Hello everyone! Well, I have time…4 years before I’m out the military. In the mean time I intend to complete my pre-reqs, take my MCAT, get some volunteering done, boost my application to the best of my ability. In 4 years, I will be retired from the military and I want to be a doctor. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor and I believe the opportunity to do so has presented itself, once again. Once I start I will be 38. I can’t take my mind off of this and this is a dream I must pursue. I would love to hear about successful non-traditional doctors/students. I currently do not have kids, but I am planning to have one within a year so about time I start school my child will be 3. I will not be alone, but I have expressed to my significant other (whom hopefully we’ll be married by then) he will become the sole provider for our family. I can’t help but think about my future and I feel I am so determined that nothing will get in my way. I will get accepted and complete my medical education. I’m going to be a doctor. What are you thoughts on Caribbean schools? DO Schools?
Welcome itsmeetee. There are plenty of succesful stories on this site. I will also be starting Med School this fall at …38. I have 2 kids 6 and 3. Being retired from the military will certainly offer a lot of benefits (tuitions?) and I am glad you decide to join our ranks (and thanks for serving btw).
Now as far as Caribbean schools, I would advise against, because while US seats are increasing, it seems that residency position will not follow right away, so it will be becoming even harder for carib. students and other international grads to land a residency position. DO schools, definitely. Is there a reason why you excluded US MD schools?
In any events, I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted about your progress.
Hi redo-it-all. Thanks for your response. I won’t exclude MD schools, I have about 8 I want to apply to and I will apply to about 10 DO schools. I hope LSU Health and Science choose me. I’m from Louisiana and I want to go to school in my home state. Class of 2017, that makes me smile. You are doing it with 2 kids. That is great! Caribbean schools, I’m reading about them, but I doubt I will apply. It seems like a last possible resort solution. But I’m sure I will be ok.
There are plenty of stories here just take some time and look around.
My mentor was in the Navy for 14 years. He applied for three years and was finally accepted. He got out of the navy and during med school he had two boys and his daughter was beginning college. He had a tough time during med school because life is life and it took him six years to graduate but he did graduate. He is now an attending physician.
Do NOT even entertain the idea of Caribbean schools. They are the inverse of US schools in that they accept a ton of students but graduate less than half. Whereas in the US the pass rate is ~97%. So stay in the US. Plus redo-it-all makes the very real point that why go and then not be able to get a residenty slot. That would be a very, very costly mistake even assuming you graduate. Caribbean schools are not in the business of helping weak students so if you fall behind you’ll get left behind.
Stay US and go MD/DO.
Excellent, a lifer!!
If you know what you want, then do it without relent. Much respect to you, by the way; I didn’t last nearly as long before I took my honorable!
Caribbean schools have the reputation of not preparing students well for current boards, and do not qualify for the same loans you could receive if attending an accredited US med school - all this means that you front huge amounts of cash for a school that has poor USMLE passing rates. I.e., Croooz put it well: Stay US. DO schools traditionally accept lower MCAT and GPA scores relative to their MD counterparts, but that gap closes as the years pass while at the same time standards rise. However, consider Rocky Vista (DO school in Parker, CO): when they received provincial accreditation a few years ago they filled their inaugural class up QUICK, if you know what I mean. Read into that what you want to.
If there is any advice I could possibly offer to someone senior to me (in rank, that is), it would be to take it one bite at a time, and begin by looking into full, 4-year colleges wherein you feel the most comfortable…maybe that means looking for familiar student demographics, proximity to family, or awesome surrounding area (UC Santa Barbara, CO Denver, or UW Laramie come to mind…splendid campuses in stunning settings I have walked and would LOVE to attend!!) or the place wherein your spouse fits the best. I made a short-sighted decision with my college of choice, and I have senioritis now just ticking away the days until I can leave here.
Welcome to the forum - there is good advice aplenty if you just ask!!
PS - There is another certain, popular, large pre-med forum - which shall go unnamed 
HINT: it has the initials SDN - which I advise that you shy from, lest you post and be flamed by a handful of young, angry kids (though, I will concede that it is good for information sources from time to time. Notice the emphasis). OPM is where it’s at!!
Hello.
And thank you! I think I will stick to US Schools. It would be ashame to pay so much money and not get a quality education. I’m looking forward to this process and new life. Will keep you guys posted.
- Jfowler Said:
If you know what you want, then do it without relent. Much respect to you, by the way; I didn't last nearly as long before I took my honorable!
Caribbean schools have the reputation of not preparing students well for current boards, and do not qualify for the same loans you could receive if attending an accredited US med school - all this means that you front huge amounts of cash for a school that has poor USMLE passing rates. I.e., Croooz put it well: Stay US. DO schools traditionally accept lower MCAT and GPA scores relative to their MD counterparts, but that gap closes as the years pass while at the same time standards rise. However, consider Rocky Vista (DO school in Parker, CO): when they received provincial accreditation a few years ago they filled their inaugural class up QUICK, if you know what I mean. Read into that what you want to.
If there is any advice I could possibly offer to someone senior to me (in rank, that is), it would be to take it one bite at a time, and begin by looking into full, 4-year colleges wherein you feel the most comfortable...maybe that means looking for familiar student demographics, proximity to family, or awesome surrounding area (UC Santa Barbara, CO Denver, or UW Laramie come to mind...splendid campuses in stunning settings I have walked and would LOVE to attend!!) or the place wherein your spouse fits the best. I made a short-sighted decision with my college of choice, and I have senioritis now just ticking away the days until I can leave here.
