Originally posted by Lpgovard
I've been accepted into USUHS and waitlisted at a couple other medical schools. I don't know whether I should just wait it out till the start of officer training for other schools to accept me. USUHS gave me my first interview and my first and only acceptance so far. The students there were nice and optimistic about their medical career. I got a good vibe when I was there. BUT it just seems like whenever I tell people that I might be going there, they get really skeptical about the whole thing! It really irritates me because they have no idea what they're talking about as they have no knowledge of what the program offers. It bothers me that I let others make me feel so low. My father on the other hand is pushing for USUHS. He's all of a sudden very patriotic...and tells me that I should give back to the country that took us in as immigrants 18 years ago. My employer, a pediatrician, whose daughter got off the wailist at my state school (where I've been waitlisted in the top 1/3) suggests that I just wait it out during the summer and wait for my state school to accept me off the waitlist.
I just don't know what to do. I know there are plenty of people out there that really want to go to USUHS and would trade places with me in a second. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?
Why can't I just make my mind up?
All I've ever wanted was to be a doctor, so I keep telling myself that it doesn't matter where I go, I'll be a doctor in the end! Won't I?
🙁
Lpgovard,
I don't want to reiterate things that have already been said before, but I will refer you to what others have said about choosing USUHS to be a military doc, not just a doc that happens to be in the military.
As for those that are skeptical, it is because they don't know about the military. I have been in the Army for almost 3 years, and I must admit that there are things that I am still learning, and I certainly knew a lot less before I joined. But it shocks me how ignorant the general civilian public is about military life, and especially military medicine. I am an optometrist in the Army right now, and here are a few of the top few misconceptions people have about my job:
1. I only see active duty soldiers as patients.
This is wrong. While a significant chunk of my patient base is active duty soldiers, I also see retirees, children and spouses of service members, and members of foreign governments (military and civilian defense attaches). The age range of my patients goes from a few months old up to mid-late 90s.
2. The Army doesn't deploy medical people.
This is also wrong. Medical officers, medical service corps officers, nurses, dentists, etc. are all extremely important in the medical support of deployed soldiers. The closer you get the care to the soldier, the quicker they get treated and sent home or back to the fight. We all play a part in helping the team to victory. For some reason, people have forgotten that TV show in the 70s called MASH. People have this image of the military deployment as the images from Saving Private Ryan or old Vietnam footage. Most people think of military operations simply as boats hitting the shore or the chopper touching down, and men with guns start running and shooting. The general public doesn't understand how much support exists behind the soldiers charging forward. The way I dispel this myth is simply to tell people that I wouldn't be a commissioned officer if my skill wouldn't be needed in theater. The military is NOT a federal work program. It exists to defend this Country and its citizens.
3. Military medical care is substandard to civilian care.
This is just plain wrong. Sure, you can find cases where patients got bad care in a military hospital. You can also find horrible docs and serious lapses in standard of care in the civilian world. I know some Army optometrists that I wouldn't send my mother to. I also know civilian optometrists that I wouldn't send a distant cousin to. The military requires all providers (physicians, dentists, optometrists, nurses, etc) to be fully educated, licensed, and in good standing in order to provide patient care. They must also meet the continuing education requirements of their licensure. All DoD medical centers undergo survey and inspection by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). In fact, the hospital in which I work was the first in DoD (and one of the first few in the country) to get a disease-specific certification by JCAHO for management of diabetic patients. People see military medicine as lagging behind civilian care. In many ways, we are actually leading the way.
4. And my favorite myth of all: the military is full of blood-thirsty, trigger happy, wife-beating psychopaths.
Of course, the media has done a lot to bolster this stereotype. If you really want to know who the military REALLY is, then go to the grocery store, go to the mall, or go to your local place of worship. Look around at all of the ordinary people living their lives and taking care of the ones they love. This is the true stereotype of the average servicemember: an ordinary person doing extraordinary work. I'm an ordinary guy. I love to watch TV, surf the web, hang out with my wife, listen to music etc. Most of the people I meet in the military are just like me--ordinary folks.
Don't misunderstand, military life isn't always a picnic. Sometimes it just plain sucks. All jobs are going to suck at times. Just don't buy into the nonsense from people who aren't in the know. If you go USUHS, you will be in good company. If not, I am sure you will have a great career as well. But make sure whatever you decide, you do it for you. Watch out for #1, and the rest will fall into place. Good luck!
