West Point - Career to become a Doctor in the Army

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SamPatel

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My daughter is now an upcoming Senior.
She has very good scores in the following areas:
SAT - 1570/1600
Class Rank: 4th out of 535 Students
GPA: 4.0 Unweighted (5.52/6.00 Weighted)
AP - Score of 5 in all subjects that she has appeared so far except Physics and Comp Science
She has also been in Marching Band for all of High School and is in a Leadership role during Senior Year.
Started an Organization for Tutoring kids for free and it has had a very good response.

Her aim is to be a Doctor (in all probability Surgeon). She got an email from West Point Admissions imploring her to apply and that's when she started looking / researching for West Point and is super impressed by everything.

What I would like to understand is her Career options once she graduates from West Point (assuming she gets in). Will she be able to attend Medical school immediately after completing under graduation OR will she need to serve in the Army before she goes to Medical school? Are there any restrictions around what she can / cannot do after graduation? Is there any commitment that she has to fulfill? She would love to go into Medical research as well working for any Army labs etc.

My apologies if this topic has been covered in the past and if someone can point me to those threads, then that would be much appreciated.
 
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Medical school is possible directly after a SA, but is competitive. About 10 per class are accepted into the program. It does add an additional commitment.
Many also apply to medical school after their initial commitments. I’m pretty close to a doctor who want this route. It’s not all bad going this route as it gives you a chance to experience other careers before going to medical school. I’ve known doctors who were initially armor officers, infantry officers, logistics officers, pilots…. You name it. Once you go to medical school, however, you’re pretty much a doctor.
 
SamPatel said:
My daughter is now an upcoming Senior.
She has very good scores in the following areas:
SAT - 1570/1600
Class Rank: 4th out of 535 Students
GPA: 4.0 Unweighted (5.52/6.00 Weighted)
AP - Score of 5 in all subjects that she has appeared so far except Physics and Comp Science
She has also been in Marching Band for all of High School and is in a Leadership role during Senior Year.
Started an Organization for Tutoring kids for free and it has had a very good response.

Her aim is to be a Doctor (in all probability Surgeon). She got an email from West Point Admissions imploring her to apply and that's when she started looking / researching for West Point and is super impressed by everything.

What I would like to understand is her Career options once she graduates from West Point (assuming she gets in). Will she be able to attend Medical school immediately after completing under graduation OR will she need to serve in the Army before she goes to Medical school? Are there any restrictions around what she can / cannot do after graduation? Is there any commitment that she has to fulfill? She would love to go into Medical research as well working for any Army labs etc.

My apologies if this topic has been covered in the past and if someone can point me to those threads, then that would be much appreciated.
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Athletic participation? Physical fitness? - She needs to be prepared for both even as a military physician. The commitment as a military physician direct from West Point is long - 9+ years post residency. The Army Research Labs have summer intern positions for post high school and undergraduates for exposure to the career.
 
The way I understand it, USMA graduates first become soldiers and leaders, and then other professional workers. Talk to your kid to learn or help her learn what her primary interest is in. Like for my son, he likes legal stuff, engineering, and philosophy, he is also absessed with the military. It took my wife and me some time to realize a kind warrIor is the No. 1 trait in his blood so we finally supported him applying to West Point. Had I seen a laid-back engineer, like myself, in my son’s blood, I would have encouraged him to apply to an engineering school for sure, MIT or Caltech would be ideal.
 
jerrysdad said:
The way I understand it, USMA graduates first become soldiers and leaders, and then other professional workers.
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Yes and no. The vast majority, even very good engineering and science students will start off in Combat Arms and move into
technical fields after a few years. There are however a very small number that will move directly into Medicine and sometimes
other areas without a delay.
 
