Should I Quit ROTC?

[pnw0802]

Hi there,
To start, I am currently a junior biology and sociology major doing pre-med who is also in ROTC under scholarship. After going on an Army medical internship and spending hours in the OR, I discovered that I love ortho. However, almost all of the military doctors I talked to suggested that I quit ROTC and pay back what they gave me. I kinda agree because as the years of my undergrad experience progress, my love for medicine grew and my desire to be an officer declined dramatically. I just feel like ROTC is limiting me from getting more medical experience. Also, I have to take summer classes because ROTC takes up a chunk of my credits which is going to cost me $15k out of pocket and take time away from doing internships.The only reason I am still interested in the military is because I have always wanted to have the opportunity and experience of providing medical care to servicemembers. I would just like to do my 4 years and be done. As of right now, I have 2 options: quit ROTC and take the HPSP scholarship or stay in ROTC and go reserves. I have talked to my ROTC instructors and they suggested I try to get more opinions as other doctors may have different experiences. Thank you for your opinions and I tried to sum up some pros and cons to shorten this.
Quit ROTC and take HPSP
Pros:
- No more ROTC classes = more time for extracurriculars and classes
-HPSP more financially valuable than ROTC scholarship
-If I end up hating ortho and liking primary care, then scholarship is good investment
Cons:
- Undergrad debt ~$90K
-Mil residencies have less slots and risk of GMO
-Will have to put fellowships on hold

Go reserves
Pros:
-ROTC+military officer experience good for med school app (From what I've heard)
-Can apply to civilian residencies
Cons:
-Med school debt ~$240K
-Don't get experience in military medicine
-Risk of deployment and added stress from drill while in med school

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[colbgw02]

How sure are you that they will allow you simply to quit and pay back the money? It's been awhile, but back in my day, the Army wouldn't let someone in your position just walk away.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Most people who obtain a commission do something else after completing their initial obligation. This question is really whether you want that delay before med school. The military needs line officers which is why ROTC exists.

Also, admission to med school is competitive and Ortho is a highly competitive residency. If you are an ortho or bust premed, that’s pretty risky.

 

[pnw0802]

How sure are you that they will allow you simply to quit and pay back the money? It's been awhile, but back in my day, the Army wouldn't let someone in your position just walk away.

I've talked to the human resources rep. for my school's ROTC program and he says that I can either pay everything back or enlist. I personally rather take the loans so it wouldn't interfere with medical school.

 

[pnw0802]

Most people who obtain a commission do something else after completing their initial obligation. This question is really whether you want that delay before med school. The military needs line officers which is why ROTC exists.

Also, admission to med school is competitive and Ortho is a highly competitive residency. If you are an ortho or bust premed, that’s pretty risky.

I do not want to delay med school which is why I intend to commission into the reserves if I were to stay in ROTC. I'm just unsure about this decision as the doctor I spoke to said you risk deployment and leadership duties at drill while in med school.

 

[Gastrapathy]

I've talked to the human resources rep. for my school's ROTC program and he says that I can either pay everything back or enlist. I personally rather take the loans so it wouldn't interfere with medical school.

You should verify that statement. I’m not sure it’s up to you.

 

[colbgw02]

I've talked to the human resources rep. for my school's ROTC program and he says that I can either pay everything back or enlist. I personally rather take the loans so it wouldn't interfere with medical school.

You should verify that statement. I’m not sure it’s up to you.

@Gastrapathy is right. This is not a decision that gets made at the local level, and the misinformation capabilities of the Army are legendary.

 

[colbgw02]

Hi there,
To start, I am currently a junior biology and sociology major doing pre-med who is also in ROTC under scholarship. After going on an Army medical internship and spending hours in the OR, I discovered that I love ortho. However, almost all of the military doctors I talked to suggested that I quit ROTC and pay back what they gave me. I kinda agree because as the years of my undergrad experience progress, my love for medicine grew and my desire to be an officer declined dramatically. I just feel like ROTC is limiting me from getting more medical experience. Also, I have to take summer classes because ROTC takes up a chunk of my credits which is going to cost me $15k out of pocket and take time away from doing internships.The only reason I am still interested in the military is because I have always wanted to have the opportunity and experience of providing medical care to servicemembers. I would just like to do my 4 years and be done. As of right now, I have 2 options: quit ROTC and take the HPSP scholarship or stay in ROTC and go reserves. I have talked to my ROTC instructors and they suggested I try to get more opinions as other doctors may have different experiences. Thank you for your opinions and I tried to sum up some pros and cons to shorten this.

