Hi, I'm new to oldpremeds

I have revisited the decision to work at becoming a doctor many times since I graduated high school. I’m not sure how the rest of you feel, but I was just plain intimidated by the idea, I mean after all it is a large investment (time, money, discipline, etc.). Well here I am finally deciding to go for it at 44. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that my 2 oldest are now adults.


I have a 2-year degree and will begin taking premed this fall at the CC. Plan to transfer to the University in spring, however. I do have lots of clinical experience as an acute care CNA (oncology, ortho and med-surg). I’d like to work in the medical corps (military) as a doctor.


I am open to any suggestions. Especially with regards to juggling a family and working in the military as a doc. Good luck to all!

onmyway44,


It sounds like you have a solid plan for the medical school prep part. However, at 44, you are likely already too old for the military part.


I’m currently in the Navy HPSP and have 10 years of prior active duty enlisted service in the Air Force and I had to get an age waiver when I entered HPSP last year at 42. According to my recruiter, even with a waiver and prior service, you would still have to obtain your commission and graduate from medical school before your 48th birthday. Unfortunately, even with a waiver and prior service, I don’t think military medicine wouldn’t be an option for you unless you were starting medical school this year.

  • TicDocDoh Said:
onmyway44,

It sounds like you have a solid plan for the medical school prep part. However, at 44, you are likely already too old for the military part.

I'm currently in the Navy HPSP and have 10 years of prior active duty enlisted service in the Air Force and I had to get an age waiver when I entered HPSP last year at 42. According to my recruiter, even with a waiver and prior service, you would still have to obtain your commission and graduate from medical school before your 48th birthday. Unfortunately, even with a waiver and prior service, I don't think military medicine wouldn't be an option for you unless you were starting medical school this year.



At our our 2007 Conference in Chicago, this question was posed top the commander of health professions recruiting, chicago naval district whose response was, if you have a letter of acceptance and can pass a physical, they'll get you a waiver. It is likely TicDocDoh is more on target but I am tempted to say that this worth going up the chain of command a bit and see if we can get a more definitive answer as to the policy. Would be a difficult hill to climb but lets see if it at doable.

Hi gonnif,


While I’ll be the first to admit the waiver mechanics are kind of complicated, something that should be kept in mind even if an age waiver is theoretically possible is the accession route and the specialty choice as these affect the service payback period.


All service paybacks, which include an active duty committment + a 4-year reserve committment, must be completed prior to the 62nd birthday - the maximum age for military docs. Here are a few scenarios to see how they would play out for the OP.

  1. USUHS - Hébert School of Medicine (is a service-academy for physicians) - the payback would be the length of internship/residency (variable # of years) + active duty payback (7 years) + reserve committment (4 years). If the OP did a primary care residency (3 years), the payback would be 3 years internship/residency + 7 years active duty + 4 years in the reserves for a total of 14 years. In order to complete this service by the OP’s 62nd birthday, the OP would have to graduate from med school before his/her 48th birthday.

  2. HPSP - attend a civilian med school in the USA and the gov’t pays for it - the payback is the longer of either:


    a.) the combined length of internship/residency + the length of scholarship (4, 3½ [Army only], 3 or 2 years) or


    b.) double the combined length of internship/residency.


    Again using the example of a primary care residency (3 years) and a 2 or 3 year scholarship, the payback would be 3 years internship/residency + 3 years active duty + 4 years in the reserves for a total payback of 10 years. In this case, the OP would have to graduate from med school before his/her 52nd birthday in order to complete the service payback. If the OP wanted to do surgery, anesthesiology, or urology (all 5 years of GME), the service payback would be 5 years residency/internship + 5 years active duty + 4 years reserve = 14 years; the OP would have to complete med school by his/her 48th birthday.

  3. FAP - attend a civilian residency as a reservist, but get active duty pay + benefits - the active duty service committment is the length of residency + 4 years reserve. For primary care (3 years), the payback would be 7 years (3 active + 4 reserve) so the OP would have to complete residency by no later than his/her 55th birthday, which means graduating from med school by the 52nd birthday (the same as for HPSP).

  4. direct appointment - if one is already board certified - the service committment varies depending on whether:


    a.) you take the student loan repayment program


    b.) you accept an accession bonus that stipulates you serve X number of years.


    The requirement here is that you have already completed both medical school AND residency.


    Waivers will be easier to obtain if the OP is prior service and has no health problems - including things you wouldn’t think were health problems like dry skin, for example.


    Here is a link to Navy GME - it shows how long each residency is (remember to add 1 year to these numbers to account for the required internship year). It also shows, albeit indirectly, the odds of matching into a given specialty based on the number of annual training slots available. Family practice, for example, would be easiest to match into - it is offered at 5 MTFs (medical training facilities) and accepts up to 44 applicants/year. Neurosurgery, on the other hand, would be the most difficult to match into as it is offered at only 1 MTF and only accepts 1 applicant/year.


    http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/navmedmpte/gme/ Pages…

Thanks for your advisement. It is much appreciated. I see what you mean about the military time commitment regarding age. I did see that they have shortened the time to 2 years for people 43-60. The commitment has to be completed by age 62. But they can extend it after that if they want either active or reservist.


Here is the link:


http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/special_two_yea r_promo…


What do you think? Looks like at this point, I should be finishing med school/residency at around 56.

I took this from the navy website http://www.navy.com/navy/careers/healthca re/physic…


"Qualifications


To qualify for Active Duty employment consideration in the Navy Medical Corps, you must:


Be a U.S. citizen or a foreign citizen currently practicing in the U.S. (contact a Navy Medical Recruiter for details)


Be a graduate of an eligible medical school accredited by the AMA or the AOA


Have completed one year of graduate school in a program approved by the AMA or AOA (interns currently in training may also apply)


Have a current state medical license within one year of entering the Navy Medical Corps


Be willing to serve a minimum of three years of Active Duty


Be between the ages of 18 and 62 (qualified candidates over the age of 62 will be considered on a case-by-case basis)


Be in good physical condition and pass a full medical examination


Yes, my only options (I think) are to either go FAP or direct after residency. If anyone finds out differently please let me know. But for now I gotta get through premed successfully!

If/When I get to the FAQ of accurate definitive answers, these post above by TicDocDoh and OnMyWay44 will be the answer to “am I too old to go a military route”

  • onmyway44 Said:
I did see that they have shortened the time to 2 years for people 43-60. The commitment has to be completed by age 62. But they can extend it after that if they want either active or reservist.



I didn't know this. Thanks for finding this. This sounds like good news for both of us.