so who are you all?

[brats800]

just wondering who everyone visiting this forum is....like where are you going to school, if you're with the military, what branch, what specialty...that stuff. just so when we have questions we can know who to direct them to and just to meet the other military premeds / medstudents.

my name is mark. i'm a senior in undergrad at wheaton college, just outside of chicago. i'll be taking a year off after graduation while applying to schools. my top choice is probably USUHS followed by University of Wisconsin thru the HPSP....not sure which branch of the military i'm interested in. i'm looking to get into aerospace medicine....and i'm also interested in emergency medicine...so far the navy has gotten the best look from me. some days the navy GMO tour worries me, other times it looks neat.

anyway, who are you all?

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[ATPase]

My name is Deidre and I live in Alabama. I graduated in December, so I'm taking the year off while applying this cycle to start school in 2004. First choice is Emory or Wake, and I will probably do HPSP (though not sure yet whether AF or Army). I want to do peds and maybe a hem/onc subspecialty.

 

[Caffeinated]

I am starting USUHS next week. I am prior service Army. I was an optometrist at Walter Reed up until 2 weeks ago when I started transitional leave. I did not attend the basic course, because I already attended AMEDD OBC in summer 2000. So I will be meeting my classmates for the first time on Monday.

 

[brats800]

caffeinated - make sure you post back telling us how you like USUHS. i'm interested to hear how prior military and no prior military service people view the school and military life.

 

[Caffeinated]

Originally posted by brats800
caffeinated - make sure you post back telling us how you like USUHS. i'm interested to hear how prior military and no prior military service people view the school and military life.

I will. I am pretty excited about it.

 

[b_ritt06]

I'm going to be a second year at Iowa in Army HPSP. I just finished OBC a week and a half ago, and classes start in a little over 2 weeks.

 

[Primate]

I'm a 7th year mud-phud (who missed his calling in Naval Aviation many years ago ). I'm going into Ophtho (98%) and will do so as a NAVY Ready Reservist. I'm hoping to go AD once the kids are grown [or maybe retrain as a FS in the RR (and keep the ophtho practice as a civi) - there is actually a Reserve program for this!]. I thought about HPSP, but the MSTP covers everything already - this way I'll come in as an O4 or O3 promotable in PGY-2. Pretty sweet (for me, at least - not the way everyone would want to do it), though I do wish I were able to serve during school (if you're not in the HPSP, this is only an option in the ANG, of all places).

NAVY all the way, baby!

Hey Caff, are you planning on going the ophtho route or are you looking (no pun intended) to move away from the eye?

P

 

[Caffeinated]

Originally posted by Primate
Hey Caff, are you planning on going the ophtho route or are you looking (no pun intended) to move away from the eye?
P

Primate,
I have no definite plans for specialty yet, but ophtho is up there on top of my possibility list. I am keeping an open mind at this point. Obviously ophtho is what I thought of first, considering my background, but when I was thinking about med school, I had to resolve 2 issues: (1) I might not want to end up doing ophtho after 4 years of med school, and (2) ophtho might not want me. I didn't decide to do med school until I was ok with both of these scenarios. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get on the fast track to ophthalmology right now, and I am trying maintain ties to the Army ophthalmologists that I met at WRAMC. But things may change as I learn more about medicine. Stay tuned.

Best of luck to you, Primate.

 

[Primate]

Thanks for the well wishes Caffeinated.

I think you have the absolute right attitude about med school. I went in thinking that Ortho was the cat's pajamas. While I still think it's pretty cool, I know it's not for me (and I knew starting out that I'd probably change my mind several times - worked out that way, too). Go where your gut leads you. I'm 95%+ on ophtho, but still have rotations left and will see. I'm psyched that I get to try so many different things in med school. Take advantage of it all.

Keep us all posted.

Best of luck to you as well!

P

 

[Andrew_Doan]

I'm in the NAVY FAP for ophthalmology currently completing a civilian residency training program in Iowa.

 

[misfit]

Hi all:

I'm a 3ry year med student at the Medical College of Wisconsin and I'm doing the Navy HPSP.

As I posted in another thread on this board, I'm actually interested in doing a Navy GMO tour, especially if I can get Flight Surgery or Dive Medicine.

