USN Officer -> Medical School

[antonkr]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone here has transition from commissioned military service to medical school? What has your experience been like in terms of MCAT, applying, interviewing, etc?

I suppose my interest lies with both and I am just trying to look at all possible options coming out of college.

 

[SynixMan]

I know two that did it. Both pilots. They finished pre-med stuff on the side during a shore tour and took tests/applied. They both applied for Navy Health scholarships to get most of the schooling covered for minimal payback. They were already at 10 years service and O-3/O-4s, so they got a lot of leeway once docs.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

If your overall goal is medical school/be a doctor why not pursue that now.

To answer your question, yes it's happened.

 

[Python]

My former training officer did it. Topgun trained fighter pilot. Straight to med school after getting out. It happens.

 

[Hair Warrior]

Look up the bios of Johnny Kim and Kirk Parsley.

 

[xmid]

One of my squadron flight docs was a pilot in the squadron, then got out and went to medical school, and when he came back in as an O-4 he happened to go to the same squadron. Our skipper had been his 2P.

 

[TimeBomb]

That path is not uncommon, but I would advise careful planning before embarking on that route. I'm assuming you want to remain in uniform to finish out a career. J7

Time will work against you. If you go through flight school first and get designated, you'll be able to leave aviation at about the 10 year point. Then you hit medical school (4 years), then internship (1year). Most navy docs still go to the fleet before going back to residency, so add 2-3 years for your utilization tour. Then back to residency (2-6 additional years; more if you want to subspecialize). At this point you're over 40, and you're finally ready to start your "high-paying" military medical career.

Speaking of pay, at the 10 year mark, you'll probably be an O-4 in the decent part of the flight pay curve. If you get into USUHS, you'll revert to O-1 pay for the 4 years you're there, then bounce up to O-3 over whatever until you get back to the O-4 level. Medical pay will offset some of the losses in flight pay, but your base pay won't catch up for years. HPSP students get paid less. Non-scholarship students not only dont get paid, they incur massive debt loads going through med school.

So, if you think your budget can handle it, and you and your family can tolerate you essentially going back through flight school and deployments at age 40, have at it. Yeah, it's been done, but it isn't easy. Assess your motivations for what you're trying to achieve with your plan.

V/R

 

[antonkr]

That path is not uncommon, but I would advise careful planning before embarking on that route. I'm assuming you want to remain in uniform to finish out a career. J7

Time will work against you. If you go through flight school first and get designated, you'll be able to leave aviation at about the 10 year point. Then you hit medical school (4 years), then internship (1year). Most navy docs still go to the fleet before going back to residency, so add 2-3 years for your utilization tour. Then back to residency (2-6 additional years; more if you want to subspecialize). At this point you're over 40, and you're finally ready to start your "high-paying" military medical career.

Speaking of pay, at the 10 year mark, you'll probably be an O-4 in the decent part of the flight pay curve. If you get into USUHS, you'll revert to O-1 pay for the 4 years you're there, then bounce up to O-3 over whatever until you get back to the O-4 level. Medical pay will offset some of the losses in flight pay, but your base pay won't catch up for years. HPSP students get paid less. Non-scholarship students not only dont get paid, they incur massive debt loads going through med school.

So, if you think your budget can handle it, and you and your family can tolerate you essentially going back through flight school and deployments at age 40, have at it. Yeah, it's been done, but it isn't easy. Assess your motivations for what you're trying to achieve with your plan.

V/R

Thank you so much for the insightful response. Frankly, I have researched a lot into civilian medical school, as well as of course the topic of this forum, but I do really need to read more into military medicine as a topic. Of course perspectives like this are much harder to find, so thank you again for this response.

 

[xmid]

We had a Doc in Corpus that flew hornets then went to med school. He still flew with students in the T-6.