Advice 4 joinin navy as medical corpsman

trimeduRN, BSN · Mar 16, 2004

A medical corpsman is something like a nursing assistant. I spoke with this lady yesterday that was in for 7 years, she was a corpsman. She said that when you get out, there are some states where you can challenge state board to become a LPN. She also said that if you go in as enlisted, it is very hard for you to attend school because you never know when you may be deployed. Long story short, she said it is better to go in with one of the approved Bachelor degrees(not all are accepted) you have a better chance of being able to fulfill your dreams.

ldshaw · Mar 16, 2004

I was in the Navy for 11 years, nine of those years I was a Corpsman. Depending on where you would get stationed, school can be hard at first. Most Hospital Corpsman dont go to ships right away, most go to Hospitals. Again, depending on where you work, school can be hard. I worked in a small clinic for five years and school would have been easy. Honestly, with the current mess our military is in right now, you may end up in a great place like San Diego Medical center or a place like Cuba taking care of the terrorist prisioners. I would not totally agree with the last post that Corpsman are like nursing assistants, we were far more. In the Navy you dont have a license, so you are allowed to do as much as the RN or Doctor let you. In my last job, I did surgical (minor) procedures on my own. Removing skin cancers and suturing. I loved it. In the emergency room we were allowed to do anything except pass IV meds. It is a very exciting and wonderful job. I got out for a few reasons, Cuba being one of them. Just not for me. Now the last post was right, you can get out and become an LVN in some states with out taking any further education. To make a long story short, if you want to become a Doctor, just go to school now. That way you wont have to worry about where you work or where your stationed. If you have any other question please PM me.

LDSHAW

soon2Bnavy · Mar 16, 2004

I was in the Navy for 11 years, nine of those years I was a Corpsman. Depending on where you would get stationed, school can be hard at first. Most Hospital Corpsman dont go to ships right away, most go to Hospitals. Again, depending on where you work, school can be hard. I worked in a small clinic for five years and school would have been easy. Honestly, with the current mess our military is in right now, you may end up in a great place like San Diego Medical center or a place like Cuba taking care of the terrorist prisioners. I would not totally agree with the last post that Corpsman are like nursing assistants, we were far more. In the Navy you dont have a license, so you are allowed to do as much as the RN or Doctor let you. In my last job, I did surgical (minor) procedures on my own. Removing skin cancers and suturing. I loved it. In the emergency room we were allowed to do anything except pass IV meds. It is a very exciting and wonderful job. I got out for a few reasons, Cuba being one of them. Just not for me. Now the last post was right, you can get out and become an LVN in some states with out taking any further education. To make a long story short, if you want to become a Doctor, just go to school now. That way you wont have to worry about where you work or where your stationed. If you have any other question please PM me.
LDSHAW

I took my asvab today, my ruff score was 84, is that good enuff to be a corpsman. I actually want to serve as a medic in the field, is corpsman the right choice? I was thinking about going to school for corpsman but i want to apply for the seal challenge and be a medic, any advice

ldshaw · Mar 17, 2004

84 is just fine to be a corpsman. If you want to go into the field, you would go to Field medical school right after Hospital corpsman school. When you go to Meps, dont let them try and sway you as far as picking schools. Tell them you want to be a Corpsman and you wont join unless they give you that school. You will often hear, "that school is full, what else do you want to do"? Just say, I will join when it opens up. You will get your school, but you have to deal with these guys hard. They want to send you to the schools that are wide open and the ones that no one wants. Just stick to your guns and you will get it. Once you get to HM school, then you can tell your instructors that you want to be a field corpsman. You will almost always go to field school anyway, all corpsman now go to field school after HM school. Hope this helped.

ShelleyERgirl, LPN · Mar 21, 2004

As a former hospital corpsman, LD, couldn't agree with you more, hon! Definitely stick to your guns at the MEPs station. As far as the poster who made the nursing assistant comment, maybe you should have done a little more research before you comment on something you have no idea about... We definitley did a hell of a lot more than a nursing assistant ever could think about doing! Not that there is anything wrong with nursing assistants and the ones I know do a fantastic job, but frankly the assumption offends me.

trimeduRN, BSN · Mar 21, 2004

As a former hospital corpsman, LD, couldn't agree with you more, hon! Definitely stick to your guns at the MEPs station. As far as the poster who made the nursing assistant comment, maybe you should have done a little more research before you comment on something you have no idea about... We definitley did a hell of a lot more than a nursing assistant ever could think about doing! Not that there is anything wrong with nursing assistants and the ones I know do a fantastic job, but frankly the assumption offends me.

