Medical school question

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GRGarcia

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Hey everyone my plan was to get into usna and if i did i would major in chemistry but i heard that it is really hard and competitive where only 6 people get in. Its my dream to go to medical school but going to usna is even bigger than that. I already have a back-up major that i am willing to do, does anyone have any advice?



(sorry if what im asking is confusing i dont know how should i word it.)
 
Recommend searching this USNA forum for the many discussions on this topic and routes to military medicine. Use both the SAF Search function and also try an external Google search with “site:service academy forums” embedded in your search string.

A few quick points:
- The military gets the majority of its doctors from civilian undergraduate and medical schools, often using the HPSP scholarship.
- There is also a military medical school, an option for SA grads, civilian college grads, etc., which provides a medical degree and commission.
- NROTC also has a narrow path to the Navy Medical Corps, even narrower than USNA, allowing about 15 graduates nation-wide to go directly to medical school.
- USNA is designed to produce warfare officers. Be sure you have done your research on officer warfare community paths after USNA, so you know you would be content to choose one of those paths if you don’t make the cut.
- USNA does allow roughly 10-15 graduates each year to attend medical school if they are accepted. It is indeed a narrow path. These individuals usually have eye-watering academic grades as well as strong performance in all other graded areas.
- Should you be competitive enough to be offered an appointment, your USNA classmates will be your new competition, people just like you.
- There are years and years of payback piled on top of the USNA 5 years, and the payback doesn’t start until well down the road. Taking this path essentially means a commitment of a lot more than the minimum 5 years.
- This path is certainly doable, but alternate plans are critical.
- While having USNA as a dream goal is fine, the real goal is service as a commissioned officer and subsequent years of service as an officer, as USNA is not an end in itself, but a way station to get to that goal. Be clear on that.

FYI:
www.usna.edu

Navy Medical Corps

Navy Medical Corps page for Chemistry Department at USNA.edu. Updated Tue Apr 16 13:24:57 EDT 2024.
www.usna.edu


Uniformed Services University

www.usuhs.edu www.usuhs.edu
 
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ok thank you ill take this into consideration and possibly try to take the hardest path, or change to another major i am interested in.
 
My USNA roommate is a USUHS (military med school) grad who just retired from the Navy after many years as a military MD.

In addition to CAPT MJ's (usual excellent) points, a few anecdotal points.

You can count on doing at least 20 years in the USN. Med school times counts for nothing in terms of payback, residency/fellowship doesn't count toward payback. That's 7-10 years of your life BEFORE you start paying pack the 5 years from USNA and 4-7 from med school (depending on where you go). So it's not only being an MD, you should count on being a military doctor for most of your career.

Your duty stations are more limited (which could be good or bad) and often depend on your specialty. For example, the Navy isn't going to send neurosurgeons to most places whereas internal medicine docs, etc. are more likely to deploy and go to distant duty stations.

You don't totally choose your specialty -- it's needs of the Navy. You do get a vote and obviously your performance in med school counts but, in the end, as always, the USN holds the cards.

To reiterate what CAPT MJ said, you MUST go to USNA fully prepared to become a warfare officer. The number of folks going to med school is very low and lots of folks want to do it. It means doing extremely well in med school, doing well in the summer programs they offer for doctor wannabes, and doing really well on the MCAT. Lots of really smart people don't make the cut.

One thing to consider . . . not an insignificant number of officers attend med school after USNA. Some apply while still on active duty. More apply so they can start after their 5-year commitment (or longer in the case of pilots/NFOs) ends. So, if being a doctor is your dream, you can do something else first.

Years ago, the Chief Medical Officer at USNA passed on some advice for candidates who want to go to med school -- "Do something fun first." (Meaning: be a pilot or submariner or SWO, etc).
 
Of course @Capt MJ anr @usna1985 nail it, as usual.

My son declared as a chemistry major and was interested in this billet. After his plebe year, he switched this past summer - switched majors to something he has always had more interested in (despite great grades as chemistry major).

Generally, about 75% of the chemistry majors that want that billet get it. (As was stated 10 to 15 get it per year out of 20 to 25 that apply.
 
I didn’t go into detail about the other paths after USNA, because it’s all been extensively described in other threads, so again I recommend a search for these discussions.

To sum up: think hard about applying to USNA if your one and only goal is to become a medical officer and are not interested/do not desire to serve as a warfare officer.
 
GRGarcia said:
Hey everyone my plan was to get into usna and if i did i would major in chemistry but i heard that it is really hard and competitive where only 6 people get in. Its my dream to go to medical school but going to usna is even bigger than that. I already have a back-up major that i am willing to do, does anyone have any advice?



(sorry if what im asking is confusing i dont know how should i word it.)
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How much Chemistry and Math have you taken? Your HS performance would be a good indicator of future success.

BTW Chemistry is an excellent major whether or not you attend Med School. My son, in the Army, majored in Chemistry. He doesn’t do reactions but he uses the analytical skills almost daily.

Best of luck!
 
