No idea (well, some) what I want to do post college and rotc

usma23apache

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Jul 30, 2017
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To get straight to the point, my ultimate goal in life is to be a physician. I'm in rotc with a 4 year scholarship, and I know that I could have the army pay for med school too. That would however require a much greater time commitment to the army that wouldn't begin until after residency when I am about 30 years old. My other option is I commission as a normal officer, do my 4 years in a random branch, then go to med school post-army. I don't know how as a 20-year old I'm supposed to decide if I want to be in the army until I'm 40. Does anyone know army physicians I could reach out to?
 
If your life goal is to be a physician I am afraid you have chosen the wrong path. Getting med school paid for by the Army is INCREDIBLY difficult even if you do lateral transfer or get it paid for straight after commissioning. The chances of you getting accepted are very minimal. However, it is possible if you continue to work hard and do well during your time in ROTC.

Why would your commitment not start until you are 30 years old? That does not sound right to me, but what do I know.
 
When you say "do my 4 years", just to confirm, your existing commitment from your 4 year AROTC scholarship may be longer, correct?
The 4 year IRR commitment means you can be called up to serve after the 4 full time years following your commission. please see details below.

With regards to medical school options, in lieu of being put in touch with an Army physician, I recommend you search this board as I believe each of the details you seek are recently posted in other threads. Start with that search button in the upper right corner, search for "HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (HPSP) or partials of that /medical school for details.

Thanks for your willingness to serve and good luck.
Hermie Sr.

YOUR COMMITMENT​

  • An eight-year service commitment with the Army.
  • Serve full time in the Army for four years and four years with the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
  • Selected Cadets may choose to serve part time in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard while pursuing a civilian career
 
The military has outsourced a lot of its medical care. So, they don’t need as many commissioned doctors as in the past. And, the military gets enough lawyers and doctors who already have their degrees and apply for commissions that they have very little need to train lawyers or doctors. If you can get into medical school there will be plenty of sources for loans. You do not need to military to pay for medical school. As pointed out above, the odds of commissioning through ROTC and then qualifying for medical school paid for by the military - - while possible - - are probably too low to be worth counting on.
 
If your life goal is to be a physician I am afraid you have chosen the wrong path. Getting med school paid for by the Army is INCREDIBLY difficult even if you do lateral transfer or get it paid for straight after commissioning. The chances of you getting accepted are very minimal. However, it is possible if you continue to work hard and do well during your time in ROTC.

Why would your commitment not start until you are 30 years old? That does not sound right to me, but what do I know.
I would finish undergrad at 22, med school at 26, then residency at 29 at the earliest. The service commitment doesn't begin until residency is completed.
 
When you say "do my 4 years", just to confirm, your existing commitment from your 4 year AROTC scholarship may be longer, correct?
The 4 year IRR commitment means you can be called up to serve after the 4 full time years following your commission. please see details below.

With regards to medical school options, in lieu of being put in touch with an Army physician, I recommend you search this board as I believe each of the details you seek are recently posted in other threads. Start with that search button in the upper right corner, search for "HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (HPSP) or partials of that /medical school for details.

Thanks for your willingness to serve and good luck.
Hermie Sr.

YOUR COMMITMENT​

  • An eight-year service commitment with the Army.
  • Serve full time in the Army for four years and four years with the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
  • Selected Cadets may choose to serve part time in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard while pursuing a civilian career
I have looked into both hpsp and usuhs. I understand that I will have a 4 year AD commitment with 4 years IRR. HPSP would add 4 years onto AD.
 
The military has outsourced a lot of its medical care. So, they don’t need as many commissioned doctors as in the past. And, the military gets enough lawyers and doctors who already have their degrees and apply for commissions that they have very little need to train lawyers or doctors. If you can get into medical school there will be plenty of sources for loans. You do not need to military to pay for medical school. As pointed out above, the odds of commissioning through ROTC and then qualifying for medical school paid for by the military - - while possible - - are probably too low to be worth counting on.
I understand that but unfortunately, it's too late now because I'm too far committed in ROTC.
 
I know residency doesn't count toward your HPSP commitment, but are you sure that your residency time wouldn't count toward working off your ROTC scholarship commitment? I'd check on that just to make sure you have all of the correct information. Also, you may want to investigate the interplay between an ed delay and going to med school on HPSP. It's possible (or at least worth investigating) that some of that medical school time might count toward your ROTC commitment since you are a reservist while in med school.

Either way, yes, it's a lot of time, and you are probably well advised to consider it a 20-year commitment up front. But I'm not so sure that's a bad thing either. Lot of advantages to military medicine, and I doubt you'd be behind the power curve when you retire from active duty and go into civilian medicine.
 
To get straight to the point, my ultimate goal in life is to be a physician. I'm in rotc with a 4 year scholarship, and I know that I could have the army pay for med school too. That would however require a much greater time commitment to the army that wouldn't begin until after residency when I am about 30 years old. My other option is I commission as a normal officer, do my 4 years in a random branch, then go to med school post-army. I don't know how as a 20-year old I'm supposed to decide if I want to be in the army until I'm 40. Does anyone know army physicians I could reach out to?
 
@usma23apache Educational Delays are very rare. I know of one doctor, who was in ROTC with me, that received an Educational Delay. He was an amazing student that graduated with his degree in 3 years, while on scholarship with AROTC. He served for 10 years on active duty after he was done with medical school. Therefore, it is possible. It’s just rare. I recommend starting with your area AMEDD recruiter.
 
As a retired Navy Physician, USNA Grad, and an HPSP scholarship grad.. I can give you my perspective. Though the road you have described seems like a very long road, trust me when I say you will be VERY happy to not be straddled with debt your entire career as a young physician. I know so many of my classmates that STILL have student debt and they are several years out from Med School. Also aside from the money, the experience you will have and gain as a young physician in the military is second to none. I did more things and had more autonomy by far than any of my civilian colleagues. I worked with SEALS, EOD, as an Undersea Medical Officer and absolutely loved it. Along the way, I got the Navy to pay for an MBA and and MPH degree. So 4 degrees and a 30 year career in the military I can look back with no regrets. Hope that helps.
 
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