I work in a highly technical field that I was very fortunate to enter relatively late in my career, in my early 40’s after bumping around along an interesting, sometimes frustrating, seemingly almost random career path. My prior jobs had not necessarily required advanced education, but my current one does. Having been in this field now for many years, I have been witness to many college stories.
One of the most interesting deals not with undergraduate study, but rather medical school. I worked with an individual who was at my company about a year, having started in an entry level job shortly after finishing a bachelor’s degree, and leaving in time to begin medical school the following autumn.
This person was book smart, and had enjoyed school. If memory serves, there was a modest amount of loan debt. Nothing too shocking, as I recall, but there nonetheless. This individual had the academic chops and desire to get in to med school, but did not have the financial resources to pay for it.
Brilliantly, this person also did NOT have the desire to incur the massive loan debt (something like $200,000-$300,000 plus living expenses) that would be required to attend.
You can only imagine one Someday Wise being delighted to hear this individual’s strategy forward. It turns out the U.S. Government will pay for all sorts of higher education, for all sorts of reasons and in all sorts of subjects. Well, not all sorts. Specific sorts, of interest to them.
This smart person had learned of one such option, in the form of the United States Military. Apparently said military has fewer doctors on its payroll than it needs, and for a commitment of some years of service, they will go right ahead and sign all the checks necessary for you to get through a few challenging semesters of anatomy and other advanced sciences necessary to care for the health of human people.
“Whoa, Someday,” you may be thinking. “Military service is risky.” I certainly don’t deny that. Life itself is risky, unfortunately. Just without even thinking about it, I can immediately name two better people than myself who died of cancer in their thirties for no apparent reason other than the riskiness of life itself. I can name children under ten years old who did the exact same thing. And don’t even get me started on the wonderful people we lose in fatal accidents.
I don’t like risk either. Not one bit. Sorry to go there, but the point is, life is dangerous and holds few guarantees, and we are foolish to think we, or those we love, can ever be entirely safe from dangers and hazards. A bit of defensive wariness, and a massive dose of gratitude for our own continuing good health and fortune, would go a long way toward, well, general wisdom. You’re welcome.
“Whatever, Someday, you have lost me now. You’re kind of blowing my mind here. Too much.” Fair enough, I get it. You don’t want to serve in the military. You don’t want your child to commit to a hazardous career. That’s fine. It’s just one option. It’s not right for everyone. It’s not even available to everyone. It’s competitive, as is the entrance to medical school itself, of course.
Let’s assume I have not lost you now. A lot of people who want to be a doctor have an image of the family practice physicians we have all seen for regular checkups and for antibiotic prescriptions while growing up. They picture someone who works roughly bank hours, goes home after punching out for the day, has time left over for family and leisure activities, and earns an enormous, or at least comfortable, salary.
The idea of a military doctor brings to mind a much more harrowing picture. Someone, perhaps, like Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. This TV series (based on a movie that was based on a novel) is well known to persons of a certain era. Namely, the era of Someday Wise. Often laugh out loud funny, the show also included a lot of deep, dark themes inherent to the setting at a mobile army hospital during the Korean war in the early 1950’s.
This show was primarily about the surgeons who were living a very different life from the white-coated clinicians familiar to most Americans. Deployed into active foreign service near the front lines, their job was to patch together the damaged, wounded infantry soldiers who were flown in by “chopper” helicopters with little notice, day or night. Oh, by the way, they were active targets themselves as well, always in some danger of attack.
Similar military field hospitals still exist, and theoretically, any physician serving in a branch of the military might be required to serve in one. There is a huge need for doctors in less threatening circumstances, however. Many military bases have doctors onsite for basic care of service personnel and their families. There are many military hospitals and clinics here on U.S. soil and they are, of course, full of doctors.
Going to medical school on such a contract solves the financial problem in exchange for future service. Paid service, I might add. There is a stipend for living expenses while the student is at the medical school. Then afterward, the military assists with or provides the mandatory additional experience required of all doctors, again, with pay.
If you don’t know anything about becoming a doctor, you may find it interesting that after attending all that college, it’s necessary to complete more training in the form of internships and/or residency. This involves some uncertainty, with a national “match” system that finds a place for most candidates. Most. Some people end up outside of the system and are not able to obtain their medical license.
The military has a vested interest, after paying all that tuition, in making sure its doctors complete the training. With an extensive medical network that they run, the chances are very high that residency matches will be within this network. They need those doctors in the first place, remember? It may not be absolutely guaranteed that the military can solve the residency match problem, but logic suggests it should be pretty close to a guarantee.
We were discussing risk in the paragraphs above. There is a risk of hazardous duty in the military. There are also risks to going a more traditional route to medical school. The risk of incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. The risk of failing to secure the additional residency training necessary to obtain a license to practice medicine. The risk of securing a residency match, but at a hospital system that is poorly run or funded. The risk of failing to make a profit, once employed as a doctor, due in part to unforeseen business costs such as malpractice insurance. The risk of failing to find work even after finishing all the training. Yes, there are apparently doctors who can’t find jobs. Just search the internet.
Imagine someone paying for your medical school and then providing you all the rest of the necessary training, and a job at the end, with pay comparable to civilian doctors? With your malpractice insurance paid by your employer. With the potential to stay on with this employer beyond your mandatory commitment, if desired.
As always, this information is just my opinion, based on information obtained from direct observation and internet research. Before making decisions on such life-impacting matters, everyone needs to do their own research and think long and hard about options and consequences. If this discussion inspires you to do that, ideally before you are already in some kind of financial hot water, then at minimum you will be better positioned to make an informed decision. Best wishes on your journey. And have a nice day!
Someday Wise 