At 11:36 this morning my cell phone rang. Who do you think it was? A U.S. Army Recruiter! She was very excited about my enlisting in the army, because of the splendid scholarship opportunities available for medical school.
I laughed and I said, “You really don’t want me in the Army! I’m 34 years old!”
And she said, “Hey, that doesn’t matter one bit. Why, in today’s army…”
So I interruped her, “And I’m gay!” And she said, “Oh,” in this small voice, and withered up all depressed and dejected and said thank you and moped off of the phone. I am officially unsuitable as cannon fodder for Uncle Sam’s army.
True story!
Gee. When will they get over this “gay” thing, anyway?
The age thing really surprises me though. I thought the cut-off was more like 30.
Sometime in the last few months I read an article about the Army raising the age of entering as an officer to 42. It was primarily directed at having NCOs cross over to the officer ranks, but I guess it helps those trying to get into the professional ranks as well.
The best I can tell after talking with recruiters at various stages of my medical education is that there is no age restriction for physicians.
Take care,
Jeff
Quote:
The best I can tell after talking with recruiters at various stages of my medical education is that there is no age restriction for physicians.
Take care,
Jeff
Back when I was a med student, the Army called me as well…didn’t have the ability to claim I was gay…sure woulda pissed the wife off! But, I did tell him that I was 33. He quickly countered that they were accepting openly up to 36 & he could easily obtain an age-waiver for physicians up to age 42. I told him how much I appreciated the info & his efforts…for getting me the age waiver…and politely told him I was not interested.
For many folks, the military is a wonderful option. For me, just not my cup ‘O’ tea.
I hasten to add that I grew up in a military household and that the recruiter and I had a very respectful encounter. ALSO, since this was posted, I have had personal emails from other gay oldpremeds.org people who have had the EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE, so they’re definitely getting the message that they’re having to pass on candidates because of the gay ban. This is also true of the translation world.