AROTC pathway to Army Medical Specialist Corps

[tapar1]

Hello... my daughter will be attending CU-Boulder next year as a Honor Student with the intent on a Physician Assistant Post Graduate Degree... she is interested in the experience she can gain in emergency medicine within the Army... she plans on joining the ROTC and applying to the IPAP program... my question is if she does not get accepted into the IPAP (very competitive) would she be able to continue on with her post graduate degree and PA Certification after finishing the ROTC undergraduate program without being called to active duty... her intent is to be in the ROTC program at CU-Boulder, become a certified PA either through IPAP or a private sector masters program, and then serve her commitment as a Medical Specialist Corps Physician Assistant (65D)... any clarification on the proper steps/process to pursue greatly appreciated.

 

[Aglahad]

Hello... my daughter will be attending CU-Boulder next year as a Honor Student with the intent on a Physician Assistant Post Graduate Degree... she is interested in the experience she can gain in emergency medicine within the Army... she plans on joining the ROTC and applying to the IPAP program... my question is if she does not get accepted into the IPAP (very competitive) would she be able to continue on with her post graduate degree and PA Certification after finishing the ROTC undergraduate program without being called to active duty... her intent is to be in the ROTC program at CU-Boulder, become a certified PA either through IPAP or a private sector masters program, and then serve her commitment as a Medical Specialist Corps Physician Assistant (65D)... any clarification on the proper steps/process to pursue greatly appreciated.

With the IPAP program I believe you drop your application packet in sometime before the end of your junior year(Not 100% on that but it is different than the traditional Army ed delay for med school). The program is EXTREMELY competitive for ROTC cadets because many PAs are drawn from the enlisted medic ranks or phased in from the outside civilian world. Additionally the stringent requirements and low acceptance rates are almost at the same level as a lot of medical schools. In 5 years of being around ROTC I have never seen a cadet go to PA school but I have seen quite a few go to med school.

If she is a contracted scholarship cadet and does NOT get into the IPAP program she will be branched (Could be anything from quartermaster to chemical) like everyone else and sent into the active duty Army. Whilst on active duty she will be deployable like every officer. However, she could opt for the National Guard or reserve component which is part-time and has a lower chance of deployment.

The fact is you can't expect to commission through ROTC, not get into IPAP and still expect to continue your studies immediately without a chance of deploying. The Army is going to want a return on their investment. I have not heard of an educational delay for PA school that wasn't IPAP but it's worth looking into with the recruiting officer. If she is set on being a PA by any means necessary I would skip ROTC and go the civilian route to PA school then reapply for a direct commission with loan repayments. It has the least risk while still accomplishing what you want.

Here is the ROTC IPAP sub-page with regulations and requirements which you might have seen:

http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/applicationROTC.shtml

Any particular reason for choosing PA over MD/DO?

 

[tapar1]

thanks for the info Aglahad... makes sense on the deployment if not getting into IPAP... maybe the best route for her is to go the civilian route and apply for direct commission with loan repayment as suggested... thanks again, very helpful.