<p>I am thinking about doing a Air Force ROTC program. The recruiter I spoke to said if I was accepted into the Uniformed Services Med school the military would pay full tuition, has anyone done this or know how competitive it is?</p>
<p>It is true, but then again the military will pay your tuition at ANY medical school, if you sign I believe a 6+ year contract. US is a decent school, but because it is primarily a military drawing school, a lot of the most competitive students don’t apply there so it is about average in competitiveness.</p>
<p>^ what he said</p>
<p>Actually there is a difference. If you attend USUHS you will draw active duty pay as a 2nd Lt. So you will get paid (nicely) and receive all benefits of being active duty to go to school.
If you attend a civilian med school, you will get a stipend, while in school and 2nd lt pay while on internships.</p>
<p>Counting base pay, bas and bah a student at USUHS will make over $4000 per month while a student at a civilian med school will get a stipend of about $1900/month.</p>
<p>Graduates from USUHS have a 7 year committment while graduating from a civilian med school on scholarship requires a committment of 1 year per year of scholarship.</p>
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<p>This is true. Under both programs, you also have a commitment to the Inactive Ready Reserves after your active duty commitment (for which your military residency doesn’t count, IIRC) - I believe it is 6 years IRR for USUHS grads and 4 for HPSP students.</p>
<p>Are you sure about the one year per year of scholarship? I was under the impression that it was two years PLUS one year for each year of scholarship.</p>
<p>For the HPSP:</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/docs/hpsp.pdf[/url]”>http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/docs/hpsp.pdf</a>
And Look! They are now offering a $20,000 sign on bonus!</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if you were in ROTC or a Service Academy that obligation is on top of your med school obligation.</p>
<p>I went through med school on the HPSP program and am old enough to have a daughter who is applying to med school. I didn’t apply to USUHS because I would have been in their second graduating class. (Yes, that’s how old I am.) </p>
<p>If you read the MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirements), you will see that USUHS accepts about 15% of applicants, higher than most other schools. This is due, in part, to those who would never consider applying because they want no part of the military. This changes the applicant pool. The overall MCAT scores appear lower than some other schools, but other reasons come into play. Many of the students have prior military service in a wide range of fields. So they are different from the traditional pathway med student. So there are reasons for the applicant pool to be skewed.</p>
<p>A friend of mine (gastroenterologist) said outright he would rather be in debt than owe time to the military. His wife is a USUHS grad (cardiologist). So he has school loans and she has a military obligation. </p>
<p>USUHS does not send secondary applications to all applicants – they are looking for the same high quality student as other schools. </p>
<p>Both programs, HPSP and USUHS pay full tuition. HPSP pays required fees, required books and equipment, and a monthly stipend. A USUHS student pays no tuition, receives books and equipment, and receives the pay and allowances for an O-1.</p>
<p>The IRR requirements for a USUHS grad depend on the number of years served at the time you leave the service. The current HPSP websites don’t mention an IRR requirement as part of the service obligation.</p>
<p>For any program, you must meet the physical standards and pass a background check.</p>
@mmmcdowe, not sure if post is getting to the person. So here goes:
My son is a senior in High School. He’s been doing NROTC. He wants to do college For Pre-Med and ROTC.
Local recruiter us hounding him to go enlisted. A few members his family are in the medical field. Anywhere from pharmacist to Nurse to MD. But none threw the military. There are Generals in his family history. And as such he’s always want to be an officer. (Admiral)
He does aim high!
Recruiter says to join the Nursing corp. I’ve heard there is a Medical corp. What’s the difference? Is one better then the other?
ROTC says they will pay for college. Question is, when he finished his 4yrs pre-med and the MOS that ROTC with train him in. How do I get him into med school. I know he needs to score well on the M-Cat.
Should I skip ROTC and go straight into USU or take ROTC up on there offer. Then flip into USU full time military. Now he’s inquiring into Annapolis. Now that I know is very hard.
If you can help with my questions. I’d be grateful. If you can point me into the right course of action, step by step as to the best way to go. Again I would be grateful.
My sons goals are 4yr. degree, Military Officer, Doctor, 25yr. Military Retirement.
Thank you
Ray
qxinfinity14@gmail.com
Many physicians have a full military medical career and go on to a full civilian career as well.
