Rn, bsn to join air force to become md

inthepipeline, LPN · May 17, 2014

kmor82,

Congrats on becoming a U.S. Citizen! I'm glad you want to go on to pursue medicine and choose the military to do this. I have worked with serveral AF and Army personnel over my 6 years in the military. I served all National Guard (Army), but that was in a medical unit for 5 of those years, and I worked with everyone from medics up to doctors and almost everything inbetween. I was a premed/ psychology BA and later decided to pursue nursing school instead after working with the different people in my unit.

First off: medical school is a full time endeavor and very few people will work while in medical school (I've only known two docs who did this and it was only during their first two years). Generally, almost no one works during medical school. If you are in medical school you can rule active duty out completely because med school is 4 years full time (only a couple 3 year programs exist) and you can't attend med school while being an active duty nurse and moving around from post to post.

Now, you can join the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve and go to medical school. I've worked with 5 doctors who did that and it worked out very well. They have different loan repayment, bonus, and stipend programs depending on how many years you would like to give to them.

You can also take what's call a Health Professions Scholarship (HPSP). You owe them one year for each year of school they pay for. So 4 years of med school means 4 years of active duty after residency. You become a 2nd lieutenant and you do clinical rotations during the summer at military facilities. You also receive a monthly stipend and a books/supplies stipend.

The military has its own medical school: Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. You would owe them 7 years active after residency. You are paid the whole time at an officer's pay.

It's been 4 years since I've been in or advised anyone on this. What you really need to do is contact an Air Force medical recruiter. These are different than regular recruiters.

Again, you cannot study medicine part time.

kmor82 · May 17, 2014

Thanks for the information and i appreciate your help/advise. Now, i should thoroughly set my priorities and decide for the best step to take.