WAMC: Special Operations Medic

[rabidDoc]

Hello everyone. My name is RabidDoc.
I’m a 29 year old Green Beret currently living in Tennessee.
My current profession is an 18D (special forces medical sergeant). I’ve worked in this field for 7 years. My wife and I have a beautiful 9 month old baby girl.

My wife is Canadian, I am American and our daughter is a dual citizen.
We’ve been doing long distance/ split living for quite some time… approx 7-8 years. We have no problems with another move/relocation if it requires it. I am highly interested in large animal veterinary medicine and would love to make this switch to this career field in the next few years. I grew up working a ranch in the south and have a lot of experience working with and caring for farm animals of all kinds.

All of that being said, my question for you all is regarding pursuing a career in this field. I’m going to post a little ad lib resume and I would like to hear from you guys that are currently either in it/through it/etc what I should do going forward or if it’s even worth pursuing. Thanks a lot for your help!


Undergrad:
BS Psychology
BS Health Sciences

Nationally registered Paramedic/Austere Critical Care
Board certified Advanced Tactical Practicioner

Multiple Deployments to Middle East

Over 2000 hours of practical large animal veterinary medicine

Approx 100 hrs of damage control resuscitation surgery in large animals

12 years of hands on ranch experience

Let me know what you guys think moving forward. I know I need to take the GRE, I’m studying for that currently. If y’all think this a waste of time to apply I’ll take your word for it.
Thanks guys 🤟🏻🇺🇸

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[supershorty]

It is very difficult to give you advice without any information on your GPAs.

Over 2000 hours of practical large animal veterinary medicine

Approx 100 hrs of damage control resuscitation surgery in large animals

What does this mean?

Many programs are not evaluating the GRE anymore, so I would first think about what programs you intend to target before you spend the money and time on an exam you may not need.

 

[rabidDoc]

It is very difficult to give you advice without any information on your GPAs.


What does this mean?

Many programs are not evaluating the GRE anymore, so I would first think about what programs you intend to target before you spend the money and time on an exam you may not need.

Hey thx for the reply.

My gpa’s are 2.9 and 3.9 respectively. First degree was from back in 2013 and second is from 2021.

The surgery portion in a nutshell is I have approx that many hours conducting surgery/anasthesia on large animals.

 

[JaynaAli]

I think shorty’s question may have been more like what types of experiences are these? Working under a private practice vet? Under your role with the military? Or just like freestyling on livestock on your own ranch or something and calling it “practical vet med”? Something else? Those are going to each be looked at very differently, and you’ve phrased it in a weirdly vague manner.

You may need to read up on how various schools calculate GPA. Those are two widely different GPAs in the realm of vet med applicants and you haven’t made it clear if the 2.9 is the psych stuff or if that’s the medical related degree or if any of those courses even count for vet school. Have you completed all the prereqs for vet school? Until we know more details and an accurate total, prereq, and last 45 GPA it’s really hard to say much. If you don’t want to get specific that’s fine but advice will be limited.

 

[supershorty]

I think shorty’s question may have been more like what types of experiences are these? Working under a private practice vet? Under your role with the military? Or just like freestyling on livestock on your own ranch or something and calling it “practical vet med”? Something else? Those are going to each be looked at very differently, and you’ve phrased it in a weirdly vague manner.

You may need to read up on how various schools calculate GPA. Those are two widely different GPAs in the realm of vet med applicants and you haven’t made it clear if the 2.9 is the psych stuff or if that’s the medical related degree. Have you completed all the prereqs for vet school? Until we know more details and an accurate total, prereq, and last 45 GPA it’s really hard to say much. If you don’t want to get specific that’s fine but advice will be limited.

Yes, all of this x2.

 

[leoa]

Hi, as mentioned above, definitely look into how the schools you are interested in consider GPAs and it would help to give you specific advice if we knew your specific GPAs. Most of the schools highly value your science/prereq GPA, which I would assume may mostly be from your Health Sciences degree, so that may give you a good chance! However, know that many schools will consider your cumulative GPA from both B.S. degrees and know that some have time limits on the prereqs if you do have any from the 2013 degree you intend to use. Assuming you are talking about applying next cycle, I would also reach out to admissions teams from specific schools you think are realistic for you so you have the next year to prepare your app. You can politely email their admissions office and ask for an advising session which is usually Zoom or phone call, some of them will go through your transcript and resume with you as well. Not all schools offer this but it is super insightful.

In my opinion, if you are passionate about it, you understand the field, and it makes sense for you and your family, it's worth a shot! Especially considering you may have all the pre-req classes completed from your B.S. degrees as well. It's never too late to follow your dreams but do some more digging into the application process to make sure this is the path you want to go down, some people need to apply a couple of times before getting accepted. Best of luck to you!