AROTC Parent said:
Athletic participation? Physical fitness? - She needs to be prepared for both even as a military physician. The commitment as a military physician direct from West Point is long - 9+ years post residency. The Army Research Labs have summer intern positions for post high school and undergraduates for exposure to the career.
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She has been doing Marching Band throughout HS. Marching Band requires quite a lot physical activity (daily 2 hours before or after school practice + weekend sessions during football season)
 
SamPatel said:
She has been doing Marching Band throughout HS. Marching Band requires quite a lot physical activity (daily 2 hours before or after school practice + weekend sessions during football season)
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I speak as a former marching band drum major four decades ago. When he was in high school, my oldest DS was a marching band trombonist, AND played strong safety on the varsity football team.

Band is a great high school activity and offers opportunity for leadership demonstration and team-building..

However, band activities do NOT sufficiently prepare you for the fitness level required to be an Army Combat Officer.
 
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SamPatel said:
She has been doing Marching Band throughout HS. Marching Band requires quite a lot physical activity (daily 2 hours before or after school practice + weekend sessions during football season)
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I agree that marching band is time consuming and interferes with other ECs. If she pursues West Point encourage her to address fitness and athletics in the application. Even a military physician has to pass the annual fitness test and it's much less stressful to pass it easily than struggle.

Kill it on the required fitness test for the application and if she has participated outside of school in other athletic or fitness programs include that in the application somewhere (5K's, martial arts, club sports, crossfit, ...).

Also like @UHBlackhawk 'I'm pretty close to a doctor who went this route.'.... two in fact. One via ROTC, the other West Point and both direct to medical school. I have to emphasize two points... 1) it's an incredibly long commitment to make as an 18 year old and 2) they have to be willing to serve as a non AMEDD officer if not selected for medical school. Mine are still happy with the decisions they've made but it's a stressful path. Even without a military commitment pursuit of a medical career is stressful.
 
SamPatel said:
She has been doing Marching Band throughout HS. Marching Band requires quite a lot physical activity (daily 2 hours before or after school practice + weekend sessions during football season)
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I will re-echo AROTC-dad's comment here. The physical activity that marching band brings is NOT what is needed to make it into (and through) a Service Academy. Take a look at the Candidate Fitness Assessment (CFA) and have your daughter do a diagnostic run-thru to see where she is. I've seen a lot of Marching Band folks have trouble with things like the Mile Run and Pull Up requirements.
 
SamPatel said:
She has been doing Marching Band throughout HS. Marching Band requires quite a lot physical activity (daily 2 hours before or after school practice + weekend sessions during football season)
Click to expand...
UHBlackhawk said:
Medical school is possible directly after a SA, but is competitive. About 10 per class are accepted into the program. It does add an additional commitment.
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@UHBlackhawk is on target.

I'm going to add that being 1 of 10 or so Cadets chosen is highly competitive. We are talking about a student needing to be somewhere in the vicinity of the top 0.1 or 0.2 % of her graduating class and certainly not lower than top 0.5%, not an insignificant accomplishment even for a student who comes in scoring a 1570 SAT. USMA has plenty of young men and women coming in who are academically accomplished or even gifted. The fact is that a Cadet without a strong sports background would be at a disadvantage to other Cadets. The physical requirements at USMA are serious, easily managed if a student is very fit, but if not, being one of those highly competitive Cadets may be unrealistic. I lack expertise about the grueling nature of Marching Band, but I doubt it prepares a future Cadet for the ACFT, Boxing, Military Movement, Survival Swim, the rigors of CBT, CFT, etc. If the OP is helping to advise his daughter, he should not underestimate the physical rigors of USMA and how that will impact her success (and thus, her chances of going straight through to medical school). It is one thing to get by the Candidate Fitness Assessment but that is not necessarily an indicator that the OP's daughter will be able to get solid grades in required physical education courses, or that the time needed to get solid grades in those courses won't undermine her ability to maintain the high GPA necessary to be among the very top of the class.

IOW, attending USMA is definitely not an easy path to medical school. Indeed, it may be the hardest path to medical school you could find.
 
dddad said:
@UHBlackhawk is on target.