@qxinfinity14 Enlisted is not an ideal path. Being enlisted has a tendancy to slow down all other dreams and aspirations. No matter what the recruiter tells you, this is a full-time job and your son’s education will not be the priority of his bosses. If he wants to be a military officer, it is a good idea to do ROTC and then go in. If he wants to be a military physician, I suggest he get his undergrad (by ROTC or otherwise), then apply to USUHS or do HPSP. Navy has other options.
Military medicine is not for everyone. If you can avoid it, go in with as little commitment as possible. I say this not because I think the military is evil (I am currently serving) or terrible, but because this can be a soul-sucking hellhole for people that are literally stuck in it because of their obligations. People who have less obligation to serve have a much better time serving.
Also keep in mind that the military (Navy, AF, Army) will use their physicians as GMO’s. That is, your son will likely be pushed into a job in primary and/or emergency medicine if he goes Navy or Army - regardless of specialy. If he is Air Force, he will most likely do a stint as a flight surgeon. Yeah, that sounds glamorous, doesn’t it? It isn’t. It is an extension of occupational medicine with a fancy name. Military primary care is akin to an assembly line, and physicians and PA’s alike are expected to see 25-30 patients a day, and do mountains of documentation on top of it (the situation is a bit better at a BCT or on ship, though). This amounts to less than 10 minutes per patient. Most physicians in military primary care get burned out and frustrated very quickly with the way DOD runs their hospitals. Sub specialties are a bit better - they get time with patients and (usually) work reasonable hours. If your son wants to become an admiral, being a physician is not a guarantee. In fact, there is no path where being a flag officer is guaranteed. Many career physicians get to Colonel (Captain in the Navy) and max out. That isn’t a bad place to end your career, but it really doesn’t stay on par with civilian compensation.
Do not take career advice from a recruiter. They will give you the best case scenario every time. Their only goal is to get your son to sign the paper and join. They have no pull on whether or not his dreams are brought to fruition. They won’t put any of his dreams on the enlistment contract. Treat your recruiter like a car salesman: if you need a car, that
is who you have to go through, but expect him to know enough about the car to lie to you about its performance and sound convincing. That car might turn out pretty good, but it also might turn out to be a lemon and he won’t accept blame or be held accountable.
The reality is that your son will spend much of his first two years in training, traveling, inprocessing, and getting acclimated to military life. He will be on his own with a bunch of other Soldiers (or Sailors… or Airmen…) that are at the ‘party’ age and will be very influential on him. If he is disciplined, he can start classes and get to work on his degree. He can pump out online credits left and right and get a big start on education, or he can pull about 6-12 SH of in-residence courses - depending on the time restrictions of his MOS/unit. Avoiding the parties and nightlife are just part of it. He will be under a constant barrage by his leadership trying to push him on the career path that the Army needs. Infantry? They want you to go to Airborne school and Air Assault, do pre-Ranger and go on to Ranger school. They will laugh in his face when he tells them he wants to be a doctor. Medic? That will help you (slightly), but only if you get put in a clinic, or hospital and do shift work and 10-12 hour working days. At least he will have a stable schedule - in a BCT he will do 1, 2, or even 4 week long training events, work 6 to 12 hour days (hours are a roller coaster), and have all kinds of call-ins for formations, speeches, UA’s, etc. He can still do online courses during this time, but if you want to go to medical school, you need REAL classes. The end goal of his undergrad is not a piece of paper saying ‘graduated’, but a transcript that says to admissions board: “I have the chops to survive 4 years of medical school.”
Most people can’t even start classes until they’ve been in for about 24 months. If he is lucky, he gets his first deployment done in the first 24 months. Otherwise, he deploys in the second half of his 4-year enlistment, which is usually a very good time to knock out courses - he is established, his command will approve his TA, he knows the military well enough to know a little better how to take classes and do training and his job at the same time. At the same time, this is when he starts getting pressure to take classes (supervisors are supposed to do it, anyway), do a troop school, and basically beef himself up for promotion.
USUHS provides one of the best medical educations available if you are willing to serve. My husband is a graduate and is now out of the service and has had a very fulfilling second career. You have more leadership opportunities much sooner serving in the Med Corp than you do in the civilian world.
USUHS also has very competitive admissions. My husband’s lab partners were graduates of Duke, UMich and JHU.
It’s all about debt; time or money and whether or not you are cut out for military service.