Navy paying for med school or army

[Doc driven]

Hello. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out on if it is wise to go through the navy or army to pay for medical school. Anybody with this wisdom because they are doing it right now would be awesome.

Thank you very much

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[igcgnerd]

It depends on which you want to serve in once you graduate. Personally if given the choice I would take the navy.

 

[DOctorJay]

please take a look at the national guard, I have a friend who took that route and believe me you're MUCH better off.

look at the specific navy/army forum for more info before you leep.

 

[Doc driven]

thank you guys for your help.

 

[KateGia]

Hello. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out on if it is wise to go through the navy or army to pay for medical school. Anybody with this wisdom because they are doing it right now would be awesome.

Thank you very much

Go onto the military forum. I'm personally not HPSP, but my bf is, so I know somewhat about it. From what I understand, in the NAVY, there aren't as many residency spots, so many people end up doing a tour right after graduation, and starting residency a year later. Airforce is good, but toughest to get accepted in. Army is probably your best bet. If you have the opportunity, talk to recruiters for your school and have them hook you up with students who are participating in each program to figure out what suits you best. Also, I don't believe National Gaurd (suggested above) has HPSP... but I could be mistaken.

 

[J-Rad]

Perusing the milmed forums would indeed behoove you, as would speaking to as many active duty physicians in practice or former active duty physicians as possible; they may (or may not) provide some balance to the tendency toward a negative viewpoint on the milmed forums. Unfortunately, medical students are not yet equipped to provide you with an informed opinion, yet they are often the easiest to access and some of the quickest to opine.
As for the AF vs. Army vs. Navy thing: They all have their pluses and minuses, knowing what is particularly unique to each vs. shared among them is important. While the Navy appears to be heading away from the GMO tour concept (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=430930) as of right now probably >50% of new grads will do a GMO (the military equivalent of the old GP concept) AFTER one year of internship (no-one practices without at least one year of residency, you can't get anything other than a training medical license prior to that). Army trains most of their people straight through but anyone is fair game to deploy as a GMO after board certification. I worked with a neonatologist who deployed to Afghanistan as a GMO. (http://www.aap.org/sections/unifserv/UniformedServicesSpring2006Newsletter.pdf)
Some might consider that a negative. And the AF has its own +/- that you can peruse the forums and find ample info on (please also talk to active/former active as well). In regards to recruiters understand that they are trained to only know a certain block of information, that which is designed to get you to sign up; not what is designed to give you the most informed decision. While many recruiters are on the up-and-up within the boundaries of their knowledge base, there are also some who lack integrity for the sake of making the "sale" (I find it pathetic how many people I've met who signed up for the Navy thinking that there was no way they'd need to do a GMO tour or the AF having been sold a bag of goods on guaranteed residency choice). While there are no National Guard/Air National Guard HSPS deals, there are programs within each which can help fund a medical education. The idea that you should seek out those actively engaged in practice in the NG/ANG still holds true. Also look up the FAP program (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=118576)
As always, make the most informed decision possible.

 

[Doc driven]

thank you for your info. I appreciate it.

Doc driven

 

[jonb12997]

can you run 2 miles? do the army; rather run 1.5 miles? do the navy... haha, j/k! Yeah, head on over to the Military med forum! btw, the ARNG does have a program, but it doesn't have the full tuition payment that HPSP has (but the committment isn't quite as heavy)...