Welcome to the forum - there is good advice aplenty if you just ask!!
PS - There is another certain, popular, large pre-med forum - which shall go unnamed
HINT: it has the initials SDN - which I advise that you shy from, lest you post and be flamed by a handful of young, angry kids (though, I will concede that it is good for information sources from time to time. Notice the emphasis). OPM is where it's at!!Yes I agree, don't let anything hold you back, I am 35 and a sophomore and medically retired (11 years 8 months, Army and Navy wanted to do 20+ but a bullet changed that) I also have a spouse and 3 children (twin girls that are 10 and a son, 6) can I ask you for more info (you can PM if you don't want to post it)? what was your MOS? Branch? officer/enlisted/warrant? If you have any questions about VA benefits or want to know the secrets let me know.
You are obviously motivated and determined but don't sell yourself short. get your pre-reqs done and MCAT before you start thinking Caribbean.
Welcome and be careful on SDN (angry, snotty kids)
I would love to do the same thing as you “itsmeetee” but I’m 25 and feel too old to get started in the doctor route. Seeing that you’re 38 (no offense) is making me think that I could give it a go.
Jay, there is a mil program that sends enlisted thru a post-bacc program and on to either USUHS or another US med school under the HPSP. I don’t know too many details on it, but it would be worth looking into.
Hi itsmeetee! Thanks for your service. I did 6 years in the Navy and got medically separated last year. Since then I took a Kaplan course, got back into study mode, took the MCAT, and now I’ve started the application process. I’m applying to DO schools because I believe that it fits better with me (if that makes sense). During this gap time between military and application I am also volunteering at a hospital a few times a week, and let me tell you that it has opened many doors. I started by running around the hospital delivering lab specimens and now I have been invited to shadow physicians, nurses, even paramedics. I have been told by the staff at this hospital that they tend to take older students seriously and give them ‘real life adult advice’ since we’re not 21-year-old kids who just want to be healthcare provider because it’s the cool thing to do, and that has been of great benefit.
I am also applying to MD schools in Puerto Rico because that’s home, where I was born and grew up. English is not my first language and their medical programs are exactly for people like me. None of my friends who stayed there had any problems matching right away, so I trust that they are excellent schools.
Hello- I am on the same boat—except no retirement. I am military and have not commissioned due to being scared it will mess up my chances for the HSPS. I have my BS and working on prereqs—with some delays due to the military. almost considering waiting until I’m out to remove stress and remove any issues against my GPA.
Other stats: single mother of 8yr old and 6 yr old.
Currently volunteering for hospice & interviewing for 2 other volunteer ops.
Looking at both DO and MD routes
27 years old- 10 yrs in.
Congrats on your journey—and wish some1 would’ve warned me about SDN. 
Hello All,
I just came across this forum and was hoping to gain a bit of advice. Like locbeautytee, I too will be retiring from the military in the next couple of years and wanted to attend medical school one day. I have been working as an Electronics Technician in the Navy for the past 20 years and frankly, I have no intention in staying in this field after retirement. I have always wanted to be a doctor but was to scared to act on it when I was younger. I have come to the realization that instead of staying in a field I don’t really care about, I should just follow my dream. I have an Associates in Technology and will be finished with my Bachelors in Health Care Administration this fall (GPA 3.6). I have been volunteering with the American Red Cross for the past two years but recently signed up to volunteer with the VA hospital in La Jolla, CA to try and gain a more clinical like experience. I am still mising most of the pre-req’s to apply to med school so I plan to finish them up before I retire in 2019. This is where my question comes in, should I complete my pre-req’s with a community college or a traditional four year university? There are several community college’s in my area that offer pre-med plans that work with my schedule (nights and weekends). On the other hand, I could take my pre-req’s with any of the three big universities here (SDSU, UCSD, USD) but several of the lab courses I need are only offered during the day when I’m at work. Additionally, there is a pretty substanital price difference between the two types of institutions and I will be paying for this out of pocket. The community college will be around $50 a unit versus $300 to $500 a unit at one of the larger schools. Since I already have an Associates and Bachelors degree so I am disqualified from using the Navy’s tuition assistance program. I could use my GI-Bill (Top-up) but I really wanted to save that for med school or a graduate program. This is not about choosing a less challenging course, it is about finding an institution that will work with my schedule at a price I can afford. My husband is going to school himself and we are already paying for his education so I am just trying to minimize cost as much as possible. Prior to discovering this forum, I was reading several post on SDN that advised against any community college work. However, I would agree with jde1223 and morga057 that the majority of the personnel responding on SDN have been quite discouraging and unhelpful. This group seems far more insightful and I woud love to gain any bit of knowledge and advice that any of you are willing to share. Thanks for your time.
BTW - If this question has already been answered in a different forum, please just let me know, Thanks again.
Additional Stats:
Married, no kids
39 years old
Looking at MD and DO schools in the US only (preferably in CA or nearby)
Keeping this short because I’m using my phone…
CC vs 4 year debate can be found scattered throughout the forums, so I won’t delve into it. But I just wanted to mention that I was able to use TA to take some prerequisites despite having a bachelor degree. This was a few years ago, but the ed counselor said since they were prerequisites for a degree more advanced than what I had, it would somehow work (not questioning their logic since it worked in my favor…). Downside is using TA this late into your career and getting hit with the additional service commitment.