Questions about enlisting for medic jobs

midinphx, BSN · Mar 21, 2014

ASVAB works for all branches. But I think once you are in the actual process of submitting a package, you have to dedicate to 1. My son just enlisted army. He knew which MOS was available specifically for him based on his scores before even going to MEPS.

Your timeline may may be too short and unrealistic. Better get to work if you want to get it all in.

ArmyRN789 · Mar 21, 2014

The ASVAB is used to determine your eligibility (or aptitude) for certain jobs in the military. You need to score a certain amont of points in each area to qualify for medic training. I can't remember what they are anymore, but your recruiter will know. Also, don't sweat a rude recruiter. Either find another one or just be persistent. They don't need people right now so many recruiters will have attitudes. It's your career though so don't let that deter you. As an aside, if you are going to nursing school, why would you want to enlist as a medic??? If you are in an RN program, join afterwards and you can possibly be commissioned as an officer.

inspiredbynavy · Mar 21, 2014

I've chosen to join the Air Force Reserves.

@ArmyRN789, That's a good question. I find this to be a good time and opportunity to do what I want to do, which is serve in the military and help our armed forces. For awhile now my long term goal has been to get into the Nurse Corps. And realistically, that's not going to happen after I graduate with my BSN. We all know the sucky economy today... I know the reserves will work with my school schedule because the unit i'm hoping for is in the same town as the school I am applying to. Another thing is that I will be able to work in the civilian sector as an RN while doing the military thing on the side if I don't get into the nurse corps. ...and not to mention the educational benefits I will receive while in school. I don't get any government assistance right now with school. Everything is out of pocket for me.

Here's another question: is there a waiting list for the air force reserve? For example, I go to MEPS and meet all the requirements for medic (4N0X1) and then find out that there are no jobs available at that time. Can I wait until the job opens? My recruiter thinks I am "job locked" and told me that there is no wait list and I would not be able to do anything like that.

504 medic · Apr 28, 2014

Until you "sign" (thumb print digital signature) your contract, NOTHING is written in stone. And once you sign...it's in stone. So be prepared to walk out the door if things aren't to your liking. With research, you'll be able to know exactly what they are prepared to offer you, and what you can get from them. Apart from online searching, reading many people's experiences on boards, speak with current service members in the branch you're choosing. You'll function under an increased scope of practice in the military, and your training will be top notch. It's worth it. Good Luck.

jfratian, DNP, RN, CRNA · Apr 29, 2014

First, let me preface the following statement. I'm a current AF nurse and my only intent is to inform you---not discourage you. I also know very little about the enlistment process. I won't attempt to answer any of those questions.

First, I want to caution you against thinking that you will get all this great battlefield trauma experience. The way things are going, very few air force medical personnel are deploying. Sure, we could be in another conflict soon (knock-on-wood). However, you need to be able to accept the possibility of functioning in a hospital as a medical technician for a while: essentially a nurse aide with a scope that gradually expands as they train you on the job. Sure, there are special enlisted medical positions with responsibilities that far exceed that of an RN. However, I wouldn't count on getting one of them (ex. PJ or IDMT) anytime soon. As an A1C, you'll be doing pretty much the same thing as a nurse aide for a while.

Also, you won't auto-commission in the reserves once you finish nursing school. Plenty of enlisted people have bachelor's degrees. You also won't be able to practice at the scope of an RN until you commission. You'll have to apply just like everyone else, and even as a prior-enlisted it won't be a sure thing. Some people think 4N is the easy back door into the nurse corps, and I don't want you to be misled.

The only sure-fire thing is ROTC (even though not everyone gets active duty right now), and I encourage you to look into that if you are eligible. It will pay for school and help you become an AF nurse much faster (if that is your goal). I believe you only need 2 years remaining in your degree program for ROTC.

504 medic · May 15, 2014

@ Inspired by Navy: I forgot to mention, the pipeline for becoming an Army Medic wouldn't allow you to graduate by January...13 weeks at Basic, 16 weeks at AIT...and there are always a couple of weeks waiting in a reception battalion for your class cycle to start, so 31 weeks puts you well into next year. The other services will have similar time frames for medics, since, after basic (9-13 weeks), they all require you to complete two months of EMT school before you move on to your service specific AIT. And if you fail any phase of your training, you will be recycled into the next class, which could take 4 weeks until you start over. (So study hard...but that is pretty much the life of someone in the Medical Field...you will be studying for the rest of time.) :)

AFmedRN2be, BSN, RN, EMT-B · May 17, 2014

@inspiredbynavy to piggy back off of @504medic there will be no medic job available with the type of time line you want. (Btw I'm an Air Force reserve 4N051) when I left for bmt I was gone from November to mid June and that includes bmt, tech school, and the second phase of tech school that is synonymous with a nursing school type clinical, which lasts 6 wks. It is imperative that you do focus because being washed back can change everything, extending your orders and changing class dates for other parts of training.

If you decide to join before you finish nursing school wait for 4N and DO NOT chance going open general! But be clear as to what it entails as @ArmyRN789 stated some will make things seem easier than it is! However if you can do rotc etc. Take that opportunity!

Best wishes :)