Rotc

[mygoal=doctor]

My goal is to be a doctor. I am a senior in high school right now and I am going to attend UCR and try to get into the Thomas Haider Program and get a medical degree from UCLA. I also want to do ROTC in between all this. When can I join ROTC? Will it effect me in any way of reaching my goals? Are there any benifits that will raise my chances of getting into the Thomas Haider program or any medical school by joining ROTC? Can I take ROTC after medical school? Will ROTC cover my graduate school expenses? Please help me...thank you in advance

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[Mirror Form]

Originally posted by mygoal=doctor
My goal is to be a doctor. I am a senior in high school right now and I am going to attend UCR and try to get into the Thomas Haider Program and get a medical degree from UCLA. I also want to do ROTC in between all this. When can I join ROTC? Will it effect me in any way of reaching my goals? Are there any benifits that will raise my chances of getting into the Thomas Haider program or any medical school by joining ROTC? Can I take ROTC after medical school? Will ROTC cover my graduate school expenses? Please help me...thank you in advance

I did ROTC in college for four years of college before going to medical school. I'd actually recommend not doing it if your career goal is to be a doctor. You can always get into the military through HPSP in medical school, which is a much safer route and smarter finacially. If you talk to recruiters, be wary. I hate to say it, but they really can't be trusted.

The reason I'd recommend not doing ROTC if you're pre-med is that many students don't get into medical school the first time they apply (there's a lot of luck involved). That's no big deal though b/c most people can then just do research for a year and apply again. It's generally a lot easier to get in the second time around. However, if you do ROTC, you won't have the freedom to do that. You'll have to go directly into the military for 4 years. Afterward, your MCAT scores will have expired and you'll have to take them again after forgetting all of the knowledge. Plus medicine is a long path and adding 4 more years until becoming a doctor is undesirable. Furthermore, it could inhibit you from ever accomplishing your goals. For example, maybe by the time you get out of the military you'll be married and won't have the time/energy to dedicate to medical school which is very demanding.

I was under an incredible amount of stress my senior year of college because of this. Fortunately I was lucky enough to get into one medical school, but it was close. My roommate, who had a 35 MCAT score (very high) and was a very good student, ended up not getting in b/c of a couple bad interviews (although since he wasn't in ROTC, he was able to take a year off and get in the next year). If I been unlucky like him on the interviews, I'd be in Iraq right now. Although part of me wishes I was because thats where a lot of my old friends are and I kind of feel like I ditched them by going to med school.

 

[Homunculus]

Originally posted by Sledge2005
I did ROTC in college for four years of college before going to medical school. I'd actually recommend not doing it if your career goal is to be a doctor. You can always get into the military through HPSP in medical school, which is a much safer route and smarter finacially. If you talk to recruiters, be wary. I hate to say it, but they really can't be trusted.

The reason I'd recommend not doing ROTC if you're pre-med is that many students don't get into medical school the first time they apply (there's a lot of luck involved). That's no big deal though b/c most people can then just do research for a year and apply again. It's generally a lot easier to get in the second time around. However, if you do ROTC, you won't have the freedom to do that. You'll have to go directly into the military for 4 years. Afterward, your MCAT scores will have expired and you'll have to take them again after forgetting all of the knowledge. Plus medicine is a long path and adding 4 more years until becoming a doctor is undesirable. Furthermore, it could inhibit you from ever accomplishing your goals. For example, maybe by the time you get out of the military you'll be married and won't have the time/energy to dedicate to medical school which is very demanding.

I was under an incredible amount of stress my senior year of college because of this. Fortunately I was lucky enough to get into one medical school, but it was close. My roommate, who had a 35 MCAT score (very high) and was a very good student, ended up not getting in b/c of a couple bad interviews (although since he wasn't in ROTC, he was able to take a year off and get in the next year). If I been unlucky like him on the interviews, I'd be in Iraq right now. Although part of me wishes I was because thats where a lot of my old friends are and I kind of feel like I ditched them by going to med school.

i was a 4 year ROTC cadet as well, and completely agree. luckily i got in on my first try, but if i hadn't i'd be in some medical service corps platoon somewhere waiting to pay off my 4 years.

the ROTC + medschool thing is tricky-- save yourself some stress and just use HPSP once you get accepted somewhere.

 

[brats800]

can't you also do ROTC and not accept scholarship $, thereby having no service obligation after graduation from undergrad but if you do stay in it still counts as years of service or something?

