Posted on Sep 1, 2018
What career advice do you have for someone pursuing a career in military healthcare? Should I go Army or AF? Officer or enlisted?
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I’ve got a bachelors in Kinesiology and am a current strength coach, but am feeling stuck in the civilian world. Im 32, have a wife and my first kid on the way. I’m prior Marine Corps infantry and have had my fun and excitement being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, so not looking for anything crazy and dangerous. Im looking to go on active duty for the long run (career and retirement in mind), preferably in a health field.
I’ve done my due diligence, and to keep it short, here the options. All opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance!
1. Continue with a masters degree in health promotion (or switch to health admin) and Army ROTC as an MSIII. Hopefully branch into medical services. I just started a masters program and met with ROTC deptartment and this is my current plan. Commissioning and graduation is still two years away.
2. Re-enlist into either the Army as a Physical Therapy Specialist or Air Force in Physical Medicine (they are both open to prior service). I worked under a Physical Therapist for nearly 2 years and really liked doing this work. I know both of these receive credits towards physical therapy assistant certifications and have bridge programs to get full certification.
3. Re-enlist into the Air Force as an Aerospace and Operational Physiology Technician. Using my degree in kinesiology and experience in exercise science to help with the human factors of being a pilot would definitely be awesome. This would be my number 2 option. I’ve asked about being an officer for this field, but was told my GPA is too low to be competitive.
4. Go to Air Force OTS and become an Air Liason Officer. It’s the most infantry thing in the Air Force.
Sorry for any misspellings… I’m typing this on my iPhone
I’ve done my due diligence, and to keep it short, here the options. All opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance!
1. Continue with a masters degree in health promotion (or switch to health admin) and Army ROTC as an MSIII. Hopefully branch into medical services. I just started a masters program and met with ROTC deptartment and this is my current plan. Commissioning and graduation is still two years away.
2. Re-enlist into either the Army as a Physical Therapy Specialist or Air Force in Physical Medicine (they are both open to prior service). I worked under a Physical Therapist for nearly 2 years and really liked doing this work. I know both of these receive credits towards physical therapy assistant certifications and have bridge programs to get full certification.
3. Re-enlist into the Air Force as an Aerospace and Operational Physiology Technician. Using my degree in kinesiology and experience in exercise science to help with the human factors of being a pilot would definitely be awesome. This would be my number 2 option. I’ve asked about being an officer for this field, but was told my GPA is too low to be competitive.
4. Go to Air Force OTS and become an Air Liason Officer. It’s the most infantry thing in the Air Force.
Sorry for any misspellings… I’m typing this on my iPhone
4M0X1: Aerospace and Operational Physiology
Medical
4J0X2: Physical Medicine
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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With an undergrad in Kinesiology have you considered becoming a Physical Therapist? The Army has a board each year for the Afmys PT Baylor Program. If selected, you would enter the Army as a 2LT and be a graduate student for the next three years. You would then graduate with a DPT and be a Captain a few months later. I’ve known quite a few PTs and love thier job in Army Medicine.
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https://www.baylor.edu/graduate/pt/
Applying to the Army-Baylor DPT program sounds like the way to go. I was prior enlisted and I went this route a few years ago after a short break in service. I'm now in the final year (internship year) of the program and while it has been very, very difficult I'm definitely glad I made the jump. My biggest regret is that I didn't do so sooner. I think my prior enlisted service has definitely been an advantage. It's really given me a unique insight that my fellow classmates don't have. We need more motivated former EM in the program so I encourage you to give it a look. If you have any questions please let me know. Good luck!
Applying to the Army-Baylor DPT program sounds like the way to go. I was prior enlisted and I went this route a few years ago after a short break in service. I'm now in the final year (internship year) of the program and while it has been very, very difficult I'm definitely glad I made the jump. My biggest regret is that I didn't do so sooner. I think my prior enlisted service has definitely been an advantage. It's really given me a unique insight that my fellow classmates don't have. We need more motivated former EM in the program so I encourage you to give it a look. If you have any questions please let me know. Good luck!
Army-Baylor DPT | Baylor University
Baylor Graduate School in Waco, Texas, is a private Baptist university, and a nationally ranked liberal arts institution.
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Chang Han
Did you apply the Army-Baloyor DPT program while you were enlisted? I am currently civilian looking forward to join army as enlisted active duty. I have a kinesiology degree. I am planning to be 68f (physical therapist specialist) when I enlisted. Is there any opportunity on 68f to pursue DPT program? Also, is it possible to commission after the graduation of DPT program as 65 B?
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Thanks everyone for the comments. Time to go pick a physical therapist’s brain for info!
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