Hi,
BLUF: What's your best advice for preparing for an MD program with the idea of going active duty afterwards, how much paperwork does an ADHD diagnosis entail, and is going through a paramedic program a good idea, or a waste of time?
I was wondering if I could get some of your $0.02 on the process of becoming an Army physician. I'm a current 68W in the National Guard, and a civilian EMT-S. I'm not quite set on a specialty (obviously I know that's kind of a cross that bridge when we get there thing), but I really like a lot of the primary care aspects being a line medic (and being outdoors/in the field), as well as all the TCCC stuff. So far taking some community college classes to transfer, I've had a pretty easy 4 point, but my high school GPA wasn't too great. I want to end up active duty after doing an MD program. I've done some research into HPSP, and I know at that point I should talk to either my CoC or a recruiter.
I also have a couple other dilemmas. I was re-diagnosed with ADHD-I in the spring. I didn't have any trouble with AIT classes without medication, but I was always very interested and motivated in them; I definitely need it to do well in college classes. AR 40-501 says that I can be retained/continue my career with the diagnosis, but as far as I know HPSP would be a separate commissioning program (eg. MEPS again) and I would be disqualified.
I also have been debating going through the paramedic program that my civilian employer provides, and that would be a whole year delayed from school, but also valuable knowledge, experience, and the possibility of being a flight medic for a while during school and possibly a FF/Paramedic civilian side (yes, I know I'm trying to do too many things at once).
Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.
BLUF: What's your best advice for preparing for an MD program with the idea of going active duty afterwards, how much paperwork does an ADHD diagnosis entail, and is going through a paramedic program a good idea, or a waste of time?
I was wondering if I could get some of your $0.02 on the process of becoming an Army physician. I'm a current 68W in the National Guard, and a civilian EMT-S. I'm not quite set on a specialty (obviously I know that's kind of a cross that bridge when we get there thing), but I really like a lot of the primary care aspects being a line medic (and being outdoors/in the field), as well as all the TCCC stuff. So far taking some community college classes to transfer, I've had a pretty easy 4 point, but my high school GPA wasn't too great. I want to end up active duty after doing an MD program. I've done some research into HPSP, and I know at that point I should talk to either my CoC or a recruiter.
I also have a couple other dilemmas. I was re-diagnosed with ADHD-I in the spring. I didn't have any trouble with AIT classes without medication, but I was always very interested and motivated in them; I definitely need it to do well in college classes. AR 40-501 says that I can be retained/continue my career with the diagnosis, but as far as I know HPSP would be a separate commissioning program (eg. MEPS again) and I would be disqualified.
I also have been debating going through the paramedic program that my civilian employer provides, and that would be a whole year delayed from school, but also valuable knowledge, experience, and the possibility of being a flight medic for a while during school and possibly a FF/Paramedic civilian side (yes, I know I'm trying to do too many things at once).
Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.