I'm going to add that being 1 of 10 or so Cadets chosen is highly competitive. We are talking about a student needing to be somewhere in the vicinity of the top 0.1 or 0.2 % of her graduating class and certainly not lower than top 0.5%, not an insignificant accomplishment even for a student who comes in scoring a 1570 SAT. USMA has plenty of young men and women coming in who are academically accomplished or even gifted. The fact is that a Cadet without a strong sports background would be at a disadvantage to other Cadets. The physical requirements at USMA are serious, easily managed if a student is very fit, but if not, being one of those highly competitive Cadets may be unrealistic. I lack expertise about the grueling nature of Marching Band, but I doubt it prepares a future Cadet for the ACFT, Boxing, Military Movement, Survival Swim, the rigors of CBT, CFT, etc. If the OP is helping to advise his daughter, he should not underestimate the physical rigors of USMA and how that will impact her success (and thus, her chances of going straight through to medical school). It is one thing to get by the Candidate Fitness Assessment but that is not necessarily an indicator that the OP's daughter will be able to get solid grades in required physical education courses, or that the time needed to get solid grades in those courses won't undermine her ability to maintain the high GPA necessary to be among the very top of the class.

IOW, attending USMA is definitely not an easy path to medical school. Indeed, it may be the hardest path to medical school you could find.
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One clarification. It’s not an easy path straight to medical school right after graduation from West Point. I do know many West Point graduates who attended medical school after their initial service obligation.
But I second what others wrote. Physical fitness grades and military leadership grades are important at the SAs. It’s not to say that your DD won’t be able to succeed physically, but she will need to work at it.
 
My two cents, or so… it sounds like a very small number (10-20 cadets each year go into medical school). And it is. Here is another context: not that many apply.

Here is my experience. When my DS and I did the campus visit (would have been around 2009 or 2010), during part of it he was escorted away and I was escorted elsewhere by a yuk who happened to be in the medical program. I asked him about this very thing. His story was that once medical-thinking cadets realize two things (1) how few actual opportunities there are and (2) the duration of service required for completing that path, many self-select out. So it isn’t like 300 apply and only 10 make it through, there are other factors that reduce the final numbers. He went on to also say he wanted to be an Army surgeon, specifically. His calculations included medical school, residency, surgery specialty fellowship, and all the mando requirements of being an officer. If his timing was correct, he’d be *easily* in his mid 40s by the time he was done with all of his schooling and paying back all of his time due back for getting these opportunities. All else being equal, he’d likely be LTC around that time. He was born in Russia, his parents were securely taken from USSR (at that time) to USA for whatever their specialties were. This was his way of paying back what he saw as his larger debt. It is a long road. Not saying don’t do it, simply take the time to think it through.
 
dddad said:
We are talking about a student needing to be somewhere in the vicinity of the top 0.1 or 0.2 % of her graduating class and certainly not lower than top 0.5%
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While medical school selection is competitive here, it is not nearly this competitive. You do not need to be in the top 10 nonetheless top 10% of your class to get it. It is very much a game of attrition and I have many friends who are going through and have successfully gone through the process. There is a minimum GPA standard (I believe a 3.3) to be in the Pre-Med Society but beyond that the only cut to my knowledge is can you get into medical school. If you can get in, West Point will almost always sponsor you.

The barriers to entry are the MCAT and the time shadowing medical staff, both of which require individual initiative. If you want it and you work hard you will most likely get it if you stick with it. West Point rarely fills all the slots for Med School, because there simply aren't enough qualified individuals. The Academy is hard and it is even harder to do these things concurrently. The ADSO deters others, as if you go this route you will be in the Army at minimum until you are in your late thirties.

One of my close friends and a 2020 grad is at med school at an Ivy League institution right now, if you would like me to get answers to any specific questions.
 
@SamPatel I know your daughter Mr. Patel. At least her type. She has brains falling out her ears. IQ off the charts. She won the regional science fair with one hand tied behind her back. When Bobby Fischer wanted a worthy chess opponent he called your daughter.

