Going Into To Medicine
Military to Medicine – An Introductory Guide to Post-baccalaureate Programs
The is a guest blog from a veteran currently in Medical School
Disclaimer: I am not yet a doctor and the opinions expressed here are my own, based on observations, personal experiences, and individual research.
There are numerous ways to become a physician. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of publicized routes to transition from active duty to medical school, especially if you do not have the pre-requisite classes completed. This guide can serve as an introduction on how to go from the military to medical school, assuming you have none (or some) of the required classes.
The “Easy” Way
The easiest way to go directly to medical school from active duty, assuming you have none of the pre-req classes, is to attend a formal career changer postbaccalaureate premedical program, or “postbac” for short. This really shouldn’t be called the “easy” way because the programs are usually quite intensive, but this is the most direct and straightforward route. There are several programs in existence, but I would be lying if I said they were all created equal. While the Bryn Mawr and Goucher programs typically have the strongest reputations in the medical school admissions community, I recommend you do your own independent research to find the program that works best for your circumstances.
Bryn Mawr and Goucher both have 1-year formal programs in which you will take all of the classes needed to matriculate to medical school. Several veterans have come through these programs – one of my best friends (a former Medical Service Officer) went to Goucher, my roommate at Bryn Mawr was a fellow West Pointer, and we even had a Naval Academy grad in our class. The year before I went to Bryn Mawr, there was a Navy veteran and an Air Force veteran in the class. If you completed one or two of the required classes more than 5 years previously, you can still usually matriculate to these programs. For example, I took General Chemistry and Physics while I was at West Point, but since I took them between 2010-2012, I was good to go ahead and retake them. In addition to General Chemistry and Physics, I also took two semesters of Biology and Organic Chemistry. You will have labs for each of these classes as well. On top of the schoolwork, you will usually be expected to do some sort of volunteering or shadowing in the medical community to increase your exposure to the field of medicine.
The programs are as difficult as they sound and on top of the academic burden, there is also a significant financial cost (upwards of $40,000). If you think you can work during this time – think again. During my time at Bryn Mawr, two exceptionally smart students attempted this and were forced to quit their (part-time) jobs in favor of putting more time into schoolwork. If you take the two-year route, there may be some leeway with this. Some programs accept the GI Bill, which is definitely worth considering. If not, you’ll have to pay out of pocket or take out the same loans you would to attend any other type of school.
Another benefit of attending a formal postbac program is that you may have the opportunity to “link” to a medical school. Linking is one of the big selling points of these programs, as you can essentially apply and be conditionally accepted to a medical school while still enrolled in the program. On top of that, some of these linkage agreements allow you to forego taking the MCAT. Yes, you read that correctly – you can, in some cases, avoid having to take the MCAT and matriculate to some pretty amazing medical schools.
Another huge benefit to these types of programs is that you will have a program director dedicated to facilitating your application. They will advise you on personal statements, the work experience section, MCAT prep, and everything in between. If you don’t go to a formal program, you can still get this, but will likely have to hire outside consultation.
If you’re interested in this route, I recommend doing research into formal career changer postbaccalaureate programs across the board. Be wary, however, as some of them are money grabs. If a school does not publish its success rates (i.e., percentage of their graduates that matriculate to medical school AND which medical schools they go to), then that may be a red flag.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not emphasize the difficulty of these programs. Completing all of the pre-requisites in one year is brutal. You will be expected to perform, despite the fact that you have been out of school for a while. It is a different type of stress than going days without sleep in the box at NTC – they aren’t really comparable. You can’t simply gut through the pain and hope for the best. Furthermore, you will be surrounded by incredibly intelligent and hardworking people who are NOT content with mediocrity. This can be intimidating at times, as most of your peers will have gone to top schools like the Ivies, Stanford, Berkeley, etc. and/or had impressive careers before deciding to pursue medicine – in my class nearly 20 (out of about 70) went to Ivies alone. That being said, not all of them made it through the program for one reason or another so take the allure of a brand name with a grain of salt. Have faith in yourself, put in the effort, and things will usually work out.
The “Not-So-Easy” Way
The “good” formal postbaccalaureate programs are relatively hard to get into with most requiring at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA (bare minimum). Or you may be in a situation where you have to work, or have a family, and cannot afford to take a year off before medical school. Whatever your reason is, there is another way: DIY (do-it-yourself) postbac programs.
