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Eastward Bound
July 10th 03, 04:20 AM
Is it almost guaranteed if you want to use the air force to get into
med. school and to pay for it?

As long as you can make it through basic training?

How exactly does that work? Basic training? AIT? Why AIT when they
just pay your tuition for your choice of university?

I hear you owe the air force a year for every year you were in med.
school.

Is it really impossible to get into med. school to be a doctor without
the aid of the armed services? What if you avoid the top notch
schools in California, Massachusetts, New York and Florida? Is it
still not practical?

I have a cousin who is now a doctor and she had to go to the Caribbean
to find a college that would accept her and this was over 5 years ago.
Maybe things are changed since then?

Les Matheson
July 10th 03, 04:52 AM
I suspect the best way to get the Air Force to pay for medical school is to
attend the Air Force Academey and do very, very well academically and in the
military training. Then get selected to go to med. school as graduated
work. Second best is to go thru ROTC get a schorarship and excell
academically. Again get admitted to a med school as a graduate program by
the AF. I never ever heard of anyone, with or without college going through
BAsic as an enlisted person getting selected for medical school. Don't
believe it if a recruiter tells you it can be done. See a medical
specialities recruiter, not the Joe Blow guy down the street. There might
be special programs, but they have special recruiting teams for them.

Les
F-4 C(WW),E,D,G(WW)/AC-130A/MC-130E EWO, ret
..
"Eastward Bound" > wrote in message
om...
> Is it almost guaranteed if you want to use the air force to get into
> med. school and to pay for it?
>
> As long as you can make it through basic training?
>
> How exactly does that work? Basic training? AIT? Why AIT when they
> just pay your tuition for your choice of university?
>
> I hear you owe the air force a year for every year you were in med.
> school.
>
> Is it really impossible to get into med. school to be a doctor without
> the aid of the armed services? What if you avoid the top notch
> schools in California, Massachusetts, New York and Florida? Is it
> still not practical?
>
> I have a cousin who is now a doctor and she had to go to the Caribbean
> to find a college that would accept her and this was over 5 years ago.
> Maybe things are changed since then?


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S. Sampson
July 10th 03, 05:50 AM
"Eastward Bound" > wrote
> Is it almost guaranteed if you want to use the air force to get into
> med. school and to pay for it?

Absolutely not!

> As long as you can make it through basic training?

Doctors and Med students don't go through Basic.

> How exactly does that work? Basic training? AIT? Why AIT when they
> just pay your tuition for your choice of university?

Just do whatever they require, don't ask questions or try to understand it. It is
designed by people who know what they want, and you don't get a vote.

> I hear you owe the air force a year for every year you were in med.
> school.

You should plan on a 20 to 30 year career in the military. It's the best damn
retirement program in America--Bar none! You will be in your prime as a
doctor, and your advanced education oportunities are the same, or better,
than civilian doctors. If you want to become a surgeon, and your skills aren't
the best in med school, the military has a battlefield program that will give
you practical surgury experience on both friendly and enemy patients. The
number of cadavers to practice on, are almost unlimited. For example, I got
a B in Gross Anatomy, but after 6 months in Iraq in 91, I was able to conduct
all manner of procedures, and my amputation rate was the lowest in the unit.

> Is it really impossible to get into med. school to be a doctor without
> the aid of the armed services?

Yes. Go to any med school web site, and read the entrance requirements.
If you are a 4.0 student with a science degree, you are almost a sure bet.
But, there are many other ways to become a doctor.

> What if you avoid the top notch
> schools in California, Massachusetts, New York and Florida? Is it
> still not practical?

Top notch schools are for millionairs. Forget about it unless you get a full
scholorship with tuitions and fees. You can't afford it, and it isn't necessary.
The people who go to those schools are well bred, but fare no better than
any other doctor in life. Money buys the college, not the degree. I've seen
Pakistani doctors who learned their skills without 24 hour electricity do as
well in the field as top school graduates.

Remember, you will not see third-world disease and problems in American
schools. These are very sanitary facilities, and do not reflect the real world.

> I have a cousin who is now a doctor and she had to go to the Caribbean
> to find a college that would accept her and this was over 5 years ago.
> Maybe things are changed since then?

