not sure as to its legitimacy.

Once again, sorry for giving the wrong info.