I guess the best place to start would be the very beginning... About 2.5-3 years ago, I started considering the idea of joining the military after I graduate college. Through my premedical fraternity, I was exposed to several doctors who had joined the military, and I was intrigued by their stories. I really wanted a way to do something MORE with my career as a physician. I want to travel and see the world while doing what I love. I was honestly kind of bored with the idea of going to med school (and being broke the entire time), applying for a residency in my area, and becoming a doctor here and living here for the rest of my life. That just sounded awful to me. There is too much in this world to experience to be stuck here forever! (Not that I don't love where I live).
I believe it was at the beginning of my sophomore year of college (I am now a senior) that I was exposed to the military HPSP. HPSP stands for Health Professions Scholarship Program, and it is offered by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. It's an AMAZING scholarship that includes full tuition for medical school, a sign-on bonus, a generous monthly stipend, and reimbursement for books and other school expenses. The only "catch" is that after your residency, you owe the military, whichever branch you picked, a year of service for every year of med school they paid for. (Read as: you get a guaranteed job after you finish med school and all your training.) You have the opportunity to take part in military residency programs and travel to bases across the country. You can't be deployed during med school. You really live your life as a normal med school student, except the military pays you every month, and after your first year, you go to officer training in your branch. Once you finish med school, you'll be paid as a resident (you'll make a little less than civilian residents), but you'll also be paid as a military officer.
The Consideration Process:
The first I heard about HPSP was from a Navy recruiter. I actually visited a Marines recruiter first, but he told me they don't have doctors (they get theirs from the Navy). So off to the Navy recruiting office I go. I was a sophomore in college at the time, so there was really nothing I could do as far as applying until after I took my MCAT and got some acceptance letters for medical school. So I just did a lot of research and thought the Navy was the best fit for me. I actually got into contact with an amazing girl from the next state over that was going through the Navy HPSP and was in med school. She gave me a ton of great and honest advice that I really couldn't get from a recruiter. As I did my research, I got much more comfortable with the idea and pretty much decided that if I got the scholarship, I would do it. I told my family and tried to get their support (something I'm still working on). My thoughts were that I would regret not taking this opportunity more than I would regret joining.
Fast forward to April/May of 2015... (Spring of Junior Year)
Again, with my premed fraternity, I attended several sessions in the simulation lab at my future medical school. These sessions were sponsored by Army Medical. I met SSG Prescott, who was in charge of organizing all of the different cool things we did in the sim lab. He gave us another presentation on HPSP, this time from the perspective of the Army. It really got me thinking...
A couple weeks later, my university had a Health Careers Fair where a bunch of medical schools set up booths to hand out application information, etc. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all had booths as well, and had pamphlets about their HPSPs. I instantly went to talk to the Navy guy, and we had a great conversation, but he didn't really tell me much that I didn't already know. Then I saw SSG Prescott at the Army table! I went to say hi and expressed my interest in HPSP and he immediately started talking about my family and what they thought about me joining. He said that he'd love to meet with me and my family, and he'd bring a female colleague so I could get a woman's perspective on the military life. Sounded good to me, so I took his pamphlets too and headed off to class.
The Application Process:
At this point I knew that I couldn't really take any more steps until after the MCAT was over, so I focused on that. About a week before the MCAT, SSG Prescott emailed me and said he'd love to talk to me more about HPSP, so I said of course! I arranged a meeting with him, my mom, and my boyfriend. This was the first real serious exposure my mom has had to me joining, but my boyfriend is in the National Guard, so of course I had asked him lots of questions and we had discussed the idea as well.
After the meeting, I waited a week until I emailed SSG Prescott, telling him that I was interested in starting my application process with the Army. At this point, for many different reasons, mainly just to do with small differences between the programs, I feel more comfortable moving forward with the Army. Maybe it has something to do with the awesome relationship I'm forming with SSG Prescott, maybe it's that my boyfriend is in the Guard, or maybe it's that I realized living on a big boat for months might not be what I want to do.
So I met with SSG Prescott again and we started the application, a very tedious one I might add. He started with a health screening, asking basic questions about my medical history and other health issues I may have. Certain things will immediately disqualify you from service, so he wanted to start out with that. You can easily Google these things to see if you've got anything that would keep you from service. He then started asking me questions about literally everything. Don't be ashamed, because you're gonna get a question about EVERYTHING, including every health problem, every parking/speeding ticket, EVERYTHING. If you withhold information and the Army finds out about it later, that is grounds for dismissal. For example, if you've got a heart problem you don't tell them about and you have a heart attack during training, it's your butt on the line. After a couple hours, he sent me home with a list of important documents I needed to bring next time I saw him (social security card, birth certificate, etc), and he emailed me the application with all the questions we had already answered, plus tons more that I could do on my own time. The application took about four hours total (on my own, not including time in the office) but I was so excited I finished it all in one day or so. I sent it back to him...
