Anyone have a military spouse?

[amom427]

Is there anyone on here that is in vet school and has a military spouse? If so, how is life? Are you able to live together? What difficulties have you encountered?

I am applying to vet school this cycle and my husband is in the Air Force. I am applying to schools that have military bases close by which have his career field in the hopes we can convince the A.F. to station him at the one near the school I am accepted to! I know we have high hopes and will probably be let down. We are prepared to live apart but know it would be much easier on us both (and our one year old daughter!) if we weren't.

Hopefully someone else is in this situation and can give me some guidance and advise!

TIA!

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[meadow36]

There are no guarantees with the military or vet school, as I'm sure you know already. I would apply to as many schools as possible (like all of them) so that you have a lot of options (hopefully you'll get into a handful of them). After you get in then see what he is able to arrange with the Air Force. After that you can try to make your vet school choice based on what he can arrange.

I hate to say this but I think it's going to be very difficult to come to a perfect arrangement. The good news is you will get a good education at any of the stateside vet schools, so you don't really have to worry about picking a school based on education; you can make location your top priority.

On another note - not to be nosey - but what about your family? Keep in mind that you will have very long days in vet school and with your hubby in the A.F., will you have adequate child care? What if he's deployed or not stationed nearby? Just something to think about. Good luck with your application!!

 

[amom427]

On another note - not to be nosey - but what about your family? Keep in mind that you will have very long days in vet school and with your hubby in the A.F., will you have adequate child care? What if he's deployed or not stationed nearby? Just something to think about. Good luck with your application!!

I don't mind your nosiness!

I hope to be able to find adequate child care. That is one of the things I am trying not to worry about right now since I don't know where we will be. I will cross that bridge when it gets here! My husband's job is not highly deployable, although I know it does happen. Currently he goes out of town with work a lot, but hopefully that will become less soon. And be non-existent within a year for a period of at least two years.

I am very aware of the difficulties of a perfect arrangement. All of that has been taken into consideration before making the final decision to apply. And location is my top priority. I never thought about the programs offered until reading on here where others are looking for the best school for [insert specialty here]! I have always assumed a DVM is a DVM. I am applying to schools which are within an hours drive of bases he could possibly be stationed at with his career field and I have a decent shot at being admitted to. One of these schools just so happens to be fairly close to my parents just in case we do have to split up or he has to leave. Unfortunately these restrictions leave me only three schools!

To be nosy in response: Do you have a military background? Just curious!

 

[meadow36]

My brother is a retired navy officer, and my current BF is in the army vet corps. Plus a multitude of friends, cousins and family members with militiary stints. Of course seperation is always a big hot topic for military folks. My current BF is facing deployment next year and I'm already freaking out about it.

 

[VetMed555]

I have a husband in the Air Force. I tried to apply to schools with bases nearby, but there were other factors present, and I ended up going to VMRCVM (my state school). We don't live together: he lives 5 hours away (and is now deployed for 6 months). Sometimes it sucks. Last year I didn't have a lot of free time anyway, so seeing him every other weekend or so worked for both of us. It felt like a mini-vacation. It's definitely not for everyone, but I feel like I can't build my life around what military wants any more than he can around what schools I get accepted to. We don't have kids, so I cannot tell you how much harder it would have been if we did. It's definitely two very different worlds: military and vet school. Both are very demanding, and it's hard to make it work. PM me if you want more information or have specific questions. Good Luck!

 

[snowislandhigh]

Hi There,

I know what you are going through for the most part. I am trying to go to Pharmacy School, and my fiance is in the Air Force (he goes to the Air Force Academy). We are getting married right after we both graduate. The Air Force Academy allows us to put in preferences to bases, so the original plan was to make our top 5 picks next to good Pharmacy Schools and I was going to try and apply to those schools, and hope I get in to the one we are stationed near. I realized after taking the PCATs for the first time that getting into that one specific school is going to be a long shot, not to mention expensive to apply to 5 schools. I already know for me that if it came down to Pharmacy School or being together, then I would choose being together. This is just my own personal preference, and I admire couples who can do that. The new plan as of now is to sit out a year to find out where we are getting stationed, and then go from there. I realize that with the military its almost impossible to plan your life out, and you kind of have to take each day at a time. Good luck to you!!

 

[RockGoddess]

I am a military spouse and a mom. We chose to move to Tucson and my husband is still stationed in CA. I believe that we will see just as much of him since he is deployed a lot and when he is home he is out in the field anyway and working long hours. There was no need in my opinion to live where he was stationed anymore.
CA is too expensive to live in and having two professional degrees already, I can attest that living expenses are the biggest expense in school...so we will see if my strategy works or not. I am applying only to the U of A College of Medicine this year and we will see what happens. If I am not accepted, then I will look into other options next year. I think it's important to try to live near a base -- the services such as child care and all the others are key to getting through school for a military parent.
Where are the other military spouses at?! We should start a network, formal or informal?!...

 

[RockGoddess]

Hey, I started a group for military spouses who are also members of the student doctor network to network and share. Open for members and new discussions!
http://more.studentdoctor.net/group.php?groupid=85
I went to groups through My Account, then Social Groups...calling all military spouses...

 

[meadow36]

Just added myself in.

 

[bunnyslippers]

I just peeked at this forum and had to throw my hat in the ring because I'm a military spouse too. My boyfriend is a Marine stationed out at Lejeune in NC and I move to Indiana to start at Purdue next week.

The only advice I have is to hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I don't know where your SO is stationed but just make sure you're ready to deal with potentially not getting in near him. When I didn't get in near my boyfriend I was definitely pretty heartbroken, but what can you do? The admissions game is a good runner up to the military when it comes to unpredictability. Just know that you can make your relationship work even if you guys are apart as long as you're both committed. As much as I hate the b.s. that comes along with being a military spouse, I love him waaaay more (still can't wait for his far far away EAS though!) and can't put up with the hardship while he's in.

Vet school might even be a good distraction during deployments... Hopeful thinking, mine ships out in January. : (