If your grades are poor, or you have a non-science degree, and you really
want to be a doctor, then take whatever you can get. An M.D. or D.O.
degree. As screwed-up as the M.D. program is, I would steer anyone into
the Osteopathic field, for sane medical training, without the bull****:

http://www.amops.org/

Good Luck,

S. Sampson, DO
U.S. Army Field Surgeon 1980, 2000
Riyadh University Medical Center 1976,1979
Karachi Medical School 1976
University of Montana, BA

Gooneybird
July 10th 03, 12:49 PM
Cub Driver wrote:
>> The
>> number of cadavers to practice on, are almost unlimited. For example, I got
>> a B in Gross Anatomy, but after 6 months in Iraq in 91, I was able to conduct
>> all manner of procedures, and my amputation rate was the lowest in the unit.
>
> This comes under the category of information that I'd really rather
> not have.
>
> (Gross Anatomy? Really?)

You think Gross Anatomy is gross? If you knew anybody involved in health care,
you'd know that Gross Anatomy is merely the doorknob to the world of gross!
It's really much, much worse (depending on how you look at it) once you get into
it! You think I'm exaggerating? Just ask anyone involved in the medical
professions for the straight poop.....it'll invariably be a lot straighter and
far more poopy than anything you ever wanted to hear. (^_^)))

George Z.

Gooneybird
July 10th 03, 12:52 PM
Cub Driver wrote:
>> Is it almost guaranteed if you want to use the air force to get into
>> med. school and to pay for it?
>
> It used to work the other way around: you went to med school and you
> got drafted as a captain. Or so my doc tells me.

Your doc has it right. Nowadays, med school graduates are so deep in debt, they
can't afford to pay it off at the rate they can earn it from the
military.....they almost have to go into practice in order to make enough dough
to pay their bankers off.

George Z.

S. Sampson
July 10th 03, 02:27 PM
"Gooneybird" > wrote
> Cub Driver wrote:
> >> The
> >> number of cadavers to practice on, are almost unlimited. For example, I got
> >> a B in Gross Anatomy, but after 6 months in Iraq in 91, I was able to conduct
> >> all manner of procedures, and my amputation rate was the lowest in the unit.
> >
> > This comes under the category of information that I'd really rather
> > not have.
> >
> > (Gross Anatomy? Really?)
>
> You think Gross Anatomy is gross? If you knew anybody involved in health care,
> you'd know that Gross Anatomy is merely the doorknob to the world of gross!

You guys are using the wrong definition of gross. Gross as "in the main" is what
the schools mean. The subject is very exciting and probably more practical than
the damn cats and frogs we disected in high school. My problem in medical school
was that I just wasn't ready to memorize all that crap. It was too much information,
too fast. Alas, I survived...(hint: everything comes in threes...)

> It's really much, much worse (depending on how you look at it) once you get into
> it! You think I'm exaggerating? Just ask anyone involved in the medical
> professions for the straight poop.....it'll invariably be a lot straighter and
> far more poopy than anything you ever wanted to hear. (^_^)))

When your surgeon says he's going to remove your colon, then you better hope
he doesn't find the subject "poopy." :-)

This is a great web site:

http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/GrossAnatomy/vhp/visible.htm

Gooneybird
July 10th 03, 04:56 PM
Don't take it all so seriously, Doc. I'm merely trying to generate a few laughs
(or at least smiles) out of a serious subject.

George Z.

S. Sampson wrote:
> "Gooneybird" > wrote
>> Cub Driver wrote:
>>>> The
>>>> number of cadavers to practice on, are almost unlimited. For example, I
>>>> got
>>>> a B in Gross Anatomy, but after 6 months in Iraq in 91, I was able to
>>>> conduct all manner of procedures, and my amputation rate was the lowest in
>>>> the unit.
>>>
>>> This comes under the category of information that I'd really rather
>>> not have.
>>>
>>> (Gross Anatomy? Really?)
>>
>> You think Gross Anatomy is gross? If you knew anybody involved in health
>> care, you'd know that Gross Anatomy is merely the doorknob to the world of
>> gross!
>
> You guys are using the wrong definition of gross. Gross as "in the main" is
> what the schools mean. The subject is very exciting and probably more
> practical than
> the damn cats and frogs we disected in high school. My problem in medical
> school was that I just wasn't ready to memorize all that crap. It was too
> much information, too fast. Alas, I survived...(hint: everything comes in
> threes...)
>
>> It's really much, much worse (depending on how you look at it) once you get
>> into it! You think I'm exaggerating? Just ask anyone involved in the
>> medical professions for the straight poop.....it'll invariably be a lot
>> straighter and
>> far more poopy than anything you ever wanted to hear. (^_^)))
>
> When your surgeon says he's going to remove your colon, then you better hope
> he doesn't find the subject "poopy." :-)
>
> This is a great web site:
>
> http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/GrossAnatomy/vhp/visible.htm