 

[Homunculus]

Originally posted by brats800
can't you also do ROTC and not accept scholarship $, thereby having no service obligation after graduation from undergrad but if you do stay in it still counts as years of service or something?

yes, you can take the classes without being on a scholarship. they don't count toward any time in service (whether you're on a scholarship or not) that i'm aware of.

 

[ctlife]

I've recently graduated HS and I'll be going to UC Berkeley during this fall. I was called by a recruiter yesterday and during the interview I specifically said that I wished to be a doctor. He told me that if I joined ROTC they could pay my way to being a doctor and I'd serve my years during my residency to becoming a doctor not stealing away any years. But now I've read what you've said and this worries me. I want to make sure medical school is paid for sure. I have no problems with schooling right now. So, can I still take the ROTC program w/out scholarship and then transfer to HPSP and get the scholarship to pay for med school? What is HPSP exactly?

 

[psychbender]

I've recently graduated HS and I'll be going to UC Berkeley during this fall. I was called by a recruiter yesterday and during the interview I specifically said that I wished to be a doctor. He told me that if I joined ROTC they could pay my way to being a doctor and I'd serve my years during my residency to becoming a doctor not stealing away any years. But now I've read what you've said and this worries me. I want to make sure medical school is paid for sure. I have no problems with schooling right now. So, can I still take the ROTC program w/out scholarship and then transfer to HPSP and get the scholarship to pay for med school? What is HPSP exactly?

Do not do ROTC unless you want to be a line officer.

HPSP is like ROTC, but for medical school (and, minus all of that drilling, uniforms, saluting, "not hazing," and other military stuff).

If you want the military to pay for medical school (and have some other good reason for wanting to be in the military, DO NOT DO IT FOR THE MONEY ALONE), then HPSP is one option. FAP is another, if you are looking for tuition reimbursement, and more control over your own training. The Guard had a program of their own that was pretty sweet, but it is currently not taking any new people. Bottom line, there are options if you want to do both military and medicine, do not automatically wed yourself via ROTC. I would advise you to check out some of the stickies in this forum that describe these various programs, and the benefits and pitfalls of each before committing to one.



By the way "stealing away any years?" WTF does that mean?

 

[Mirror Form]

He told me that if I joined ROTC they could pay my way to being a doctor and I'd serve my years during my residency to becoming a doctor not stealing away any years.

That is not true. The system for obligations and payback is very confusing for physicians. Basically, if you do ROTC and then go to medical school, you will most likely end residency with the same time commitment that you had when you started residency.

Keep in mind that you're only 17 or 18 right now. A four year commitment doesn't sound so bad when you have your whole life ahead of you. But the army will own you for four years of college, then they'll still own you for four years of med school, then they'll still own you for four (approximatley) years of internship/residency, and then you'll finally start to pay off your obligation. So you won't even start to pay off your "4 year rotc obligation" for 12 more years. Yet that whole time you'll be uncle sam's property. And if you have them pay for med school too (you can avoid that in the army, i'm not sure about navy or air force), then you won't be free of that initial obligation for 20 years after you sign that contract! That's a long time to sign away at your age.

 

[RangerDoc]

i was a 4 year ROTC cadet as well, and completely agree. luckily i got in on my first try, but if i hadn't i'd be in some medical service corps platoon somewhere waiting to pay off my 4 years.

the ROTC + medschool thing is tricky-- save yourself some stress and just use HPSP once you get accepted somewhere.

Dont listen to the speculation. The idea that you cannot go back to med school before you pay off your active duty commitment is not true. I left active duty before fulfilling my undergrad service obligation to attend medical school. If you are well regarded by your chain of command and not a dirtbag officer, most senior leadership understands your commitment to serving the nation as a doctor and getting released is a breeze. Its all in the regs and getting HPSP approved is very simple.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Dont listen to the speculation. The idea that you cannot go back to med school before you pay off your active duty commitment is not true. I left active duty before fulfilling my undergrad service obligation to attend medical school. If you are well regarded by your chain of command and not a dirtbag officer, most senior leadership understands your commitment to serving the nation as a doctor and getting released is a breeze. Its all in the regs and getting HPSP approved is very simple.

Hang on a minute. This may be your experience but it is far from universal. Depending on your job in the .mil and various factors beyond your control, they may or may not let you free to apply. Assuming that your n=1 personal experience equates to a "very simple" process for all comers is simply wrong.

And people aren't speculating. All of us either have personal experience or know folks who were made to wait their entire obliserv.

