Becoming a doctor after the academy

It may, or it may not. It's impossible to tell from this article. A cut in the number of uniformed personnel doesn't mean the number of folks becoming doctors out the the academy will be less. There isn't really any correlation and the number of folks who go into the medical field from the academy is extremely small. It's definitely not a good path for getting to med school in any case.
 
It may, or it may not. It's impossible to tell from this article. A cut in the number of uniformed personnel doesn't mean the number of folks becoming doctors out the the academy will be less. There isn't really any correlation and the number of folks who go into the medical field from the academy is extremely small. It's definitely not a good path for getting to med school in any case.

Thanks sir. This looked like a pretty big change. I have a 10th grader who wants to be a doctor or a pilot-at the moment. She wants to go to the academy no matter what so if the doctor thing became her goal it would be from the academy.
 
There are plenty of threads on the forum regarding that topic. I suggest you read them Every old timer here would recommend not going to an academy and expecting to go to med school immediately afterward. If one wants to serve their time and then do med school, that's another thing and very doable bhased on test scores etc.
 
There are plenty of threads on the forum regarding that topic. I suggest you read them Every old timer here would recommend not going to an academy and expecting to go to med school immediately afterward. If one wants to serve their time and then do med school, that's another thing and very doable bhased on test scores etc.
I have read them:) The goal is to be an officer. I asked her that. But goals/careers change. She wants officer ship over anything else but there are so many options after the academy for those that are squared away. She said dad what about being an officer and a doctor. I said one step at a time:) She is a cadet commander in CAP at the moment and has big goals. She is just looking at all options. When this article came out today she kind was like dad are they cutting all the uniform docs!
 
Only a dozen mids each year go directly to med school. It's a tiny percentage of the USN medical corps. Thus, cuts in MDs in the USN probably won't have a significant impact on the 12 mids who can select med school. That said, it could. While unlikely, the program that allows mids to go to med school could be discontinued or reduced at any time. It's find to have this as a goal, but incredibly important to be ready to select an unrestricted line community.
 
You can do other things then become a doctor. Once you are a doctor you are probably staying a doctor. Some of the best military doctors I have met are those who did something else first. They actually understand the military and medicine.
 
I surely have heard that about coming in as a doctor or doing a few years in the field makes a more well rounded officer/doctor. But once your in the academy..her dream (she wants to be an officer 1st..in Air force) kids change their once intended career choices. We have a friend who always wanted to be a pilot that just graduated and is a intelligence officer. Somewhere in the middle of their sophomore year they decided they did not want to fly anymore. And that friend also had a friend of theirs skip being a pilot and is now in med school. My daughter is just looking at option #2 or #3 if such a thing would happen to her.
 
I currently work at Andrews AFB with an Air Force EENT doctor who graduated from AFA and became an F-15 pilot then got accepted to USUHS some years later, there is always the possibility of getting into a medical school program after commissioning but the competition is extremely intense. With the cutbacks in active duty medical positions there will certainly be fewer medical school slots for academy and ROTC grads. As a retired Nurse Corps Officer let me put in a plug for that option, doctors get the glamour but nurses do all the patient care; The Citadel recently started a nursing program and looks to commission grads into all 3 major services and it also has opened up the opportunity to get ROTC Nurse Scholarships. AFA sends about a dozen grads each year to a 'bridge' program at Vanderbilt U. to become RNs.
 
Just for general info, most services require newly minted O-1's to serve at least one tour, sometimes two before sending them to grad school whether it be Law School, Med School, or Advanced Engineering School. And if you get selected, I believe it is two for one additional commitment IF you are selected. So if you went to Medical School for three years and a residency, you would owe service eight additional years. Most of the military uniformed docs are Direct Commission, meaning they attended grad school on a scholarship or their own dime then committed via the Direct Commission Program for whatever Branch they desire. This is true for most of the docs, dentists, and lawyers. Very few get sent after graduation or even after becoming eligible, it is just more cost effective for the military to Direct Commission already qualified grad students, especially for JAG and Medical Corps. As @conrack related, VMI, the Citadel, or other ROTC Programs Commission far more Doctors, Dentists, and attorneys than the academies.
 
