USUHS atmosphere

[anonpremed]

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Hi, i read another thread about usuhs, and now i am creating a new thread. so here goes:
how do the students differ socially from the students at civilian schools? for example, are there a lot of people who have private pilot licenses or have interests in skydiving, scuba diving, or other things that are uncommon among civilian students? how is the school(along with the tough studying schedule) able to accomodate such lifestyles? are there discounts for flying lessons and for renting 1-motor aircraft?
since usuhs doesnt have an undergrad school associated with it, where would you go to seek college-level students to interact with you-u virginia??
do students live in the dorms?
Since as a usuhs student you're a luitenant, does it mean that you can declare any state as your state of residency? and could you get CCW permits due to being a military officer? or at least own guns by claiming alaska residency(i know that even nyc allows you to own guns as long as you're not a ny resident and havent bought them in nyc,etc)?
i know that usuhs students must do military exercises throughout all 4 summers, so what are some cool cruises or tours that they get to go on? and do they at least get 4months of vacation each summer?

Also, would it be absolutely ******ed to do usuhs, internship, then 7yrs of gmo tours, and then go back to the civilian world? could you then get a civilian residency in dermatology if you did well in usuhs, or you'll be screwed because you didnt do research and were out of school for too long to get any good connections or recommendations?

 

[R-Me-Doc]

Hi, i read another thread about usuhs, and now i am creating a new thread. so here goes:
how do the students differ socially from the students at civilian schools? for example, are there a lot of people who have private pilot licenses or have interests in skydiving, scuba diving, or other things that are uncommon among civilian students? how is the school(along with the tough studying schedule) able to accomodate such lifestyles? are there discounts for flying lessons and for renting 1-motor aircraft?
since usuhs doesnt have an undergrad school associated with it, where would you go to seek college-level students to interact with you-u virginia??
do students live in the dorms?
Since as a usuhs student you're a luitenant, does it mean that you can declare any state as your state of residency? and could you get CCW permits due to being a military officer? or at least own guns by claiming alaska residency(i know that even nyc allows you to own guns as long as you're not a ny resident and havent bought them in nyc,etc)?
i know that usuhs students must do military exercises throughout all 4 summers, so what are some cool cruises or tours that they get to go on? and do they at least get 4months of vacation each summer?

Also, would it be absolutely ******ed to do usuhs, internship, then 7yrs of gmo tours, and then go back to the civilian world? could you then get a civilian residency in dermatology if you did well in usuhs, or you'll be screwed because you didnt do research and were out of school for too long to get any good connections or recommendations?

Oh dear . . . . .

 

[Croooz]

R-Me, I can't tell you how much your post is making me laugh.

Oh dear . . . . .

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

I don't even know where to begin with this one! 😱

 

[DiveMD]

USUHS atmosphere....hmmmmmm....it's 78% Nitrogen...

 

[PharmD2MD]

Hi, i read another thread about usuhs, and now i am creating a new thread. so here goes:
how do the students differ socially from the students at civilian schools? for example, are there a lot of people who have private pilot licenses or have interests in skydiving, scuba diving, or other things that are uncommon among civilian students? how is the school(along with the tough studying schedule) able to accomodate such lifestyles? are there discounts for flying lessons and for renting 1-motor aircraft?
since usuhs doesnt have an undergrad school associated with it, where would you go to seek college-level students to interact with you-u virginia??
do students live in the dorms?
Since as a usuhs student you're a luitenant, does it mean that you can declare any state as your state of residency? and could you get CCW permits due to being a military officer? or at least own guns by claiming alaska residency(i know that even nyc allows you to own guns as long as you're not a ny resident and havent bought them in nyc,etc)?
i know that usuhs students must do military exercises throughout all 4 summers, so what are some cool cruises or tours that they get to go on? and do they at least get 4months of vacation each summer?

Also, would it be absolutely ******ed to do usuhs, internship, then 7yrs of gmo tours, and then go back to the civilian world? could you then get a civilian residency in dermatology if you did well in usuhs, or you'll be screwed because you didnt do research and were out of school for too long to get any good connections or recommendations?

You can own a firearm in any of the 50 states. It's a right guaranteed by the US constitution. Don't forget that. No dorms. No time to interact with college kids. Yes, it would be ******ed to do 7 years of GMO. Likelyhood of civilian derm residency is nil. No 4 month vacations. Look at the academic schedules on the USUHS website. Don't go to USUHS for a "free ride".

