I am Med school faculty who has dealt with admsissions/promotions - I have no academy knowledge other than trying to help my son navigate the process - so take the advice below with that in mind.
Much of the above advice seems to be right on.
In my opinion there are several additional downsides with the USNA-med school plan:
1) USNA has pretty limited Biology offerings to prep well for the first two years - making Med school much more difficult for you, even if you are sucessful getting in.
I have two sons who got selected for the Medical Corps and I think I can address some of these issues.
What you said above
used to be true. In fact, in the old days, midshipmen seeking the Medical Corps actually had to go off campus to take the necessary courses. That is no longer the case. The Bio-Science courses are very robust and provide everything a midshipman would need to prepare them for the MCAT. One of the professors is actually a doctor who attended Johns Hopkins and advises them.
2) Admissions to med school are increasingly competitive - even at pretty low ranked schools like my own, GPAs of 3.8+ are required with excellent board scores to get noticed/interviewed etc.. This seems like a pretty tough expectation coming out of USNA based on what I have read on these boards (though I have no idea how tough the grading really is).
The first hurdle confronting a midshipman is getting the Naval Academy to select them for entry into the Medical Corps. That is very competitive. But, once they are selected, acceptance into a medical school is all but a certainty. I don't think there has ever been a midshipman who has survived the academy's selection process who was unable to gain admission into a medical school.
Most of these medical schools are very aware of the added burdens on a service academy student compared to one at a civilian institution.
For instance:
At a civilian school, the student can take things at a much slower pace and go through their undergraduate requirements in 5 years. That is not a luxury afforded a service academy student.
At a civilian school, the student can isolate the difficult courses and take only that course during the summer where they can devote all their efforts and time to that one subject. That is also not a luxury afforded to a service academy student since they have so many summer training requirements.
At a civilian school, the student can immediately drop a course if he gets off to a bad start and take it later. That is difficult to do as an academy student.
At a civilian school, the grades are often inflated. What do you think an academy student with a 3.5 would get at the University of Whatever? They're aware of that.
At a civilian school, you often have much more time to prepare for your MCAT. In fact, many of them take a whole year off just to prepare. That would be very difficult for a midshipman to do.
There is a graduate from the class of 2012 just beginning Harvard Med. He had a 3.7 and a 31 on his MCAT. That would not be good enough for a "regular" student. But, apparently, Harvard did not feel that way. Many of the Med Corps selectees go to some very big-time medical schools with a relatively modest resume. There is definitely a "bump" given for their attendance at a very challenging school.
3) Opportunities to have access to pre-professional advising/ test prep etc would probably be limited. Many of the students you will be competing against will have this at their undergraduate schools.
This is partly true. Part of the selection process at the Naval Academy is that they leave it to the students to "figure it out". You have to research what it takes to be selected. They do not hold your hand and walk you through the process. This is particularly true for the first two years.
However, once you convince the academy you are a viable Medical Corps competitor, they start setting you up for success. This past summer, in addition to their required 1/C cruise, both my sons spent a month at Walter Reed shadowing doctors. Then they were sent for another month to Wright Patterson Medical Center to assist in medical research. The academy paid for their lodging and expenses. During their 2/C year they were working at Baltimore hospitals on the weekends.
One thing the Naval Academy does not want is for their graduates to embarrass them. The academy makes sure they are ready once they are selected.
On the positive side you will have a unique story - we see hardly any applications from service academy applicants.
I'm sure you know this but one of the qualities medical schools look for is if the applicant has been challenged, is up for the rigors of medical school, and is dedicated to serve. Attending an academy practically answers those type of questions by default.
If you have the scholastic grades and extrcurriculars etc to get into academies there likely is a pretty good scholarship out there somewhere for you too.
The Medical Corps selectees all get scholarships. Some get the USUHS scholarship and some get the HPSP scholarship.
I would focus on finding an undergraduate insitution that fits your likes and budget to the best degree possible - possibly participate in ROTC if you want to retain possibility of officer corps w/o medicine if your interests change (non-scholarship - at some point you will have to decide if it is medicine or AD). Get the best grades possible and try to use the health professions scholarship program to acheive you ultimate goal. This is a very popular route and we graduate 4-6 med grads a year through this program (several typically from the Navy).
Students with NROTC scholarships carry the same post-commissioning obligations as the USNA graduates. So, when an NROTC grad gets a USUHS or HPSP scholarship, he won't be able to get out of the Navy any sooner.