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Anyone get a military scholarship for medical school?

S

StevenYoo

Diamond Member
I'm considering signing up for the Air Force Health Professionals Scholarship Program to help me pay for medical school once I get in.

Has anyone on AT gone through that?

the AF recruiter told me my MCAT score is more than good enough to get a full 4-year scholarship, which means I would have to sign up for 4 years of service. He also said that the military can't pull me out until my residency was done.

We all know recruiters bend the truth to make you sign.

So can i really be pulled out before i finish med school / residency?
Can they make me go into combat or something? I want to gather as much info as I can on this matter.

Where else can I look for info on this? thanks
 
If you enter the military, they own you. Yes, you can go into combat.

And never, EVER trust a recruiter. Bend the truth? Try flat out lying. You're better off with a loan. I'm 100% all for joining the military- but NOT if you're looking for an easy free ride. Join because you want to, not because you've been brainwashed into believing you have to.
 
The military can do anything they want. Once you sign up you are basically their property. I was considering doing the same thing with the army's health professional scholarship, but my parents told me that they would just pay for it instead because my mom is super adamant that I don't join the forces. However, The odds that you would be put into active service would be very little. They will most likely let you remain in school and then when the rest of your active service is up can chose to extend your time, which if you look at it in a financial sense wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't know what kind of doctor you plan on becoming. My best friends dad is an anesthesiologist and after he finished his 20yr plan he graduated as a LT Col. and gets 35,000 a year in retire, he is 47 and he now has a private practice in KY where he is pulling down 400,000+. However, while in service is average income I believe was somewhere of about 135,000 once he made major. Which happened after about 8 years in service I believe. I know that anesthesiologist are also some of the highest paying professions out there. But just some things to think about. I've put a lot of research into this before. ALSO Recruiters lie through their teeth to get people to sign up since recent recruitment numbers are something like 50% below what they expect to get. I know that they are always in desperate need of MD's but they do offer sweet programs if you can't afford to pay for school out of pocket and or don't want to have 200,000 in student loans.

OH: another benefit of being in the service is you don't have to pay insurance fees that you do in private practice. And funding I hear is almost unlimited. Things to keep in mind.
 
the ONLY time you WILL NOT be deployed is if you are going through OCS/ROTC/BCT. Any other time is fair in love and war.

-=bmacd=-
 
LTPage1 summed it up nicely: When you join, you become the United States Military's biatch. They own your sould for however long the service period is. Just make sure that you know this before making any decisions. Like LtPage1 said, you can go in to combat, so my suggestion to you is go into a position that will keep you out of harm's way.
 
on a seperate note, I have yet to regret enlisting in the Army National Guard. I've been in for ~2 years, will be deployed to Iraq around ~March, and have 4 years left. I love everything about the Guard.

-=bmacd=-
 
thanks for the helpful replies, everyone!

is there any resource online I can look up to further help with this?
 

I'm sure that the military is a valuable experience for many who join, but four years of service is a long time. I'm guessing that you'll be over thirty after serving four years following residency. IMHO It seems awfully late to really start your life.
 
Originally posted by: StevenYoo
thanks for the helpful replies, everyone!

is there any resource online I can look up to further help with this?
Click to expand...

specifically guided towards your medical questions or general military help ?

-=bmacd=-
 
Ive thought about West Point or The Naval Academy, but being shipped and driving around on mine ridden roads scare me. With the Navy i can do something i like, working with hardware on a carrier but still...
 
Originally posted by: bmacd
Originally posted by: StevenYoo
thanks for the helpful replies, everyone!

is there any resource online I can look up to further help with this?
Click to expand...

specifically guided towards your medical questions or general military help ?

-=bmacd=-
Click to expand...

both would help i suppose
 
Originally posted by: royalk4
The military can do anything they want. Once you sign up you are basically their property. I was considering doing the same thing with the army's health professional scholarship, but my parents told me that they would just pay for it instead because my mom is super adamant that I don't join the forces. However, The odds that you would be put into active service would be very little. They will most likely let you remain in school and then when the rest of your active service is up can chose to extend your time, which if you look at it in a financial sense wouldn't be a bad idea. I don't know what kind of doctor you plan on becoming. My best friends dad is an anesthesiologist and after he finished his 20yr plan he graduated as a LT Col. and gets 35,000 a year in retire, he is 47 and he now has a private practice in KY where he is pulling down 400,000+. However, while in service is average income I believe was somewhere of about 135,000 once he made major. Which happened after about 8 years in service I believe. I know that anesthesiologist are also some of the highest paying professions out there. But just some things to think about. I've put a lot of research into this before. ALSO Recruiters lie through their teeth to get people to sign up since recent recruitment numbers are something like 50% below what they expect to get. I know that they are always in desperate need of MD's but they do offer sweet programs if you can't afford to pay for school out of pocket and or don't want to have 200,000 in student loans.

OH: another benefit of being in the service is you don't have to pay insurance fees that you do in private practice. And funding I hear is almost unlimited. Things to keep in mind.
Click to expand...

They are one of the better paid types of doctors, but it's an extremely stressful field.

As for the OP's question, I wish I could help, but I'm only interested in the responses myself 🙂 I'm about to graduate from college and I was thinking of going to either grad school or law school, but also had thoughts of joining the Air Force. The other branches just aren't my cup of tea. My big issue is medical though.
 
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