Gooneybird
July 10th 03, 04:58 PM
Andrew Chaplin wrote:
> "S. Sampson" wrote:
>
>> You guys are using the wrong definition of gross. Gross as "in the main" is
>> what the schools mean. The subject is very exciting and probably more
>> practical than
>> the damn cats and frogs we disected in high school. My problem in medical
>> school was that I just wasn't ready to memorize all that crap. It was too
>> much information, too fast. Alas, I survived...(hint: everything comes in
>> threes...)
>
> Three kidneys? Three lungs? Three gonads? No wonder you had trouble!
> :^)

Ahhh....another comedian! A man after my own heart, or gonads, as the case may
be. (^-^)))

George Z.

Eastward Bound
July 10th 03, 09:51 PM
"Les Matheson" > wrote in message news:<yq5Pa.65$N%3.13@lakeread01>...
> I suspect the best way to get the Air Force to pay for medical school is to
> attend the Air Force Academey and do very, very well academically and in the
> military training. Then get selected to go to med. school as graduated
> work. Second best is to go thru ROTC get a schorarship and excell
> academically. Again get admitted to a med school as a graduate program by
> the AF. I never ever heard of anyone, with or without college going through
> BAsic as an enlisted person getting selected for medical school. Don't
> believe it if a recruiter tells you it can be done. See a medical
> specialities recruiter, not the Joe Blow guy down the street. There might
> be special programs, but they have special recruiting teams for them.
>
> Les
> F-4 C(WW),E,D,G(WW)/AC-130A/MC-130E EWO, ret
> .

Thank God for your post! I am sincerely grateful.

Still, I don't know what to think.

I'd rather be an Air head then a Jar head but that's just me.

I do wish that the Air Force Academy in Colorado will take care of the
rape issue that has been going on. It's not something to be proud
of...

What other places does the Air Force have an Academy besides Colorado?
Don't you need to be sponsored by your state senator to attend? Just
like going to West Point? I can't imagine it being tougher to get
into them West Point but still tough nonetheless.

This is probably why many doctors are either middle age or older
because it's just so difficult and 10 years education is a very long
time.

I would prefer my doctor being middle aged rather then someone young
an inexperienced.

For me if someone is going to mess with my body, experience counts.
He/She better know what they're doing and experience couldn't be more
important.

I'm not a guinea pig, I'm human...

Right now my Doctor is Dr. Onyegotcha. Can you believe I actually
thought she was Asian with that name when in fact she was black?
Maybe she has a husband who is Asian. I think DR's are wonderful and
I give them all my respect and admiration for what they have been
through. True that there are a lot of bad doctors out there but
regardless they are some very brilliant people of the world.

We need more doctors so that I can talk to my doctor one on one for at
least 30 minutes instead of only 5 minutes.

What happens when I'm already old! I want good health care!

S. Sampson
July 10th 03, 10:53 PM
"Andrew Chaplin" > wrote
> "S. Sampson" wrote:
>
> > You guys are using the wrong definition of gross. Gross as "in the main" is what
> > the schools mean. The subject is very exciting and probably more practical than
> > the damn cats and frogs we disected in high school. My problem in medical school
> > was that I just wasn't ready to memorize all that crap. It was too much information,
> > too fast. Alas, I survived...(hint: everything comes in threes...)
>
> Three kidneys? Three lungs? Three gonads? No wonder you had trouble!
> :^)

I can remember the big pieces :-)

http://www.lumen.luc.edu/lumen/MedEd/GrossAnatomy/Threes.html

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