Over the next few months, I got some documentation from my doctor confirming some medical history items, I sent SSG Prescott my official MCAT scores from AMCAS, and asked for my recommendation letters. You need five letters: I got mine from a friend's dad who is in the Army, two high school teachers, a family friend I babysit for, and a college professor. I also had to write a statement of motivation explaining why I want to be a physician in the army (about 500 words).
(All in all, SSG Prescott eventually told me that the whole application packet and every form I had to sign totaled up to 181 pages...)
The MEPS Process:
Once I got all that finished, SSG Prescott sent my information to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station). MEPS has 72 hours to confirm or reject your information (usually you'd only be "rejected" if you had a missing document or something like that; you won't be rejected entirely at this point). Once MEPS confirms your entry, you'll schedule a physical there. There is a MEPS station in my city, but if there isn't one near you, usually you'll be sent somewhere nearby and stay at a hotel the night before (I assume this is Army-funded, but since I live 2-3 miles away from my city's MEPS, I didn't do this).
The only things I was told to bring to MEPS was my Social Security Card and picture ID. I reported to the MEPS building at 0545 (starts a 0600). I sat outside the building with two other guys that were going through MEPS too. We waited until another large group from the hotel arrived, then we all lined up. There were two lines: one for people that had never been to MEPS before and needed the whole physical, and one for people that just needed to return for a specific reason or two. We removed all jewelry and belts, and handed in any weapons we might have had (don't bring them! One guy had a hunting knife and I had my pepper spray and we had to turn them in and never got them back). Then we went through security and all made our way up to the fourth floor where MEPS was. We all placed our belongings in cubbies in a locked room (everything except our ID and SS card) and met with our liaisons (each branch has a liaison or two in a separate office). They just checked us in, gave us name tags, and made sure we were all good to go.
Then we checked into the control desk and got our files, took pictures for ID, and headed off to different places depending on why you were there. We started in a large classroom for orientation/paperwork (just some simple medical history etc.) and a breathalyzer test. That part took about an hour. Then the rest of the day was spent in the medical part doing different tests. We peed in a cup, got blood drawn, did a hearing test and a vision test, and had an interview with a physician talking about any previous medical issues in our file and making sure they had all cleared up. Then the group of girls went into a room and stripped down to our underwear. They took our height and weight and made sure that we were within the requirements, then we did our duck walk and other very simple exercises to show we were physically sound. That doesn't sound like a lot, but since we had a large group of about 25, it took until about 1300 to get it all finished. It was a lot of standing in lines and "hurry up and wait." They did have a TV set up in the room with lots of movies to provide some sort of entertainment. Somewhere in there, MEPS provided us lunch (very good!).
After you finished (if you made it that far without failing something), they handed you a working copy of your results and you checked in again with your liaison. A more official copy of my results would be provided later to my recruiter. And that was it!
Because of some mix-up with the height and weight requirements, I had to return to MEPS to take those measurements again. The first time, they used enlisted standards instead of officer standards, so I had to go back. Luckily, I passed the second time too.
Next was the actual submission of my packet to the Selection Board. I got all my materials ready by October 1st, so my packet was sent to the first selection board of the year. About three weeks later, I got a call from SSG Prescott saying I had gotten the scholarship. It took a few more days for him to receive the official memo in writing.
Now here was the fun part. Throughout this whole process I had talked to my family and friends about it, and of course they were a little wary, but supported me. Once I got the scholarship officially, I sat down with my boyfriend, then with my grandparents and my mom, and had the talk. It's a hard decision to join the military, and without support, it's even harder. I wanted to talk to the most important people in my life and make sure that this decision makes them proud of me. Even though they're afraid I might get hurt, afraid I won't like it, etc, they all said they supported me no matter what my decision and they're proud of me. (This paragraph makes it seem a lot easier than it actually was, but it's going to be a different experience for each person.)
The Commissioning Ceremony:
To be officially commissioned into the Army as an officer, you have a ceremony with the oath of commissioning. I wanted to have a ceremony with my family and friends, not just in my recruiter's office. I set the date with my recruiter (about two months after I got the scholarship) and I planned to have it at a Civil War museum in my hometown (I thought it was appropriate). I asked my friend's dad, an Army Lieutenant Colonel, to commission me. He had written me a BEAUTIFUL letter and had been very supportive throughout the entire process, so I thought he would be the perfect person to ask. You have to have an Army officer commission you, but if you don't know one, your recruiter can easily find one for you to do the ceremony.
I had a small official ceremony in the recruiting office, just for paperwork to be moved along, etc., but I planned a more formal event a few weeks later in December. I held the ceremony on a Saturday afternoon and had about 30 friends and family members attend. I had a few snacks and cake for a reception afterwards. SSG Prescott said a few words to start, then CPT Saxion (who had officially commissioned me back in the office) spoke, then LTC Mayes commissioned me with the oath. I had time to mingle with everyone that came, and it was a great experience that I will never forget!
So that's it! I am now a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Corps Reserves. I couldn't be more proud to be a part of this amazing group of people and I am so excited to see what comes in the future!
Quick thank you to all my friends and family who have supported me throughout this whole crazy process (if any of you are still reading). I love you all!
Here are some pictures from my commissioning ceremony:
T