There are a few types of DIY postbac programs. DIY is much less formal, and you likely won’t have a formal adviser. You can register for and take classes at a local university or community college or enroll in an informal program in which your classes are more structured, but you don’t necessarily have much guidance along the way. The benefit to this type of program is that you can go at your own pace and probably hold a job along the way. You can time when to take your classes so that you aren’t doing all the hard ones at once (see: Organic Chemistry). The downside is that you may not have priority registration and could get stuck with inconvenient class times. When I was researching programs, I noticed that many colleges give priority registration to full time, degree seeking students. If you’re taking classes for individual credits, you’ll likely be at the back of the line for class registration.
Harvard Extension School has an informal program in which you can take night classes and don’t have to worry about competing with undergrads for registration. On top of that, you get access to Harvard’s facilities (like their library) if I remember correctly. There are other programs like this in which you can work through the school to facilitate a program at your own pace. These are popular among career changers with families and other obligations, but just be aware that it will take you longer and there usually aren’t linkages associated with these programs. MCAT Prep will usually be an individual effort as well. Lastly, these programs are usually much cheaper overall and you can often pay as you go.
The “Hard” Way
The hard way is to take classes while you’re on active duty. This can be done, and I know people who have done it. Nonetheless it isn’t an easy or direct route. This requires registering for classes and labs at a local college while holding a full-time job. You’ll also have to study for and take the MCAT at some point on top of all that. With field training exercises and deployments, this route can take a significant amount of time. Professors may not care that you have to go to the field and you may end up missing some things that you can’t make up. Again, this can be done but it may be an uphill battle. If you’ve completed most or many of the classes in undergrad, however, then this might be the perfect option for you to avoid taking a gap year or two while transitioning.
The Miscellaneous
There are some factors that are unique in applying to medical school that aren’t relevant to other professional schools.
First, online classes are significantly frowned upon and are usually not accepted. In the time of COVID-19, the requirement for in-person classes and labs were largely waived across the board, but as things return to normal this will likely go away. Even if you can get away with online classes, labs are essentially non-negotiable. You’re going to school to become a scientist of sorts so learning how to operate in a lab is pretty important. Medical school is one of those places where online degrees are almost uniformly not accepted. I say “almost” because, of course, there’s always an exception to the rule and I’m sure someone has done it. You can see which schools will accept online classes by creating an American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) account and then purchasing Medical School Admissions Requirement (MSAR) access. Again, many schools are accepting online credits at this time but I don’t believe this will last very long.
Second, exposure to medicine, and specifically to physicians, is a very important part of the application process. You can certainly shadow a Physician Assistant (PA) or a Nurse Practitioner, but medical schools want to see that you know what it is a physician does on a daily basis. Yes, you need to understand the scope of what the entire healthcare team does to treat patients, but the most important thing is to know about the specific profession you want to enter into. There is no minimum set of hours one needs to be competitive for a formal postbaccalaureate program or medical school, but you have to be able to articulate what it is about being a physician that drives you to change your current path. I think it goes without saying that adequate exposure is necessary to talk about this.
Third, a demonstration of commitment to service is heavily weighted in the application process. It doesn’t have to be medicine either – schools very much care that you want to work to make the world a better place. Luckily, military applicants have this by default and you probably won’t be expected to explain why you want to serve others.
Lastly, pursuing a career in medicine is not a decision one should make lightly. It is a long and difficult road that is riddled with uncertainty. Assuming all goes well, you can expect 1-2 years of completing the pre-requisite classes, a gap year to apply to medical school if you don’t link through a formal program, 4 years of medical school, and then 3-7 years of residency (varies by the specialty you choose) before you can practice independently. The fastest you can go through the process from “flash to bang” is 8 years. If you do a two-year program, do not link, and decide you want to be a neurosurgeon (7-year residency), then you are looking at 14 years of education and training before you are fully qualified. In the modern world of medicine, most physicians also do a fellowship after completing their residency which will tack on another year or two. If you start this process immediately after your service obligation is complete, at best you’ll be done by your mid-30s. This leaves 30 or so working years to pay off your substantial debt – most medical school graduates have about $200k in debt – while also saving for retirement. It is true that physicians are typically high earners, however, the time and cost commitment are often not considered by the general public which leads to a skewed perception of their overall financial standing. In essence, the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon who makes 7 figures in private practice is the exception that makes the rule. So, if your goal is to get rich then I recommend you pursue a different career path. All being said, if you have an intrinsic and burning desire to heal others and want to do your part to make the world a better place, then becoming a physician is an amazing and rewarding way to do so!
Check out this veteran dental website that my friend runs. He was a USMA Infantry officer, ranger qualified with a deployment to Iraq. He is currently in Dental School at Michigan and helping vets all over.