Assuming that you're permitted to pay back the money, why are the bolded your only two options? Why not drop ROTC and just go the traditional civilian route into medicine? If you're still interested in providing medical care to servicemembers, then you'll still have that opportunity later on, whether it's on active duty, as DoD civilian, or as a VA physician.

 

[pnw0802]

Assuming that you're permitted to pay back the money, why are the bolded your only two options? Why not drop ROTC and just go the traditional civilian route into medicine? If you're still interested in providing medical care to servicemembers, then you'll still have that opportunity later on, whether it's on active duty, as DoD civilian, or as a VA physician.

That is an option that I considered but I'm just unsure if I want to tack on more debt during my undergraduate years as I currently go to a private school. Do you think the reserves would be a hindrance while I am in medical school or would it be manageable?

 

[colbgw02]

That is an option that I considered but I'm just unsure if I want to tack on more debt during my undergraduate years as I currently go to a private school. Do you think the reserves would be a hindrance while I am in medical school or would it be manageable?

I can certainly understand the desire to avoid additional debt. Just remember that it's anything but a foregone conclusion that you'll come out ahead financially if you do HPSP.

The reserves/NG weren't really an option when I was commissioned, so I'm afraid I can't speak to those. There are lots of threads about those paths on here, though, so it's worth taking a look.

 

[hooperg]

Hi there,
To start, I am currently a junior biology and sociology major doing pre-med who is also in ROTC under scholarship. After going on an Army medical internship and spending hours in the OR, I discovered that I love ortho. However, almost all of the military doctors I talked to suggested that I quit ROTC and pay back what they gave me. I kinda agree because as the years of my undergrad experience progress, my love for medicine grew and my desire to be an officer declined dramatically. I just feel like ROTC is limiting me from getting more medical experience. Also, I have to take summer classes because ROTC takes up a chunk of my credits which is going to cost me $15k out of pocket and take time away from doing internships.The only reason I am still interested in the military is because I have always wanted to have the opportunity and experience of providing medical care to servicemembers. I would just like to do my 4 years and be done. As of right now, I have 2 options: quit ROTC and take the HPSP scholarship or stay in ROTC and go reserves. I have talked to my ROTC instructors and they suggested I try to get more opinions as other doctors may have different experiences. Thank you for your opinions and I tried to sum up some pros and cons to shorten this.
Quit ROTC and take HPSP
Pros:
- No more ROTC classes = more time for extracurriculars and classes
-HPSP more financially valuable than ROTC scholarship
-If I end up hating ortho and liking primary care, then scholarship is good investment
Cons:
- Undergrad debt ~$90K
-Mil residencies have less slots and risk of GMO
-Will have to put fellowships on hold

Go reserves
Pros:
-ROTC+military officer experience good for med school app (From what I've heard)
-Can apply to civilian residencies
Cons:
-Med school debt ~$240K
-Don't get experience in military medicine
-Risk of deployment and added stress from drill while in med school

Good Evening,

I joined Army ROTC during my late Freshman year with the intention of becoming a MSC or Armor officer. A family catastrophe forced me to abruptly change paths and I took the MCAT and applied rather late in the cycle but prior to branch matches.

With a medical school acceptance letter and ROTC experience, I obtained an educational delay and an HPSP scholarship.

Army clinical elective rotations were great for my desired career field (radiology) but it was nonetheless a crap shoot. I got lucky. No GMO. No match reapps. Blessed lucky.

Ortho is insanely competitive in the military (at least during my app time) and I'm uncertain if civilian deferments for it exist.

