Army Surgeon in the military

[NathanG100100]

I'm in high school, graduating in 2022, and I am interested in becoming a surgeon in the military. My parents were in the army and have shared many great stories about their experiences. I would really like to attend WestPoint. I've read that there are a couple of ways to go down the surgeon route there: 5 years of service followed by med school, and residency, or going to med school and residency before the 5 years of required service. Either way, it would combine my interest in a military life and becoming a surgeon, and saving lives. I was wondering if there was anyone who could share their input on either my ideas or their own experience in doing something similar (or different). I'm also curious about how life after serving would be. How would transferring from being a surgeon in the military to a regular hospital be? And how "behind" would you be compared to others who went a more normal route of typical undergrad, med school, residency without the years of required service. I know that I still have many years before a lot of this will become of importance, but I would love to have an idea of what to expect in the coming years.


Thank you, and any input would be appreciated

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[orbitsurgMD]

I'm in high school, graduating in 2022, and I am interested in becoming a surgeon in the military. My parents were in the army and have shared many great stories about their experiences. I would really like to attend WestPoint. I've read that there are a couple of ways to go down the surgeon route there: 5 years of service followed by med school, and residency, or going to med school and residency before the 5 years of required service. Either way, it would combine my interest in a military life and becoming a surgeon, and saving lives. I was wondering if there was anyone who could share their input on either my ideas or their own experience in doing something similar (or different). I'm also curious about how life after serving would be. How would transferring from being a surgeon in the military to a regular hospital be? And how "behind" would you be compared to others who went a more normal route of typical undergrad, med school, residency without the years of required service. I know that I still have many years before a lot of this will become of importance, but I would love to have an idea of what to expect in the coming years.


Thank you, and any input would be appreciated

West Point is fine if what you want is to be an Army (line) officer, it is what the institution exists to produce. You can go to medical school after graduation from a service academy, but the pathway is not as assured or simple as with a civilian university. You would be an exception to the rule.
So if what you really want is to go into medicine and to go to medical school, I would suggest you go to a civilian university with a good record for medical school placement and study hard there. As far as Army service, or any service goes, you will be able to find your way into the military once you have a medical school diploma, if that is what you still want.

Military medicine and military medicine accession requirements are in flux right now. No one in or out of the service can tell you with certainty what the best pathway into milmed is going to be for someone whose earliest opportunity to enter might be eight or more years from now; too many things are changing to know. One thing you can reasonably predict is that you will have your best chance at getting admitted if you have a strong undergraduate academic record at a well-regarded university and strong MCAT scores. I would suggest you focus on that first. The rest will follow.