 

[MeMoMa]

I know the original poster was a little ridiculous, but i am considering usuhs. As a student with no military background i have some concerns/questions relating to the actual lifestyle that students face during the 4 years.
like do you do bootcamp?

 

[backrow]

I know the original poster was a little ridiculous, but i am considering usuhs. As a student with no military background i have some concerns/questions relating to the actual lifestyle that students face during the 4 years.
like do you do bootcamp?

Yes you do bootcamp, you are joining the military for heavens sake. Now with that being said the "bootcamp" that USUHS/HPSP students attend is nowhere near what the typical officer/enlisted person goes through. It is more "fork & knife" school than the typical idea of "bootcamp." It also depends on which service you enter as to how interesting your Officer Indoctrination School (Navy)/ Officer Training School (Air Force) / Officer Basic Course (Army) is.

 

[island doc]

Yes you do bootcamp, you are joining the military for heavens sake. Now with that being said the "bootcamp" that USUHS/HPSP students attend is nowhere near what the typical officer/enlisted person goes through. It is more "fork & knife" school than the typical idea of "bootcamp." It also depends on which service you enter as to how interesting your Officer Indoctrination School (Navy)/ Officer Training School (Air Force) / Officer Basic Course (Army) is.

That may be, but he/she will still have to go to C4 and bake under the hot south Texas sun wearing chem gear, getting tear gassed, living in a tent with a dirt floor, bathing with baby wipes, eating meals rejected by ethiopians, crawling in the dirt, etc. Much easier ways to pick up an ATLS card. Don't paint too rosy a picture for him/her now...

 

[PharmD2MD]

I know the original poster was a little ridiculous, but i am considering usuhs. As a student with no military background i have some concerns/questions relating to the actual lifestyle that students face during the 4 years.
like do you do bootcamp?

The lifestyle is as stress free as med school can get, in my opinion. You don't have to worry about money while you are in school and you don't have to live on ramen noodles. It is a military school, you wear a uniform to class everyday and adhere to all of the standard regulations. This isn't a big deal though. Ask yourself why you are interested in USUHS. If it's more for the schooling and you aren't really interested in the military then it's probably a bad idea.

 

[backrow]

That may be, but he/she will still have to go to C4 and bake under the hot south Texas sun wearing chem gear, getting tear gassed, living in a tent with a dirt floor, bathing with baby wipes, eating meals rejected by ethiopians, crawling in the dirt, etc. Much easier ways to pick up an ATLS card. Don't paint too rosy a picture for him/her now...

USUHS students get out of C4 by having to attend their own version known as Bushmaster which is held in Fort Indiantown Gap, PA during July. Still the same bs though.

 

[MeMoMa]

could you make an estimate of what percentage of your time you are playing soldier?

previous posters dont focus on student life, but more the pros and cons of joining- i am really interested in what military components a typical semester holds for a student.

as a naive premed i'm trying to research as much as i can in order to make an informed decision.

 

[deegs]

could you make an estimate of what percentage of your time you are playing soldier?

previous posters dont focus on student life, but more the pros and cons of joining- i am really interested in what military components a typical semester holds for a student.

while at USUHS, about a grand total of about 3 weeks of your life will be "playing soldier" in the field. there are a few military classes that are an afterthough when surrounded by biochem, anat, path, pharm, micro, etc. and you do wear a uniform and you are on a military base, but after 11 years I don't even notice that stuff anymore.

other than that, it is essentially a civilian medical school. it does NOT feel anything like a service academy. there is a fairly active social life, as there are a number of 20-somethings with a real paycheck for the first time in their lives. also plenty of us 30-somethings with a house and family.

the biggest difference between us and a civilian medical school is we all have at least 7 years of "being soldier" ahead of us. Plan on living in the desert for that period of time, and anything less is golden.

 

[rotatores]

other than that, it is essentially a civilian medical school.

I'm gonna have to disagree with this one. When I was at USUHS, I too also felt that our school was no different than my civy friends...but after meeting a crap load of HPSP folk while in internship I've realized what I missed out on. I agree...its definitely not like an academy. Let me share a few differences:

1) Male to female ratio
2) Uniforms (this was of course expected)
3) No summer off between 1st and 2nd year
4) Random, poorly structured military classes
5) Lack of diversity during 3rd and 4th year rotations (my first experience with a non-military population came during my peds ER rotation in internship)
6) Limited options for internship/residency (at least HPSP have the option of deferment)

Hopefully President Rice will help turn somethings around...from my impression when he first got there...his seemed to want to make USUHS more civy-like.

rotatores
USUHS 2006
PGY-1 Pediatrics

 

[trixmd]

I'm a USU grad doing FTOS and interact with the med stud's on a regular basis and here are a couple other differences.

