question about Medical branch

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Nonstopmotion

5-Year Member
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Jul 8, 2013
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So im interested in branching medical when i graduate from wp and have been researching into it a lot. I was wondering what the acceptance rate of premeds into the branch looks like in recent years and just how difficult it is to get picked up by them.
 
Many of my friends are currently working on this. What generally happens is that you will have to specify that you are attempting to attend medical school and branch Medical Corps (if I am correctly interpreting your question) early on in your cadet career (think end of plebe year / beginning of yearling year). You will then be placed on a medical school track regardless of your major since West Point requires 4-5 specific classes for medical school students. However, many medical schools have certain admissions requirements, so proactive cadets make sure their schedules allow them to take every mandatory class for medical school. While it is true only 20ish cadets can branch medical corps, only 40ish are interested, and once the GPA requirements of I believe a 3.6 are factored in, the list naturally dwindles itself down.

There also is a medical school fraternity here called Phi Delta Epsilon that I would definitely recommend you join plebe year if you want to understand the process fully. Due to taking the MCAT the summer before your firstie year, summer training will be very important for you, as the test has only two test dates: one at the end of May and one mid-June. Due to this, many rising cows attempt to attend CLDT (cadet leader development training) after their yuk year so that they can attend an AIAD (academic individual advanced development) specifically for the MCAT before the test in mid-June.

So in the end, yes it is competitive, but understand that just like the number of cadets wanting to branch infantry decreases significantly as time at the academy progresses (mainly following CFT and CLDT), the number of cadets wanting to attend medical school right out of West Point will decrease too, so that typically the cadets that meet the requirements and keep the course are rewarded. Just make sure you understand the extensive service commitment that occurs post medical school (I think it's one additional year of service per year in medical school and residency), and since the time in medical school does not count towards your service commitment, you will spend 4+4+5+3, or a minimum of 16 years in the Army following graduation including active duty and reserve time.
 
As noted above the selection for medical school becomes pretty self selective the further one goes along.

The number selected each year stays relatively stable, it's really the ability of each cadet to be able to maintain the high academic standards required. One might say, "but yeah, look at me I flew through high school with ease and rocked everything, I know I can do it." Guess what, everyone at WP did the same thing in high school, you're now competing against the same high acheivers.

(This isn't a knock on any one person, but rather a generalization that applies to all who shoot for something competitive)
 
Life Science Major. You may also want to take a look at veterinarian school


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