Posted on Mar 24, 2019
Can someone in the Nurse Corps switch over to the Medical Corps? Would they keep their rank or move up in rank?
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Hello, I am nearing the end if my first enlistment into the Army. I am currently close to getting my associates degree and was wondering, if I went green to gold and became a nurse, could I become a doctor sometime after? I want to become an endocrinologist, but school of course is expensive.
Medical
Nurse
Doctoral Candidate
CPT
Posted 7 y ago
Responses: 20
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While this is possible, not sure about probable. The link below describes the School of Medicine by the numbers. You might be able to pursue this directly from ROTC.
https://www.usuhs.edu/medschool/matriculation-facts
https://www.usuhs.edu/medschool/matriculation-facts
The mission of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences is to educate, train, and comprehensively prepare uniformed services health professionals, scientists, and leaders to support the Military and Public Health Systems, the National Security and National Defense Strategies of the United States, and the readiness of our Uniformed Services.
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Don't waste time being a nurse if you want to be a doctor. First, nursing at the BSN level isn't exactly very medical and focuses on patient care and not medicine and diagnosis. Second, it flushes several years down the drain that could be spent preparing for actual medicine.
As LTC Mackay pointed out there is USUHS. It starts out as a LT and graduates as a CPT.
If you really want to be a doctor, finish your BS, apply to the EPMD2 and then to USUHS.
As LTC Mackay pointed out there is USUHS. It starts out as a LT and graduates as a CPT.
If you really want to be a doctor, finish your BS, apply to the EPMD2 and then to USUHS.
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SFC (Join to see)
MSG (Anonymous) it's true it's an extremely competitive program. The only person I know who was accepted was a fellow career counselor. They could also apply straight to USUHS with all the prerequisites, but it can be difficult to satisfy all the prerequisites sciences on active duty. I actually have a friend who was an 11B who did it on active duty.
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Why spend your money on nursing if your goal is MD/DO? Not all nursing school college credits carry over so you’d probably be doing some additional classes on top of your BSN to be able to apply to medical school.
If nursing is something you want to do, you could go on to get your MSN/NP later on and you then are a provider. You can commission as a nurse and then as time goes on work on your masters/doctorate. But seriously consider one option or the other, but doing both is simply a waste of your time and money.
If nursing is something you want to do, you could go on to get your MSN/NP later on and you then are a provider. You can commission as a nurse and then as time goes on work on your masters/doctorate. But seriously consider one option or the other, but doing both is simply a waste of your time and money.
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SPC (Join to see)
My primary goal right now is to finish my bachelor's in biology. I want to use the active duty green to gold program to do that. I don't know much about the differences of medical corps Moses I can use with a bachelor's degree I assumed nursing? My goal is basically to get all of schooling done, including medical school, active duty while on the army's dime.
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SGT (Join to see)
I wouldn't try to do nursing unless you actually want to be a nurse - you need your nursing classes, clinicals, and NCLEX which is all money away (and another 1-2 years) from your bachelor's in biology. Tuition Assistance and GI Bill both would be routes to paying for completing your bachelor's. If medical school is your ultimate goal, you should contact an AMEDD recruiter and see what they can do for you once you get into medical school. I know they generally do either a loan repayment program or a scholarship based on when you are coming back in as a medical officer.
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Why not just go straight to Medical School. Take the ROTC Scholarship, ask for an educational delay after you get accepted to a Medical School (either USHSU or a Civilian School), apply for the HPSP scholarship and you’ll be good to go. No need to “step advance”. Unless you think nursing will give you and edge? Also, have you looked into the IPAP (Physician Assistant)?
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Your MOS / Branch does not matter if you attend Medical School and become a physician! I've served with many physicians who were Combat Arms Officers prior to attending Med Schol.
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SPC (Join to see)
So I could potentially go green to gold to finish my bachelors? Finish whatever service commitment I need to for G2G, and then go to Med school while on Active Duty?
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SFC Clark Adams
Yes you could get you BS and then attend Med School on the Army's dollar as a civilian or an AD Soldier. You would need to discuss it with a AMEDD Recruiter. think that you should fist get accepted to Med School first then discuss options with a recruiter.
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SPC (Join to see)
I apologize for any miscommunication. So, my first goal is to finish my Bach. In nursing, become part of the nurse core, then attend medical school. All while being active duty.
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SFC George Smith
SPC (Join to see) - Go For Your BSN Nursing Get Classes Needed For Med School... Find Out If The DOD Still does the MD Program... And You should Maintain Your Rank …
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Yes you can and the military can help you. If the Army paid some of your way for Nursing then you would likely have to finish the time you owe to the Army Nurse Corps. Once you get all your prerequisites in order and do well enough in undergrad and MCAT, you can either apply for Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) “USCHUS” or HPSP. USU is the Military’s triservice medical school. You get military pay and benefits as an active duty officer O-2-O-1 or what ever rank you had from the ANC. You owe 7 years of active service to the Army afterwards but this includes your 3 year medicine residency and 1-2 years in Endocrinology Fellowship so it works out.
The pay is great being a student and you just owe the military your hard work and time.
HPSP (Health Professional Scholarship Program?) is another option if you want to attend medical school outside of USCHUS. A majority of military doctors come from this program. You go through med school paid mostly by the military and you get a stipend to live on. Just not as much as active duty pay. In turn you owe I think 4-5 years of active duty service which includes you residency. Remember your pay coming out of the military will be substantially more than when you are an active duty board certified staff physician but the military tries a little to give specialty pay to docs but it still doesn’t match.
Many docs with more than 10 yrs of time in service stay for retirement.
I hope this helps.
The pay is great being a student and you just owe the military your hard work and time.
HPSP (Health Professional Scholarship Program?) is another option if you want to attend medical school outside of USCHUS. A majority of military doctors come from this program. You go through med school paid mostly by the military and you get a stipend to live on. Just not as much as active duty pay. In turn you owe I think 4-5 years of active duty service which includes you residency. Remember your pay coming out of the military will be substantially more than when you are an active duty board certified staff physician but the military tries a little to give specialty pay to docs but it still doesn’t match.
Many docs with more than 10 yrs of time in service stay for retirement.
I hope this helps.
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When you want more, just ask, I can virtually drown you in this stuff, promise, OK?
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