After that, my interests lie with Interventional Radiology, Anesthesiology and ER.

misfit

 

[JM.]

I am HPSP Army and I start at Temple in the fall. I am interested in Surgery or EM.

 

[rotatores]

I'm a 2nd year at USUHS (Navy), so if you have any questions concerning USUHS feel free to ask (PM if you'd like).

 

[Mirror Form]

Hi all, I did Army ROTC through undergrad at Cornell and am now a 3rd year med student at University of MD. I'm also really interested in doing ophtho, which seems pretty popular on these boards

 

[J-Rad]

Hi,
My name is Jared (thus the creative screen name) and I am a current MSIII at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine. I'm on Air Force HPSP (and loving it, though I was interested in the Navy due to the Undersea Medicine program).
I was in the AF Reserve for ~7years before med school.
I'm currently interested in emergency medicine and psych, but am open minded about falling in love with another field out on rotations.
Feel free to email me at sbentley at pipeline.une.edu if I can answer any questions.

 

[iwakuni_doc]

Hello - I'm a former 3yr Navy HPSP grad from Univ. of Kansas, surgery internship at Naval Medical Center San Diego, did flight school in Pensacola, currently the station flight surgeon for MCAS Iwakuni (Japan), and am applying for a civilian residency in Emergency Medicine with plans on staying in reserves during residency.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me directly.

-Scott

 

[tec]

I am currerntly a second year at the Univ of Maryland and 4-yr AF HPSP. But I also had 5 years as an Army Signal Officer with 3ID, so I can answer questions about life in the line Army if anyone has those also. The obvious question that people always ask is why did I switch services and it came down to my husband and I decided to take on a new and different adventure.

Also, I completed the Intro to the School of Aerospace Medicine (SAM) ADT at Brooks this summer and it was a blast. I highly recommend it to anyone who is AF, even if you are not considering flight medicine as a possibility.

Good luck everyone,
Tara

 

[Alli Cat]

Hi everyone,

I wish someone would just write a book on military medicine or start a blog or something. I have been weeding through SDN and googling all year trying to find out more about being a military doc. This forum will help some, but it's like trying to find classified information! Maybe that's the problem-- the military won't let anyone blog lest national security be threatened. I'm only half kidding.

Oh well. So I'm a deferred USUHS entrant, AF, kinda hanging out and having fun in SF until next summer. Glad to see y'all.

~Alison

 

[JM.]

Originally posted by b_ritt06
I'm going to be a second year at Iowa in Army HPSP. I just finished OBC a week and a half ago, and classes start in a little over 2 weeks.

How was OBC?

 

[quideam]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting my senior year at Rutgers (NJ) and am currently applying to medical schools. USUHS goes back and forth between being my first and last choice, depending on how much i'm fearing the 7 year commitment that day. I'm interested in EM/Surgery/Infectious Diseases... I have probably harrased everyone in this forum at least once about their opinions of military service

- Quid

 

[Alli Cat]

I hope Quid doesn't choose USUHS because she is one smart cookie and I don't want her competing with me for the infectious diseases training programs!

just kidding

~Alison

 

[quideam]

Originally posted by Alli Cat
I hope Quid doesn't choose USUHS because she is one smart cookie and I don't want her competing with me for the infectious diseases training programs!

LOL... Don't worry Alli, i'm only competition until they read all my uncertainty threads on SDN... then i'll get my dishonorable discharge . But seriously, if I get in and decide to go to USUHS, we'll have a great time studying together! And hey, are there any good bars in Bethesda? 'Cause I am definetly going to need a drink after OBC...

- Quid

 

[Teufelhunden]

I'm Navy HPSP - currently a 3rd-year at Ohio U. Col of Osteopathic Med doing my rotations in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I was a Combat Engineer in the Marine Corps from 1989-95. If I have to do a GMO tour (fingers crossed that I don't, but more than likely...) I'd like to go "green-side" at my old stomping grounds, Camp Lejuene NC.

I truly love and miss the military, however if I had to do it all again, I think I'd have gone Army or Air Force instead. I think the whole GMO tour thing is a scam - a bad deal all around, for docs and patients alike.

Anyway, I'll reserve my complaints for a more appropriate thread. Good to see you all here, and good luck to everyone!

