<p>Hey, I posted this in the high school student subforum since I'm a high school student, but this is more geared toward the end of Med School.</p>
<p>So I've been looking at the military programs for paying for med school, and their residency policies confuse me. I know there are military residencies and civilian residencies, but I don't understand how they work into the time you owe to the military. My largest question is if residencies count for that time, or if you're expected to (for example) complete a military residency and then have the time of med school AND the residency to do (which is at least 7 years or so) or what.</p>
<p>Can someone explain this whole process to me of how military scholarships for medical school work? I'm just so confused at this point. </p>
<p>I'm most interested in Air Force, but I'm really just comparing them all right now.</p>
<p>It’s confusing because, if I’m not mistaken, there are multiple different programs within each branch. </p>
<p>In terms of service length, I’ve heard differing things. I’ve heard in some cases that residency counts as part of your service time, so if you have a 7 year commitment and complete a 5 year surgery residency, you have 2 more years left. I’ve also heard the opposite, that you may that 4 year requirement and the clock starts ticking only after you’ve finished residency.</p>
<p>No matter what, I think this is one of those things that you absolutely need to sit down with the recruiters and get in writing what they are offering. </p>
<p>My take is, there are varying degrees of time required and it’s going to depend on what exactly they give you in return and for how long. I know that you can get monthly stipends during med school and residency and they’ll pay off your loans. I know that you can sign up before med school starts or when you’re a 4th year student. I’m willing to bet that they have options that limit what your service requirements are while a resident and if they can ship you out. And of course there’s a difference if you’re a reservist or not. Military residencies probably play some role in all this too. I want to say that I had friends in medical school who were involved in these programs and some went to military residencies (one guy I know for a fact went to Hawaii for his residency) and others did not. But given that I don’t know the exact details of their commitments, I can’t really give you an accurate explanation.</p>
<p>What I’d recommend you do though, is first figure out if you’re going to utilize one of these resources for undergrad. If you are, then talk to them about graduate school issues. If not, and you’re thinking maybe this is just a med school thing, then focus on getting there first and dealing with this later.</p>
<p>Definitely sit down with the recruits. Ask if you can do a civ residency. Ask if they have any say in what specialty you choose. Ask under what circumstances you could be activated prior to finishing medical school/residency. Ask what commitment you will be giving them during medical school/residency. Ask what happens if you don’t Match (meaning will they auto-place you into a residency of their choice or do you have the choice to try and find one yourself).</p>
<p>Since I’m just a junior in high school and I’m not looking at this for undergrad, entirely just med school, I’m going to put off seeing a recruiter any time soon. </p>
<p>I just wanted to have a better idea for it all, that’s it.</p>