She has numerous colleges wanting her to attend. She'll land in the right spot and get into med school and be a surgeon in only 14 years from now.
 
SamPatel said:
My daughter is now an upcoming Senior.
She has very good scores in the following areas:
SAT - 1570/1600
Class Rank: 4th out of 535 Students
GPA: 4.0 Unweighted (5.52/6.00 Weighted)
AP - Score of 5 in all subjects that she has appeared so far except Physics and Comp Science
She has also been in Marching Band for all of High School and is in a Leadership role during Senior Year.
Started an Organization for Tutoring kids for free and it has had a very good response.

Her aim is to be a Doctor (in all probability Surgeon). She got an email from West Point Admissions imploring her to apply and that's when she started looking / researching for West Point and is super impressed by everything.

What I would like to understand is her Career options once she graduates from West Point (assuming she gets in). Will she be able to attend Medical school immediately after completing under graduation OR will she need to serve in the Army before she goes to Medical school? Are there any restrictions around what she can / cannot do after graduation? Is there any commitment that she has to fulfill? She would love to go into Medical research as well working for any Army labs etc.

My apologies if this topic has been covered in the past and if someone can point me to those threads, then that would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Going to medical school right after West Point is doable, but will need lots of hard work and sacrifices. Up to 2% of a graduating class can go to attend medical school. That number equates to about 18-20 per year. it doesn't mean you have to be in the top 2% of your West Point class. It just means you should be in the top 18-20 OF THOSE CADETS who want to go to medical school. There could be 25 or 40 cadets who want to go to medical school, so you just need to be in the top 40-50% OF THAT GROUP.

Unlike a civilian school, you can really major in anything and easily get all the pre-med courses required to do well on the MCATs. At West Point, your choices are a bit more limited. Life Sciences and probably chemistry are the majors that you can get all the pre-med courses. Other majors (psychology, environmental engineering, etc...) are doable, but will require some class schedule gymnastics. Believe it or not, West Point even has a recommended schedule mechanical engineer majors to get in all pre-med courses.

Cadets need to join the Pre-Medical School Scholarship Program. Getting into the program is competitive. Being in the program allows you to track pre-med and get some special scheduling opportunities. For example, most cadets take Cadet Leadership Development Training (CLDT) after cow year which is generally in June. Cadets in the pre-med program do CLDT after yuk year. This way, the pre-med cadets can use their late May/early June block after cow year to complete their medical school apps and/or take the MCATs again instead of doing CLDT. Those in the pre-med program can use their AIAD to shadow physicians at Army medical centers or do research at places like US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Those in the program are also enrolled in the Health Professions Seminar (cow year) which is a 1-hour course each semester. There's a pre-med society that arranges for shadowing experiences during the academic year at Keller Army Community Hospital. I think they do it during the Wednesdays that are set aside as study days.

The final selections for cadets to be one of the 2% is based on GPA, MCAT scores, shadowing experience, research, LORs, etc... The minimum to be considered is overall GPA of at least 3.2, Biology-Chemistry-Physics-Math GPA of at least 3.2, MCAT of at least 500, 50 hours of clinical exposure, research, and volunteer activities/community work. Note that those are low scores. It's very rare to get into medical school with a 3.2 GPA and 500 MCAT. It's difficult for cadets to maintain a high GPA and find the extra time to study and therefore do well on the MCAT.

As an aside, the USNA is more strict in how many they allow into medical school immediately upon graduation. They advertise up to15 billets, but many years it's single digits.
 
For the OP - your daughter should include the military medical school at USUHS, on the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center campus in her research, should USMA not be her path.

The military gets the majority of its healthcare providers from civilian universities and medical schools. Many take advantage of the military health professionals scholarship. One variation on that path is to apply to

As a med student, you are in the thick of military medicine from the get go, at a nationally recognized center of excellence.

Students there can come from various services, straight out of USMA, USNA, USAFA, etc., “regular college,” and so on. It is a joint service environment.
 
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