Special Forces and Medical School

[yojink5434]

Hi all, so before I say anything, I know how difficult it is to make it into your amazing community. I've wanted to do SF since I was 14, and it has been a long term goal of mine. I'm now 18 and going to college as a Pre-Med, but still have that desire. I've been lucky to have been awarded an Army ROTC scholarship which I applied for because I wanted to join the Army in general, not just for SF. Now my question is, have you seen anyone in or out of SF do medical school and Special Forces? Is it possible? If you have any information regarding this please let me know. Again, I'm not banking on being in SF down the road, just wondering if it's a possible thing to do with medical school. Either way, I have a Plan B, but it's something I've really wanted to do.

PS: If there is an enlisted or NG way to do this, let me know. But I much rather hold my scholarship as out-of-state tuition for UCLA would be quite a burden.

[The Reaper]

Hi all, so before I say anything, I know how difficult it is to make it into your amazing community. I've wanted to do SF since I was 14, and it has been a long term goal of mine. I'm now 18 and going to college as a Pre-Med, but still have that desire. I've been lucky to have been awarded an Army ROTC scholarship which I applied for because I wanted to join the Army in general, not just for SF. Now my question is, have you seen anyone in or out of SF do medical school and Special Forces? Is it possible? If you have any information regarding this please let me know. Again, I'm not banking on being in SF down the road, just wondering if it's a possible thing to do with medical school. Either way, I have a Plan B, but it's something I've really wanted to do.

PS: If there is an enlisted or NG way to do this, let me know. But I much rather hold my scholarship as out-of-state tuition for UCLA would be quite a burden.

You might want to review the board rules and introduce yourself before asking for help here.

A fleshed out profile would be wise as well.

Best of luck.

TR

[yojink5434]

You might want to review the board rules and introduce yourself before asking for help here.

A fleshed out profile would be wise as well.

Best of luck.

TR



Will get on that! Sorry I thought I had posted my introduction, but I have read through the Stickies. I have not found a post regarding this topic on here and hope it can still be answered. Thanks!

[Eagle5US]

There have been a number of med students ask similar questions. Additionally, there have been a number of physician's who have asked about getting into the community.
Refine your search, you may find the answer you are looking for. Bottom line, you will need to be in Emergency Medicine to maximize your chances...then do at least 1-2 tours with an infantry unit, then apply to get assigned to Special Operations.
While it has been done that a physician or two has gone to the Q course...these chances have gotten much more rare. If you want to do "Special Forces"...your best bet is to do that FIRST, then go to medical school SECOND.
That being said - never pass up the shot at an education.

Good luck in your decision.

[Trapper John]

What Eagle5US said!! Go SF first then med school. SF med training and experience will give you a head start over your contemporaries. Follow TRs instructions and then PM Ender18D. He should be 2nd or 3rd year in med school by now. He can provided class A1 HUMINT. :D

In the FWIW department I went the medical research route instead of med school. They paid me instead me paying them to be bored to tears with 400 hours of anatomy :p

[stfesta]

I can not echo enough what Eagle5US said.

If you have an ROTC scholarship and you have found a way for someone to pay for your medical school. I highly suggest you do that first. No one will want to pay for your education when you are in your 40's. Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you like that.

"Special Forces" is not something you do. It's something you are. There is a common trait that each of us have that brought us here. If none of us were ever Green Berets, we would still share that same trait, we would still be a person that each other could count on.

Just my $0.02.

[yojink5434]

Thank you all for the helpful responses! Really do appreciate it, and I will take all of your advice to heart as I continue on. I will also PM Ender18D soon. Thanks all!

[blue02hd]

I love it when I am asked questions like "How hard was it?".


My answer: "Not hard if you want it. If you don't want it, it's damn near impossible."

[Stephens]

I'll venture to post as My best friend served as a physician in the 11th SFG (USAR)
He did this after med school and residency. He was prior service 11B. however.
I think he would advise med school, residency and then attempt SF. Based on our many conversations.
Actually, he advises no one to go into medicine with the current state of affairs.