Just for general info, most services require newly minted O-1's to serve at least one tour, sometimes two before sending them to grad school whether it be Law School, Med School, or Advanced Engineering School. And if you get selected, I believe it is two for one additional commitment IF you are selected. So if you went to Medical School for three years and a residency, you would owe service eight additional years. Most of the military uniformed docs are Direct Commission, meaning they attended grad school on a scholarship or their own dime then committed via the Direct Commission Program for whatever Branch they desire. This is true for most of the docs, dentists, and lawyers. Very few get sent after graduation or even after becoming eligible, it is just more cost effective for the military to Direct Commission already qualified grad students, especially for JAG and Medical Corps. As @conrack related, VMI, the Citadel, or other ROTC Programs Commission far more Doctors, Dentists, and attorneys than the academies.
Medical school is four years, not three.
I actually know very few direct commission doctors. I know some who went ROTC and were accepted to medical school, some who went directly out of West Point, a bunch who went to medical school after 1+ tours. I even know a few who were WOs first.
If accepted to medical school you are pretty much guaranteed that the military will pay for it.
 
I actually know very few direct commission doctors.

Most new physicians are direct commission. Of the 96 that just reported to my command over 80% are direct commission. This is similar across hospitals and Services.

Edit: direct commission includes HPSP.
 
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So if you went to Medical School for three years and a residency, you would owe service eight additional years.

Just to clarify: the medical commitment is not 2 for 1. It is actually a bit convoluted, but for a 4 year HPSP scholarship you owe 4 years after completion of training. So the absolute minimum total time of service would be 5 years (1 yr of internship + 4 yrs of payback as a GMO). If you do a residency that is longer than 4 years then your commitment would be equal to the number of years of residency.
 
@kp2001
Doc, this time I’ll remember to save your post, which is always a handy reference.

Bonus question: how does the SA 5-year commitment fit in? Consecutive or concurrent?

I think a post you wrote some time ago laid out how a good example of how old someone might be and how many years into their career they might be with SA + med school + internship + ... and used some sample residency lengths.

Always appreciate your posts when you pop up.
 
The commitment is four years of med, then you intern and residency. After your residency is done you owe seven years.
Source: me. We are still in the payback after a six year residency.
 
Most new physicians are direct commission. Of the 96 that just reported to my command over 80% are direct commission. This is similar across hospitals and Services.

Edit: direct commission includes HPSP.
I was not including HPSP. To me the direct commissions were those who directly came into the Army at some higher rank such as LTC. My DW was an HPSP, but was a prior service commissioned officer. I never considered her a “direct commission.”
 
I was not including HPSP. To me the direct commissions were those who directly came into the Army at some higher rank such as LTC. My DW was an HPSP, but was a prior service commissioned officer. I never considered her a “direct commission.”

I wouldn’t include your wife in the direct commission group either; however, non-prior Service HPSP folks are considered direct commission.

You are correct that non prior service, non-USU, and non HPSP is an extremely small percentage in the medical corps.
 
The commitment is four years of med, then you intern and residency. After your residency is done you owe seven years.
Source: me. We are still in the payback after a six year residency.

This may be true in your particular situation but it cannot be generalized to other specialties or even other people within the same specialty who potentially did GMO yours.

As mentioned before the payback gets convoluted and changes based on many variables including residency length and time spent as a GMO.

The payback for HPSP is 4 years for the 4 year scholarship or if you take the signing bonus with the 3 year scholarship. You accrue obligated time (year for year) for in-service residency training; however this residency commitment is paid off concurrently with your HPSP (not ROTC/SA which is consecutive) commitment. So, if one goes straight through into residency that is 4 years or less, they will owe 4 years after completion of residency. If you chose a specialty that requires longer training (or go on to fellowship) then you will accrue additional commitment.

If someone does an internship and then does a 3 year GMO tour they would come back to residency owing one year. If they did radiology which is 4 more years they would come back out the other side now owing 4 additional years. So in reality they developed a 7 year commitment on what could have been just 4. (Convoluted and messy!).
 
@kp2001

Bonus question: how does the SA 5-year commitment fit in? Consecutive or concurrent?

Unfortunately for the member it is consecutive! (Good deal for the govt though)

These days going SA to Medical Corps is essentially buying a 20 year career. (although the Blended Retirement System may change the math some for those in high paying specialties who could “beat” the math getting out at the 12+ year mark)
 
Medical school is four years, not three.
I actually know very few direct commission doctors. I know some who went ROTC and were accepted to medical school, some who went directly out of West Point, a bunch who went to medical school after 1+ tours. I even know a few who were WOs first.
If accepted to medical school you are pretty much guaranteed that the military will pay for it.[/QUOTE]

The number of three year medical school programs is growing https://news.aamc.org/medical-education/article/med-school-3-years-future-medical-education/
 
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