Military Medicine: A Different Path To Medicine | Ask Dr. Gray Ep. 162

[@j572y479]

As a soon to be ex-army medic, I’ve been holding off on HPSP. Military medicine isn’t all about “helping people.” You do get to help, but practice is complicated. Depending on where you’re assigned, you could deploy and not even practice in your specialty. I had ER and peds docs practicing as family medicine docs. I worked with them, and skill atrophy is somethin to think about too.

[@julienalexander6113]

Thanks! I'm on the IRR with the army right now and my contract ends in October. I'm debating on doing Air Force ROTC and I'm holding off on the scholarship as well.

[@kenishaheath2348]

I’m a Family Medicine physician, Colonel in the Air Force and USUHS graduate. Dr. Gray told zero lies. Well done! I’d only add that the risk of not being selected to a competitive residency program is also present on the civilian side. The difference is that the military will require you to complete a transitional internship in the meantime and have you serve as a general medical officer until you complete a residency.

[@Lobi10879]

For any Veterans that has used their GI Bill for their undergrad and want to find a way to pay for med school. If you were discharged honorably and have at least 10% disability rating, you are eligible to apply for the VR&E and have medical school be paid in that form. It is very similarly to the GI Bill except instead of a educational benefit, it is an employment benefit for disabled veterans. If you have your acceptance letter to a medical school, apply for the VR&E, dress properly for your interview with your benefit counselor and you will have a great shot to get accepted into the program. This goes for any program that will get you to your career goal not only med school.

[@allisonnewell7100]

I think it’s also important to point out that different branches of military provide different opportunities. Like he said navy has far broader reach in terms of medicine so could be less restrictive on residency/specialties

[@tonyc4399]

That’s my plan! I was a corpsman for 8 years and I got out because I wanted to get my undergrad. I’m definitely planning on applying to USUHS!

[@learningwithlanden]

The only military PM&R residency is at Walter Reed. It is primarily Army, but the Tricare website states that all branches are accepted.

[@shoeyxc]

If she has a specific residency she wants, she could always apply for FAP and get extra pay during residency. Greap option if your tuition is cheap and/or she still has GI bill money for med school.

[@SparksForces]

I’m in the military right now as a enlist and thinking to apply after I finish getting a degree.

[@gregorymay4833]

One of the questions that she asked at the end that I'm not sure if you completely answer correctly was what if you decided not to take the HPSP scholarship in med school then Match into the specialty you want then during Residency (after you got the specialty you wanted) decide to take the Financial Assistance Program (FAP). Wouldn't this prevent the military from "having a say" in what specialty you choose. Also since the FAP has a stipend and residencies are paid won't you be able to take advantage of both?

[@ArdentLion]

I'll be applying for HPSP in about 18 months, at age 40 (12 years active duty enlisted /5 combat deployments as an Army Special Forces Medic, separated in 2016), do you have any insight at all on the chances of age waivers being granted? I know there are age waivers are available but have no info on how easy or difficult they are to get.

[@julienalexander6113]

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm 37 and currently on IRR with the Army but plan on doing Air Force ROTC and thinking about the HPSP but im not sure if i want to stay in the military, for my reasons, and everything he's said in this video. I know with prior service you're more than likely able to get a age-waiver. Thanks for this question. I was looking for something like this.

[@Alayman55]

As an Air Force flight surgeon, do you get to learn to fly? And if so, what kind of planes? Also what can you do as a flight surgeon once you finish serving?

[@j572y479]

It’ can be very restricting and focus is placed heavily on charting or documentation. Granted, you have a fairly or relatively healthy patient population and the cases you find can be interesting but there’s a lot that goes into it

[@julienalexander6113]

I'm debating on doing Air force ROTC and applying for the HPSP scholarship but I'm not sure if I want to stay in and there's no guarantee I'll get the HPSP scholarship. This is such a hard decision for me right now.

[@Vyaris]

ROTC will hold you back within your undergrad and has no direct route directly into medical school, rotc is designed to create line officers, not physicians. Your HPSP shouldn’t be a problem, the gpa and mcat requirements for HPSP are incredibly low, low enough to where if you don’t meet those requirements, odds are you didn’t meet the requirements to get accepted into medical school. My recommendation, do your undergrad, get good grades, do research, gather clinical experience, study for at least 400 hours for MCAT, and have mentors to guide you through the process, good luck soldier.

[@surat8591]

Hello, Dr. Gray Do you have an idea how this experience is for dentists? Is it as restrictive as it is for physicians? I'd like to be a general dentist and am currently thinking about applying for the HPSP scholarship, but I'm afraid that I would not be allowed to perform procedures other than cleanings and fillings. Any thoughts?

[@giovannirodriguez3747]

How do we get on application renovation 😭😭😭

[@MedicalSchoolHQ]

medicalschoolhq.net/apply/

[@bradleyhauf312]

millitary medicine? best way for civilians to get rid of parasites and candidae?

[@jamie91995]

Do you think that PAs and NPs are going to slowly begin to replace doctors? It seems like more and more doctors are being laid off/not hired to make room for PAs and NPs because they’re cheaper to hire and are being given a larger scope of practice.

[@eniolaenioluwabo7784]

I do think this is the case right now

[@HarringtonBartholomew-u9d]

White Michael Thomas Mark Garcia David

[@JamesJoyce12]

let's be honest - you're going to grab a military protected slot because you are not 5% candidate - if you are thinking about this then you have already self-identified.