Wierd?

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Perrotfish

Perrotfish

Has an MD in Horribleness
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Physician
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  1. Attending Physician
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So I'm in the process of getting every medical condition I've ever had waivered and also of getting recommendatoins for the HPSP scholarship. Anyway of the 6 or so letters that I sent out for this, all but one of them came back signed COL, LTCOL, Commander, or Captain. Apparently every doctor I've every shadowed or seen as a patient, and all but one person who I've asked for a recommendation (including my Priest) made at least 0-5. I had no idea any of them had any military experience. I mentioned this to a couple professors at my SMP and they started talking about their time in the Navy. I guess this is reassuring about the quality of medical care I'm going to see in Navy medicine: I'm assuming I'm going to think whatever quality of care I see from Navy doctors is good, since I've apparently never seen anything else. Anyone else have an experience with veterans coming out of the woodwork after they signed up?
 
Perrotfish said:
So I'm in the process of getting every medical condition I've ever had waivered and also of getting recommendatoins for the HPSP scholarship. Anyway of the 6 or so letters that I sent out for this, all but one of them came back signed COL, LTCOL, Commander, or Captain. Apparently every doctor I've every shadowed or seen as a patient, and all but one person who I've asked for a recommendation (including my Priest) made at least 0-5. I had no idea any of them had any military experience. I mentioned this to a couple professors at my SMP and they started talking about their time in the Navy. I guess this is reassuring about the quality of medical care I'm going to see in Navy medicine: I'm assuming I'm going to think whatever quality of care I see from Navy doctors is good, since I've apparently never seen anything else. Anyone else have an experience with veterans coming out of the woodwork after they signed up?
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Did you notice the common theme? That none of them are still in the military and that they hide the fact that they were unless they know it will be helpful in the specific situation?

Make sure you read the first 2 or 3 pages of threads so you know what you're getting into. I wish I had had this forum back when I was making my decision. Why in the world do you need all those recommendations? The Navy can't give these scholarships away.
 
Did you notice the common theme? That none of them are still in the military and that they hide the fact that they were unless they know it will be helpful in the specific situation?
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They all seemed to like it actually, and I wouldn't say any of them were 'hiding it'. I didn't know about my doctors because, well, why would that come up? Same with my professors, as soon as I brought it up nothing but good stories, it just hadn't come up before. My priest acutally did a full 20 years of service in the Chaplain Corps before getting out, he's older than the Pope now (literally, by 3 months). A few have stayed in the reserves, too. They were all positive about their experiences, and I don't think the fact that they didn't all stay for life says terrible things about the program. I mean, I'm at my most optomistic right now, and I doubt I'll be in the military after my commitment is up. I want to do something patriotic, have the military experience, and pay for medical school (in that order). After my AD is completed I'll have met all 3 goals, the financial deal will go from neutral/sorta bad to terrible, and I'll probably be ready for something new.

Make sure you read the first 2 or 3 pages of threads so you know what you're getting into. I wish I had had this forum back when I was making my decision. Why in the world do you need all those recommendations? The Navy can't give these scholarships away
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Sweet Lord, haven't you noticed me yet? I've read every freakin' thread and posted dozens of times to clear up any questions. I've read, questioned, and reread this information to the point where I'm turning into the go-to guy for my other milimed applicants/students who can't get a clear answer from their recruiter in my area. I helped my recruiter with organizing my applicatoin process, I've looked into ADTs for my summers, and I'm starting to speak in military acronyms. Ultimately I might not like milimed, but I can't say I was lied to, or joined for lack of information.
 
Perrotfish said:
I want to do something patriotic, have the military experience, and pay for medical school (in that order).

Sweet Lord, haven't you noticed me yet?
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Sorry, wasn't paying attention to the name. With priorities like that I wouldn't be surprised if you were very pleased with your military experience. Just make sure those really are your priorities. I used to tell people those were my priorities too, but I'm not so sure that was true even back then.

Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to serve, but I wouldn't sign up again.
 
That doesn't stop them from forcing applicants to jump through hoops in an effort to make the program seem more competitive than it really is.
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Really? I haven't run into any hoops yet. What hoops have I missed?
 
How about having to provide six letters of recommendation? When you apply to medical school, you probably needed only three letters. So why does NAVY need twice as much? Also, have you had to get a physical exam yet? If you have any past medical history, be prepared for loads of extra tests as well as trying to track down medical records from physicians from years past. The whole process can be rather involved.
 
I'm pretty sure you only need 3 letters, but it never hurts to ask more people than required in case some can't/won't help you out.
 
AFDuck said:
I'm pretty sure you only need 3 letters, but it never hurts to ask more people than required in case some can't/won't help you out.
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I asked for three and then after I heard I received a scholarship I found out that two did not make it to where they were suppose to go. I did have to interview with two Navy docs though...and it took about 8 months after that before I was commissioned because every week they would decide that I was missing something from my application packet or did not understand my med school agreement.
 
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