USU students for the most part are pretty fit - because they have to be. At the very least, they have to take a twice a year PT test that isn't overly taxing, but something you can't train for by eating twinkies and living in the library. Even if they fail the test, the school used to assign you a PT buddy (either another stud or someone from the staff) to get you above the minimum. Even if it takes 4 years.

Amazing travel opportunities, either as part of your summer experience between 1st and 2nd year, or during your 4th year. A lot of people wanked about "having to fund it themselves" but we're getting a salary and school paid for. One off my buddies who is an ID guy now spent his summer in Thailand and I think part of his 4th year in Cairo working with DOD labs. I thought I read that one of the Army stud's went to Afghanistan to do her summer experience with a grad. I went to Hawaii for a month on a ship. Seems like stud's where I am have to search for international rotations, mostly with NGOs.

I got more "normal" patient experience than Rotatores- I did OB/GYN at the Washington Hospital Center 3rd year, and my 4th year ED rotation was at Ben Taub, Houston's knife and gun club. Neither was representative of the general population, but not your typical AD population either.

I thought there were a lot of older students and married students, which makes sense if you consider the number of true prior-military types. (Not us Academy/ROTC pukes..) And the gender ratio really makes it stand out - by graduation, I was one of 6 single women. Starting internship with a bunch of guy and girl singletons made me feel a little less freakish..

I wouldn't recommend doing 7 (actually 8 including intern year) and then punching out. Supposedly a guy who graduated after me is trying to do that and applying for anesthesia. Not sure how that panned out for him.

Best -
Trix

 

[runningmom]

FTOS

What's this????

I did OB/GYN at the Washington Hospital Center 3rd year, and my 4th year ED rotation was at Ben Taub, Houston's knife and gun club.

Is there a list of the away rotations somewhere? Do they change every year?

 

[backrow]

FTOS : Full Time Out Service - basically a civilian residency. Upon completion they will come back on active duty.

There is a list of available rotations on the registrar's site at USUHS. Go to usuhs, then on the bottom of the first screen look for 'site index'. Scroll through to the R's and look for Registrar's. On that page will be a link for fourth year clerkship catalogue. There is a bunch listed there, but as a fourth year you can pretty much set up whatever you want, wherever you want. As a caveat you have to fund your own trips. I've heard of several people going to africa or the far east for prev med type stuff.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

I'm a USU grad doing FTOS and interact with the med stud's on a regular basis and here are a couple other differences.

Did you receive a FTOS for residency, or for a fellowship program? Which service are you in?

I'm very curious about the possibility of doing a civilian residency out of USUHS.

Thanks for the info!

 

[backrow]

Coming out of USUHS you are basically stuck doing a military internship (there are some rare exceptions I have heard of in the past) however, that does not mean you will have to do a military residency. You could finish your residency wherever if you were granted a deferment at the PGY2 board. I haven't heard of too many people doing this, but I would think it would be easiest to do in the Navy.

 

[trixmd]

I"m doing a Prev Med residency and I'm in the Navy. FTOS for USU grads/Navy guys is few and far in between - I'm really lucky. A Navy guy before me got FTOS Neurosurgery, and two Navy guys supposedly got FTOS Rads and Rad Onc. (There are military programs in all of those except Rad Onc.) Then there are 2 of us in Prev Med. We all did GMO/FS tours before our FTOS training. It all depends on how the specialties are manned and if "they" (I still don't know who "they" are) think the specialty is important or not.

I'm under the impression "they" don't plan very far ahead either - two years after the Rad Onc guy started, I think "they" decided that "they" didn't need Navy Rad Onc's. Whatever..

And a total bonus - since I"m doing FTOS training, my GME commitments get served consecutively rather than concurrently with my other commitments. Ugh. When I can FINALLY start making decisions for myself, I"ll have been in 17 years.

Danjo - think hard about the USU vs HPSP versus doing it on your own. What you want for yourself professionally, your family, etc. There are pluses and minuses for each of them.

Best -
Trix