Great advice above from the members who have seen it all. To offer some current Academy experience, anyone can major in whatever they want, with very few exceptions. (If you have a 1.7 QPR plebe year you’ll probably be “persuaded” not to pursue aerospace engineering. Also there’s a quota that 65% of the Naval officers commissioned must be STEM majors so hypothetically if that quota isn’t met they can “draft” people away from the humanities majors, however they have never had to do this, at least not in modern history.)

You’re correct that getting Med Corps out of USNA is extremely competitive, I think the rule is no more than 1% of the class can get it, which works out to be 11 slots. But you say the biggest goal is attending USNA, so I surmise you’d still be thrilled by the privilege of serving as a SWO, pilot, marine, etc., but if not, USNA is not the commissioning source for you because absolutely nothing is guaranteed, even if you do everything right! Best of luck!
 
CAPT MJ and '85 are right on ..don't attend USNA if your primary goal is to be an MD. If you want to be a Naval Officer, and perhaps , maybe eventually be an MD , attending USNA is a good route. There is nothing wrong with attending USNA , becoming a Naval Officer, and then after end of service (be it 5,10, or even 20 years), pursuing a professional career. A lot of really talented people leave the Navy after 5-10 years and have great second careers. The time in the Navy is not wasted -- the skills that you learn in the Navy can be applied to many endeavors.

Anecdotally, one of my Company mates was a Pol-Sci major, super squared away (Battalion level striper), and went SWO -- I never heard him even mention any interest in going to Med School. Kinda lost track of him after graduation as he was off doing SWO things, and the next I heard about the 5 year mark was he was headed to USUHS -- after that he put in another 20 ish, retiring just a few years ago. The key point here is he didn't attend USNA to become a Doctor, but his success as a Naval Officer opened the door for him.,
 
cb7893 said:
How much Chemistry and Math have you taken? Your HS performance would be a good indicator of future success.

BTW Chemistry is an excellent major whether or not you attend Med School. My son, in the Army, majored in Chemistry. He doesn’t do reactions but he uses the analytical skills almost daily.

Best of luck!
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Ive taken chem honors and was planning on taking ap chem senior year after ap bio. i am in precalc honors right now and will go to ap calc
 
Good advice.
Another thing to consider. Once you become a doctor that’s pretty much your career, especially in the military. I’ve heard of people doing other things- I’ve known doctors who became professional pilots.
It is quite common, however, for military doctors to do something else before medical school. My DW was a logistics officer, then a military pilot, then went to medical school when she was an O-4 (you revert to O-1 during medical school). She has doctor friends who were armor officers, pilots, even a Naval officer who became an Army doc. My cousin was a Navy pilot before becoming a doc well respected in hiI’m sure you have heard of the Navy doc just selected to be an astronaut- he was formerly a SEAL.
I would add that these doctors who did other things first are usually very happy as physicians and seem to make better military docs.
Also, while the military does select you specialty, I’ve known doctors who have gone through a second residency after military service.
I would only advise that whatever your major try to get you medical school required courses done at USNA if you go that route. My DW has to take some courses such as organic chemistry while she was a military pilot. Not an easy route.
 
Can grads interested in med school request to pay their own way to give them a better chance of being selected (since it would not cost the services) and also reduce service commitment? In other words, request an educational delay, attend medical school on their own, then return?
 
Frisbeedog said:
Can grads interested in med school request to pay their own way to give them a better chance of being selected (since it would not cost the services) and also reduce service commitment? In other words, request an educational delay, attend medical school on their own, then return?
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At this time, no.
Again, as I've written before I would view your commitment after serving at a SA as a broadening experience that in most cases will make you a better doctor. I know the 5 years seems like forever at your age, but it will go by quickly. I have never met a doctor who regretted that time. I have met many doctors who went straight to medical school and regretted not having that time to do something different.
 
Frisbeedog said:
Can grads interested in med school request to pay their own way to give them a better chance of being selected (since it would not cost the services) and also reduce service commitment? In other words, request an educational delay, attend medical school on their own, then return?
Click to expand...

I agree with Blackhawk; if you attend a Service Academy, go in with an open mind, and do the best you can in your Warfare Speciality. Who knows, you may decided to stay.. I you decide to get out and go to Med School after, you will be a better student and a better doctor having served in the Military.
 
I'm dad so apologize for not saying this is for our DD. She totally agrees with the advice and her grades and SAT should give her some good options. She'd love to be an officer, loves space, medicine (Flight Surgeon?), anything science/math, even languages. The good problem she has is the option of medical school tuition paid for that may not be around in 10 years (1 HS + 4 + 5). I am just trying to help brainstorm options (in case a SA becomes one) with her (and probably overthinking things).
 
My dream was to become a medic. I had served in the army myself and had seen some injuries. And I always wanted to help those people, but I didn't know-how. That's when I got the idea to go to medical school. But I wondered what medical school research requirements were. I have thought about this topic for a long time. And asked people who study there. I read a lot of news on the Internet and finally decided that I wanted to help people. As for me, the most important thing is human health, and the medical profession is well paid. Take care of your health, because you have only one health.
 
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