Civillian College vs. USAFA

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glm705

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I want to become a Flight Surgeon in the Air Force then I want to eventually become the Surgeon General of the Air Force. If I go to a civillian college, I would major in health promotion then go to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. At the AFA, I would major in biochemistry then go to USUHS. Which is the best path to get to my goal?
 
I’ve seen in other posts that becoming a doctor or getting into a medical school from a service academy is difficult because there isn’t many spots. At the academy, you will ge faced with many challenges day after day on top of a heavy courseload which can be hard to manage. You will have more of a civilian life doing ROTC, but you will still be expected to perform well in your respective unit.

It just depends on what you want your college experience to be really.

I definitely recommend looking at past forums as well because this topic certainly has some solid threads.
 
glm705 said:
I want to become a Flight Surgeon in the Air Force then I want to eventually become the Surgeon General of the Air Force. If I go to a civillian college, I would major in health promotion then go to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. At the AFA, I would major in biochemistry then go to USUHS. Which is the best path to get to my goal?
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Civilian route - USAFA can’t guarantee medical school.
 
well OP is certainly aiming high ... I have a classmate who graduated the citadel and commissioned, went to flight school then went to med school and became Flt Surgeon - he retired last spring or maybe it was summer.

if your absolute goal is med school immediately after college - I'd go to college. The military needs will ALWAYS come first and if Blue needs Air Battle Managers or Missile Officers more than they need docs when you graduate guess where you're going ...
 
USAFA is not the best route for med school. It's still possible, but it's tougher than many other options.
 
I have a little background here as a 3rd party. There was a poster here a long time ago (hornetguy). His goal was to be a flight surgeon, we kind of adopted him. My DH was the one that had the honor to give the commissioning oath out of USAFA to him
This is how I remembered how it went down for flight surgeon
Path 1:
Go to UPT, and than apply for med school once ADAF.
~ You can't be a flight surgeon if you can't fly
Path 2:
Go med school and than ask to go through their flight program.

JMPO, if you live near an AFB, see if you contact a flight surgeon and talk to them personally. Reaching for the stars is great, but you also need to be realistic.
 
fiver6962 said:
Your chances of becoming a physician, of any specialty, is drastically reduced by attending the USAFA. Yes, they will tell you that there are many positions available. But, by the time you factor in all of the core curriculum and military ed. requirements (and the additional classes you will need to fill you pre-med requirements), you will have essentially completed three majors. Your GPA will not be in the range where most medical schools will look at you. (What they say about outside professional schools taking into account that your GPA is reflected in the rigors of a SA is not true. GPA is everything. Never forget that). If you pour the same amount of effort into an ordinary university program as you would the Academy, you will be near the top of your class. I've been where you are and what I discovered is that the first two years at the USAFA are designed to destroy your GPA so that your credits will not transfer or so that your record is permanently blemished. If you want to be a physician in any service branch, you do not have to attend a SA. (In fact, they have a hard time finding physicians to fill their ranks). You are much better off, academically and mentally, going the standard university/med school route. I am a surgeon and have met many other physicians who left the Academy (and were very glad they did).
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Strange, I know quite a few doctors who are USNA grads, I served at sea with one from the class in front of mine where he was the Ship's Doctor. I also have a number of classmates who went to med school after serving as a line officer in the Navy/Marine Corps. Somehow, their GPAs did not hold them back.
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FWIW, I have a daughter (civilian college grad) heading to Med School in a couple of months and I am well aware of the competitive nature of the selection process.
 
fiver6962 said:
I've been where you are and what I discovered is that the first two years at the USAFA are designed to destroy your GPA so that your credits will not transfer or so that your record is permanently blemished. I am a surgeon and have met many other physicians who left the Academy (and were very glad they did).
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What do you mean by "designed to destroy your GPA"?
 
fiver6962 said:
They purposefully overload your schedule during your doolie and 2nd class years.
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That's not the schedule I experienced. If anything, 3 dig year was the roughest, academically, since it was no longer 100 level but still mostly core courses. My 4 dig year had one of the lighter schedules, and I was told that 1st Semester was intentionally scheduled light.
 
My experience with my other DS (not my USAFA grad) -- he went to state civilian university, then applied to med school via HPSP & USUHS. Didn't get into med school first try; worked a year in med related field and reapplied. Got into civilian med school but was waitlisted at USUHS (wanted AF slot) so he was HPSP. (he had a great recruiter to get HPSP -- a friend did not have such a great recruiter and it was pulling teeth to get the slot) He graduated from civilian med school and is now ADAF doctor. While at med school was a 2LT in reserves, med school completely paid for (and required books and allowance for medical equipment - think stethoscope, etc). While in med school he did the first part of the flight surgeon course and then while in residency completed the rest of the flight surgeon course. Has his flight surgeon wings but needs to complete his residency specialty commitment before he'll be released to Flight Surgeon slot. His commitment is 4 years -- covers the 4 years AF paid for his med school. Did an AF residency -- doesn't owe time for that, but it didn't count for his commitment. He did NOT go ROTC - would have had to compete for a med school spot similar to USAFA competition.
 
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