Advice on military and graduate degree

[MavrickMan]

I am a male beginning nursing school this summer and will graduate with my BSN in a little over a year. It's a fast program. I have always been interested in the service aspect of the military and I like the idea of team camaraderie and leadership. I am a highly successful and motivated student (always the top of my class) and I am married.

Here's my main issue:

I want to further my studies and obtain a graduate degree (NP, CRNA, administration) as soon as I can in my career. If I were to join the national guard or reserves, how difficult is it to attend graduate school while also serving part time, especially CRNA school? Will the military likely pay for this schooling, and if so, is a longer service commitment required?

I am looking for some advice on this topic. If I could go back in time I would have probably joined ROTC, but now it is a little too late for that.

Thanks,

Mavrick

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

Thank you for the insight. Sounds like reserve is a good idea or just simply waiting until after my APRN. I know med students cannot be deployed during school, does this protection extend to a student in a NP or CRNA program who is a reservist?

Look into Health Professional Scholarship Program. (HPSP) when the time comes. The military will pay for you to go to a civilian school and give you a monthly stipend. You will be considered a part of the IRR but you will not be deployable until you are done school.

That's the route I took and I owe them 3 years active duty.

[MavrickMan]

Look into Health Professional Scholarship Program. (HPSP) when the time comes. The military will pay for you to go to a civilian school and give you a monthly stipend. You will be considered a part of the IRR but you will not be deployable until you are done school.

That's the route I took and I owe them 3 years active duty.

When would be the best time to apply to that program? While I am applying to graduate programs? Just so I can get a general idea of a timeline.

[MavrickMan]

It's not that I didn't want to finish, but I hit a roadblock in terms of a lazy person hampering my ability to do my capstone where I work.

Understood. Thanks for your candid responses. I have come across many of your postings!

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

When would be the best time to apply to that program? While I am applying to graduate programs? Just so I can get a general idea of a timeline.

After you are accepted to grad school. If you choose CRNA, most likely there will be a waiting period from the time your are accepted and the time you start. If you decide to go the HPSP route, that would be the time to apply because the application process is lengthy.

[jgcadet]

You can join the reserves and guard easily and go to school. Now joining as a nurse is a different animal as the govt is currently gimped manpower and budget wise. Schools are getting cut left and right and PCSs are halted. In short the military is shrinking and very competitive right now.

Just about every Army ICU nurse I know wants to go military CRNA sooooo the pathway not only is very difficult it is just about the most competitive thing you can do in nursing let alone the military. Yes, they will want more years out of you.

My advice: Do the civilian thing for a while and get some experience then reevaluate in a few years. Right now the military is just not a sure bet.

[MavrickMan]

You can join the reserves and guard easily and go to school. Now joining as a nurse is a different animal as the govt is currently gimped manpower and budget wise. Schools are getting cut left and right and PCSs are halted. In short the military is shrinking and very competitive right now.

Just about every Army ICU nurse I know wants to go military CRNA sooooo the pathway not only is very difficult it is just about the most competitive thing you can do in nursing let alone the military. Yes, they will want more years out of you.

My advice: Do the civilian thing for a while and get some experience then reevaluate in a few years. Right now the military is just not a sure bet.

I hear that all the time too about the military shrinking at the moment. I think that is probably the safest bet to wait before committing to anything. I guess I'll just have to be patient! But I am glad it is competitive because it gives me a reason to work even harder.

Thanks for the advice!

[jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA]

I'm going to agree with the previous posters. It is generally better to get your advanced education prior to joining the military, especially if it is something extremely competitive like CRNA. Generally, you can get loan repayment for a sizable chunk of it after the fact. If you were interested in OR-CNS (not as competitive), then it might be okay to join as a BSN. If you don't get into USUHS, it's not like you can apply to another school; all AFIT CRNA students have to attend USUHS (uniformed services university of the health sciences, Maryland).