Being nonscholarship rotc (I did it largely for fun), my ADSO was 3(rotc) + 4(hpsp).

If I had not matched radiology, I'd probably had been a sad panda until I did.

Your risk is a bit higher being scholarship and gunning for Ortho. However, you can obtain quality clinical rotations during medical school while you're IRR and lay foundations for Ortho residency.

I suspect they will NOT let you off the hook as a junior, especially given acute shortages.

 

[DMBandFan86]

You said that "My love for medicine grew and my desire to be an officer declined dramatically...I would just like to do my 4 years and be done." I don't see any reason why you would want to take HPSP and be an officer for all of medical school, residency and after. I also don't understand why you would quit ROTC and then take HPSP -- that makes no sense to me. I believe you would just go from undergrad to medical school directly and then apply for HPSP. I also don't see the military accepting an ROTC drop out because they didn't want to fulfill their contract and then give them a direct commission with a longer length of service via HPSP.

I don't know the specifics about ROTC, but I had classmates come right from ROTC to medical school (HPSP) so I assume its possible. Are you planning on taking time off between undergrad and medical school?

ROTC to reserves is probably your best option if you don't want to go active duty. It doesn't sound like you have looked at the reserve options available for medical students. Are you able to apply for MDSSP and STRAP? Those are the reserve direct commission officer programs for medical school and you don't have any drilling obligations while in a program (unless you go NG). If you don't apply for a medical student program then you would be at the mercy of your reserve unit as to your obligations during school.

But overall, your best route might just be quitting ROTC and going the civilian route (if that is really possible). Since you don't love the military why keep adding years and years on. The finances will all even out in the long run.

 

[DeadCactus]

It doesn't sound like you want to be in the military. Taking any of the routes (ROTC, HPSP, STRAP, etc) is short-sighted. The governments fear mongering you into making a poor decision with the boogeyman of debt. Plenty of people before you have managed the student loan debt inherent in medical school. You're likely to lose out financially long-term through any military route. And at the end of the day, there are plenty of options to get rid of loans that don't require you to commit a decade in advance.

If you've missed the boat, then finish ROTC and go to the Reserves. HPSP would just be doubling down on a bad decision.

 

[pnw0802]

I apologize for not giving everyone an update sooner on my choices but I have decided to stay within ROTC and not pursue the HPSP scholarship. I took some time to ponder on it and look deeper into the subject and I would need a legitimate reason to disenroll from the program besides wanting to quit. I now intend to finish the program, earn my commission, and hopefully branch into the reserves. I've been reflecting and I've been a brat to the Army for not getting what I want but it's my fault for not fully understanding the commitment I was getting myself into. Furthermore, the Army has given me many great opportunities in life so I should be grateful and give them the time that I owe. Hopefully, I can get an education delay but with news of receiving a 503 MCAT chances are pretty slim for an education delay or medical school acceptance. Realistically, I'll probably branch into the reserves, retake my MCAT, and reapply the following year. I greatly appreciate all the advice you have given me and I'll definitely try to be more wary of the commitments I make and be more open minded.

 

[MusicDOc124]

I apologize for not giving everyone an update sooner on my choices but I have decided to stay within ROTC and not pursue the HPSP scholarship. I took some time to ponder on it and look deeper into the subject and I would need a legitimate reason to disenroll from the program besides wanting to quit. I now intend to finish the program, earn my commission, and hopefully branch into the reserves. I've been reflecting and I've been a brat to the Army for not getting what I want but it's my fault for not fully understanding the commitment I was getting myself into. Furthermore, the Army has given me many great opportunities in life so I should be grateful and give them the time that I owe. Hopefully, I can get an education delay but with news of receiving a 503 MCAT chances are pretty slim for an education delay or medical school acceptance. Realistically, I'll probably branch into the reserves, retake my MCAT, and reapply the following year. I greatly appreciate all the advice you have given me and I'll definitely try to be more wary of the commitments I make and be more open minded.

One of my old classmates did ROTC for college and HPSP for med school with the education deferral. Get a better MCAT and solidify an acceptance and you can do both if thats what you want to do and work toward it.