 

[FliteSurgn]

I completed 5 years of enlisted service in the Army and Army National Guard prior to attending medical school on an Air Force HPSP scholarship. After a civilian internship in General Surgery, I spent 2 years as a Flight Surgeon based in Kansas. I had short stints in Saudi, Qatar, and Bahrain as well. The Air Force granted my request to return to a civilian residency in General Surgery which I am completing this year. From here...who knows? I still owe 2 years repayment from my HPSP obligation.

Feel free to use or abuse my knowledge.

 

[buglady]

Hola! I'm a first year at University of Vermont College of Medicine and I'm doing the Navy HPSP. No prior service, but my dad (Marine), oldest brother (Marine and now Army Reservist somewhere in Afghanistan) and other brother (civil engineer for the Navy..Seabee's) all have prepared me as well as they could...OIS next summer in Newport!

One quick question, anyone know how difficult it is to get a pediatric internship/residency spot in San Diego?

 

[aphistis]

I'm part-time, in the Indiana Army National Guard. I've been in for two years, and I'm waiting on my 2LT commission in the Medical Service Corps (probably this January or so). I've got my own set of opinions on the comparative merits of full-time vs. part-time service, so drop me a line if anyone wants to hear them Good luck to all you full-timers!

 

[Thom]

Hola! I'm a first year at University of Vermont College of Medicine and I'm doing the Navy HPSP. No prior service, but my dad (Marine), oldest brother (Marine and now Army Reservist somewhere in Afghanistan) and other brother (civil engineer for the Navy..Seabee's) all have prepared me as well as they could...OIS next summer in Newport!

One quick question, anyone know how difficult it is to get a pediatric internship/residency spot in San Diego?

I'm starting my 3rd year as a Navy HPSP student in 4 days and I've recently learned that Navy pediatrics is terribly competitive! They've cut slots and there's a good chance that there will only be a handful of slots by the time I graduate! What that means: I'm desperate to get a spot anywhere. I don't care where they send me. San Diego most likely won't shut down it's program. But when I started school (2003) there were 21 peds slots/year. Now there's 13. I have 2 more years, so who knows where it will be?

 

[MoosePilot]

I'm a C-17 pilot with 8 years of AF service currently applying to med school. The Air Force approved me to go as long as I get acccepted! I'm applying to both USUHS and HPSP.

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

(to Moose and others: sorry to make you read my story again, but mine is a cautionary tale for some of the newbies to this forum)
I am an aerospace physiologist with 11 years active duty in the USAF. USAF Academy c/o 94 (RED HOT!) and an MPH from USUHS. I got accepted to four medical schools but the USAF turned me down for HPSP, so it's not a sure thing even if you are active duty. USUHS put me on the waitlist. I interviewed on 6 Jan and EVERY SINGLE USAF spot was taken by then. Apparently they still are. Therefore, I'll be jumping ship over to the Navy (pun intended!) and do HPSP through them. Your loss USAF.

Those of you who decide to go the USAF route: you will get "service before self" rammed down your throat as though Jesus spoke those words to the disciples during the last supper. However, it is a one way street. The USAF expects you to sacrifice everything, yet will hang you out to dry in a heartbeat. As always check six! (and NEVER trust or believe AFPC)

 

[deuist]

I'm an entering medical student at the University of Miami in August. I start COT next week for the Air Force. I have no prior military experience other than playing cowboys and Indians as a kid.

 

[A1cfox21]

I'm a SSgt in the USAF. I'm a weather forecaster and will be seperating in April '06. I'm trying to get into Univ of Central FL to major in history and do my pre-reqs. I've been considering getting into the FL Air national guard or AF reserves for extra educ. bennies. But, the likelihood of going back to Iraq is pretty good, so I'll probably leave cold turkey. I might possibly try HPSP or National Guard (loan repayment) for financial assistance. I'm not keen on deploying again before I'm done with my medical training. Once I'm licensed, they can send me every year for all I care!!!!

 

[cavaor]

rising 3rd yr medical student at Univ of Illinois- Urbana Champaign. Will be an official army HPSPer as long as I passed my Step 1 that I took last week. Still trying to figure out when I will be doing OBC (looking like AFTER med school at this point). Interested in internal med.