I was not trying to offend anyone. I was given this information by someone that was a corpsman in the military for 7 years. Thanks for your assumption

ldshaw · Mar 22, 2004

Oh I dont think there is any need to be offended. Many people have never even heard of Hospital Corpsman. Honestly, I did not know what a Hospital Corpsman was till I went to Boot Camp. Perhaps people think they are similiar to Nursing Assistants because they dont carry a degree. The thing is...because they dont have a degree, they are unlimited in what they can do. With the exception of passing IV meds. I sutured patients every day. You will not see that in the civilian community. I did minor procedures for my Doc when he was busy. Again, that would never happen in the civilian world. I loved being a Corpsman and learned so much. I took the NCLEX-PN in California and passed the first time. I passed that test due to my expierence as a Corpsman.

ShelleyERgirl, LPN · Mar 22, 2004

I was not trying to offend anyone. I was given this information by someone that was a corpsman in the military for 7 years. Thanks for your assumption

I know you weren't trying to offend me, I sorry I jumped down your throat, I am in nursing school right now and am constantly trying to explain to my fellow students and my instructors that just because I don't have my degree...yet( ) that doesn't mean I don't have the skills. Didn't mean to take out my frustration out on ya!

Former_HM2_FMF · Jul 6, 2004

i know this thread has been dead a few months but thought i would like to do a little give and take in the area of information.

give: i was a navy corpsman for a bit over 9 years. . . well, 9 years 3 months and 11 days according to my dd 214 (discharge papers) but who is ever counting? :rolleyes: i feel comparing a corpsman to a nursing assistant can be applied to very few cases. most corpsman can do much more than cna's and lpn/lon's and some even more than rn's. hospital corpsman a-school (go here for more info: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/navyjobs/navyjobs2/blhm.htm?terms=navy+hm+rating) is only 14 weeks long and as all navy schools has an accelerated curriculum. the school will teach you to perform basic bedside care in an inpatient setting: am/pm care, medications administration, vitals signs, how to draw blood, give shots, iv's, how to write nursing notes and to familiarize the student with medical terminology. on the outpatient side you are taught an emt course that is good enough to get you an emt-b cert in the civilian sector and american heart association cpr for the health care provider.

as mentioned above in an earlier post, after completing hospital corpsman a-school you pretty much have three options 1) go to your first duty stations depending on what is available 2) go to a hospital corpsman c-school (advanced training more info go here: http://nshs.med.navy.mil/oe%20web/nmetc%20c%20school%20program%20managers.htm) 3) or go to field medical service school (technically a c-school but referred to as one infrequently more info go here: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/navynec/blhm8404.htm).

take: i have been out on the navy since november 2002 having sworn that i have given up patient care for good. however after dabbling in this and that i just can not deny my urge to get back into patient care. i am just not comfortable in the business or information technology fields. i miss the health care setting. so here go my questions:

california is a state the corpsman can challenge the lvn/lpn boards, does anyone know of any other states and their home pages for requirements?

is there any difference between a lpn and lvn?

any help given would be appreciated.:)

Former_HM2_FMF · Jul 6, 2004

Also any advice about getting my RN, LVN/LPN leading to a RN, or just getting back into the swint of things would be appreciated.:)

I was going to start by getting my BLS instructor renewed anything else to shake the old cobwebs out?

Thanks.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Jul 7, 2004

california is a state the corpsman can challenge the lvn/lpn boards, does anyone know of any other states and their home pages for requirements?
is there any difference between a lpn and lvn?
any help given would be appreciated.:)

ca is the only state i know of, but you can check with individual boards. nc used to, but they no longer do this.

no difference between lpn and lvn other than what state you are in. they are called lpns in some states and lvns in others.