Prior Enlisted going MilMed?

[BamaSlamma]

I'm currently active duty and will be starting my udnergrad here in a very short amount of time. What initially got me interested in medicine was the doctor who saved my best friends life in Helmand Province,Afghanistan, but the more and more I read about pre-med and med school and then the profession in general, the less sure I am that I want to go milmed eventually. I currently has 6 years time in service and will rack up a couple more as a reservist while in school, so I'd (theoretically) be pretty close to retirement after my minimum commitment whether I took the scholarship or the USUHS route, but on the other hand, I'm painfully aware of the bureaucracy of the military complex. I'm just not sure.

I know that med school is a "long way off," and certainly not a guarantee, but is there anyone who had to make that decision as a prior enlisted member on why they did/didn't go milmed?

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[WernickeDO]

I'm not prior service, but I know plenty of docs who have gone to med school after service, and each has their own reason for going milmed or no. I knew one guy who was in Reserves prior to med school, and did the National Guard route while in school. I know another who was injured in combat and was simply finished with .mil (for now at least). I know others who were prior enlisted and then joined the dark side via HPSP/USUHS. Point is that people with prior military experience seem to know what the military is like, and each choose according to where they are at in life. So ultimately, it will be your own personal situation and whether or not you are willing to accept the benefits and sacrifices of being a military doc.

 

[Erakis]

I'm active duty enlisted right now (14 years in) and I will be going full civilian. I was forced into the choice by a disqualifying condition (NHL and UC), but looking at all of the mess that is coming with the drawdown and post-war return to garrison life, I am happy to be leaving. Even now as an 18D, it has gotten harder every year to travel, we can't go to conferences anymore, and paperwork is piling up about any and everything. Good people are falling apart and are being written off as disciplinary problems. I love soldiers and will still try to find ways to serve my brothers, but I don't personally think the the army is going to be a good place to work for the next few years. Looking over this military med forum, I can say that these sentiments are becoming more commonplace. It is pretty sad, because the army is full of really awesome people who will have to suffer under terrible leadership.

 

[Kingfisher]

I think the prior folks like us get the best of both worlds. My pay is a lot more (initially) than the average bear due to the prior years of service, I don't have any debt, and when my initial obligation is complete I can retire with full benefits. After retiring I will still young enough to have a full career in my field while getting a pension.

Of course I am in primary care so I am not losing out on all the years of $$ that a specialist would. I was able to train straight through. I got we'll trained compared to most of my civilian counterparts (based on interactions with multiple different programs).

Most of my experiences have been positive but as you will find after looking around here, that its not always the case.

 

[Kyper]

Although I've already got my bachelor's done, I am enlisted at the moment (68W with the 101st) simply for the fact I wanted a medical officer slot and didn't think I could get one (changing that soon). But also so that I can get some financial help for grad school. However I don't really plan on staying in past my 4 years or going Milmed. I have friends that are currently at USUHS and IPAP (which would be the only reason I would re-up) and although the training is great (and free!) some of them are simply regretting the new contract they know they'll have to sign if they complete the course. Since the payback at the moment is 2 years for ever year of school, most my friends have a 4-8 year payback where, while the school is paid for, they make nowhere near as much as their civilian counterparts and most of them are already complaining about the bureaucratic strain they endure. And if they love medicine, but hate it in a military setting, not much they can really do except ride it out. Those kinds of conditions just really aren't appealing to me.

Just my 0.02.

 

[J-Rad]

I currently has 6 years time in service and will rack up a couple more as a reservist while in school, so I'd (theoretically) be pretty close to retirement after my minimum commitment whether I took the scholarship or the USUHS route...

Remember that reserve time as applied to an active duty retirement is based on the points accrued per days of active duty (4 points per weekend duty as you get credit for 4 drills). I had 6.5 years of reserve time with ~3months active duty at the beginning for training and a 6 month EAD tour towards the end. That's worth about a year earlier (active duty) retirement. Time on HPSP or USUHS is not credited toward retirement (though can be applied retroactively for credit after retiring with 20).