Medicine at academies

L

luke6smith

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
21
I am a junior in high school who will be applying to the service academies next year. Do the academies have a pre med program through their chemistry department? Because I've checked and navy doesn't have biology. Will it be good to mention that I'm in a biomedical stem class? Thanks
 
Lots of prior threads regarding premed/medical field and the SA's. There are a very small number who get selected to go the medical route. If you didn't, would you still be as interested in going to a SA?
 
"The opportunity exists for a very limited number of midshipmen to service select Navy Medical or Dental Corps and enter medical or dental school directly upon graduation from USNA" For the class of 2015 there were only 12 students that given that opportunity. This number is limited by law. USNA mission is not to produce physicians, and IMHO if you want to be a medical doctor USNA is not the best school to maximize you chance to go to medical school

USNA is a 4 year program, period. Getting all your premed requirements completed in that time period, along with taking the MCATs is challenging. Look at the timeline in the document linked below.

PreMed advising is through USNA Chemistry department. There is a lot of information on the USNA site. You could start here. http://www.usna.edu/ChemDept/ChemMajor/med-corps-info.php
 
Use the search thread for doctor or medical or any other related word and there are dozens and dozens of threads on this that probably cover the majority of your questions. No pre-med major. Most major in chemistry, but not hard and fast rule. Lots of work to get the other items needed, very competitive, no guarantees. That is the 2 second run down.
 
Thank you for the replies. I'm not too worried on time commitment as being an officer has been a dream of mine for quite a while.
 
So my mid is a Chem major-he has taken biology at USNA so I know they offer some courses, just not a major in Bio. He is more interested in joining the fleet post commissioning than medical school, but it is something he may consider down the road. He did mention, however, that a sizeable number of Chem majors hope to go directly into medical school. There seem to be very few spots for that though so it becomes quite competitive when so many mids are fighting for a very limited number of medical school selections. I'm not sure of the exact number and it probably changes year to year, but I think I heard last years class had 12 go directly into medical school.
 
12-20 ish pretty normal for a class for Med School selection. By rule, it can go up to 2% of a class. Usually more Mids are selected for Medical spots than those selected for Medical School. Sometimes ~1-2 selectees end up not being selected for any Med Schools they apply for and they have to be re-designated.
 
If you are interested in being a doctor in the military I would recommend going to a regular undergraduate college and applying through OCS and going to medical school from there. While there are exceptions (most outside of your control), USNA is designed for Unrestricted Line Billets.
 
USNA does not have a pre-med program through the Chem program. They do have academic advisement and a suggested pre-med track. There is a pre-med club also. You do not have to be a chem major. According to my mid, it helps if you can validate a lot classes in order to have the time to take the required pre-med courses.

If your heart is set on being an MD, or even a Navy MD..there are many easier options at other regular colleges. That said, the option is there at USNA - but the needs of the Navy will come first.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top