 

[Mirror Form]

Dont listen to the speculation. The idea that you cannot go back to med school before you pay off your active duty commitment is not true. I left active duty before fulfilling my undergrad service obligation to attend medical school. If you are well regarded by your chain of command and not a dirtbag officer, most senior leadership understands your commitment to serving the nation as a doctor and getting released is a breeze. Its all in the regs and getting HPSP approved is very simple.

The people I know who've done med school after being active duty all did USUHS or HPSP. So if you don't get into med school on your first try, your two options are:
1. finish up your four year rotc obligation, then reapply as a civilian
2. Obligate yourself to at least 12 active duty years (not including med school). Which basically mean you've probably locked yourself into finishing up your 20.

In my opinion nobody at age 18 should be signing away 20 years w/ the military all at once.

 

[ctlife]

Can someone explain to me sort of what a typical day in the ROTC is? Can someone majoring in Biology actually be able to do ROTC and their major well? Or is it not possible?

 

[ctlife]

By "stealing away years" I mean that I have my Associate's right now, so I just don't want all of that hard work to go to waste. I want to do my residency in a clinic specifically there to help soldiers, but I after my residency is over I know I'll want to go somewhere else. Maybe do some research or go to a different clinic on the other side of the globe. See, I'm an adventurous person,and I know it will happen. Also, do they choose a place of residency for you if you join HPSP?

 

[colbgw02]

Can someone explain to me sort of what a typical day in the ROTC is? Can someone majoring in Biology actually be able to do ROTC and their major well? Or is it not possible?

I was a biology major and did ROTC, so it obviously can be done. All ROTC departments are different, obviously, so it's not like my experience can be universalized.

The ROTC classes and "lab", as we called it, weren't difficult. There were other things too, like colorguard, FTXs, PT, and fundraisers (before they were banned by cadet command) that stole my time too. Overall though, I didn't find my ROTC commitments particularly burdensome.

The real problem for me was that my ROTC class and lab were offered only once a week and were longer than regular classes at my school. Combine that with trying to work in 2 science labs every semester, and your schedule can get very tricky. The end result was that I was forced to take courses and professors that I didn't want at times I didn't want. Many of those courses weren't sought after by other students because the professors were known to be difficult, which hurt my GPA. When you're trying to get into medical school, the last thing you want is something dragging down your GPA.

ROTC was a good experience for me, but having gone straight to medical school and then to a military residency, I feel like my time there was largely wasted. I'm in the exact same place with the exact same obligation as I would have been if I had joined via HPSP. The only differences are that I spent many a Thursday afternoon pretending to learn squad STX rather than just doing ADTs as an HPSP student. Overall, I agree with the others - if you plan on going straight to medical school, there are essentially no benefits to doing ROTC.

 

[Mirror Form]

Can someone explain to me sort of what a typical day in the ROTC is? Can someone majoring in Biology actually be able to do ROTC and their major well? Or is it not possible?

The ROTC time commitment during college is somewhat variable. Basically, it consists of one half day class every week, a few weekend trips every year, and few saturday field trips every semester, and PT (PT= physical training). Some ROTC regimens let you do PT on your own. Other's demand you show up for it 3 times per week at 6am which sort of sucks for a college student.

But ROTC is very doable with virtually any major.

 

[Mirror Form]

By "stealing away years" I mean that I have my Associate's right now, so I just don't want all of that hard work to go to waste. I want to do my residency in a clinic specifically there to help soldiers, but I after my residency is over I know I'll want to go somewhere else. Maybe do some research or go to a different clinic on the other side of the globe.

Sooo, I thought I already answered this question, but now I'm not so sure what you're asking.

Do you want to not be in the military after residency? That ain't gonna happen if you do ROTC and then go to medical school. Or, do you have specific goals for what want to do when you finish residency, but don't mind if you're still active duty? If that's the case, it's probably not going to happen either. Althought it probably won't happen regardless of whether you do ROTC or not. Keep in mind you're trying to plan for 12 years in the future.

See, I'm an adventurous person,and I know it will happen. Also, do they choose a place of residency for you if you join HPSP?

Sure it will Once you finish residency, you'll have thing called a career, and possibly a familty too. You wont' have the luxury to just go do some research in a foreign country for a few years. Or if you do, you better be pretty dedicated to making a career out of research.

There are several other threads on the process of applying to residency after med school. Basically, there usually a few military residency programs for each specialty, and you apply to those programs.