Best of luck, OP.

[Team Sergeant]

I'll venture to post as My best friend served as a physician in the 11th SFG (USAR)
He did this after med school and residency. He was prior service 11B. however.
I think he would advise med school, residency and then attempt SF. Based on our many conversations.
Actually, he advises no one to go into medicine with the current state of affairs.

Best of luck, OP.

The only folks that post in this forum are the folks that ask the questions and the Special Forces soldiers that answer those questions.

This will be your only warning.

[RichL025]

I'll second what Joe (Eagle5US) said...

Pretty difficult to go to SF after med school. In addition to EM, FP is probably another good choice, but options like that are few & far between. Additionally, should you be one of the very few to get a Q course slot as a MD, you won't really be _serving_ as an SF guy. Oh, you'll get to wear the beret and all that, but you won't be on a team. You'll be at the Bn med shed....

On the other hand, plenty of us old farts manage to go to medical school after SF. Most of them don't wait as long as I did (started undergrad after 12 years on AD) or Dan Godbee (went to med school after finishing 20. Or was it 30?). But after 5-8 years you're still a young man!

Difficult to give you advise in this. The right thing is different for everyone. SF is not for everybody. Neither is med school.

You only live once. Try & make it count whatever you choose to do.

Rich

[RichL025]

Addendum: The "pretty difficult to go SF after med school" thing doesnt count for the NG. They do some weird shit, and I've heard about MDs going through the Q course as 18Ds and serving on NG teams. Don't know how common that is though...

[miclo18d]

"Special Forces" is not something you do. It's something you are. There is a common trait that each of us have that brought us here. If none of us were ever Green Berets, we would still share that same trait, we would still be a person that each other could count on.
WELL SAID!!!

This is actually a hard concept for some to understand. I came up in the 75th Regt and the saying always was, "The tab is a school, the scroll is a way of life". Very true but it was/is more than that.

When I went to Jumpmaster School at Ft Benning, I had an instructor, I still remember his name, SFC Prince, he was such an excellent guy and just professional and knowledgable! I asked him, after I graduated, to go to Ranger School and come to 3rd Ranger Batt and that I would work for him in a second (NCO's must have a tab to be in the 75th). It wasn't a Tab or a school or an award that made him special, it was something inside of him. You could smell it, taste it, feel it. He was a guy people wanted to lead them.

I don't know 90% of the guys on this board, but I was brought in because of a brotherhood. The fact that I would lay down my life for any of them and they would do the same for me. The fact that when there is a job to do, no one looks for an excuse (except the team CPT), they ask what can I do? The fact of when a bullet cracks over head they they run.... toward the fire, not from it!

It can be explained but hardly ever understood.

If that is the kind of thing you want to be part of, I would suggest you go to the Army first (Reg Army, Ranger, then SF), volunteer to go 18D and as far as med school goes.... you never know if you just might go PA. Med school is fine too, you would certainly have a leg up on everyone with real world experience.

[18C/GS 0602]

Dan Godbee (went to med school after finishing 20. Or was it 30?).


Dan is a great guy and a friend. He has a pretty amazing life story. He turned down SGM to go to Medical School. I am one of those odd NG guys that went to the SFQC after medical school and residency. It was not the path most traveled but it worked out well in the end and I got to spend a few years on an ODA which is priceless. Dan was one of the few people that did not try and talk me out of enlisting to go to SFAS after residency.

[RichL025]

Good deal! Although I see your handle says 18CHARLIE instead of DELTA!!! You must have been one of the most highly cross-trained Charlies ever!:D

You're story actually rings a bell in the dusty corners of my brain. Have we run into each other before?

[18C/GS 0602]

Have we run into each other before?

I don't think so but I would be willing to bet we have lot of friends and acquaintances in common. The tabbed M.D. world is pretty small. I am pretty sure we will run into each other at some point. First round is on me.