tain Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Hi all, I am planning on joining the Army soon to be a medic to get some experience in healthcare and I was wondering if anyone else had done this? Also, does anyone know if Physician Assistant programs look highly upon military medical experience? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beattie228 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I was a medic in the Army, and that's where I racked up a large portion of my 12,000+ hours. If you have your prereqs knocked out or you're close, the IPAP program may be a good idea for you after you're settled in at your unit. Here's the website: http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/ipap/ My Army Combat Medic experiences have hands down been hands the greatest thing I've done to date. Many of the procedures my peers have only read about, I've done in theatre. Additionally, you'll get to work along side some fantastic PAs. Once you have the trust of your Battalion PA, he or she will train you on anything your heart desires. It's not the easiest route, but you can't beat the opportunities. As far as schools that look highly upon military medical experience, the one that comes to mind is University of Washington-MEDEX. There are a slew of PA programs that recognize the high level of training and medical experiences and gladly welcome military medics through their door. Dr. Stead actually founded the PA profession using military corpsman who came home from combat with the necessary medical skills to transition to great PAs but lacked the formal education needed to bridge the gap. There's also an initiative for PA programs to train veterans. There's a link elsewhere on this forum discussing that if you do a quick search that lists those schools. Best of luck to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tain Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Thanks for the info, do you have any suggestions for me in regards to joining as an Army medic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beattie228 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 There's not really a whole lot of advice to give. The training is intense, but that goes without saying given that you're thinking about joining the military. I can say the military games that you'll experience do get old after awhile, but medics are usually treated well. Depending on the type of unit you're with after your training, you can take classes at no cost to you. I was knocking out a class or two a semester, and professors were usually very lenient about working with me if I was in the field or deployed to the Middle East. PM me if you have any specific questions about the process or military medics in general, and I'll do my best to help out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koppma Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 That link is http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/08/20120802a.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LESH Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 You might also check this link out. http://www.paeaonline.org/index.php?ht=d/sp/i/132462/pid/132462 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Make sure you're joining because you want to join and serve and not just because you want HCE. You may find that the lifestyle is not for you if that's the only reason you're going in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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