You’re here because you’ve served our country in uniform and are trying to decide on your next career. (At least we hope that’s what brought you here!) Either you have no idea what your next step will be, or you’re actively considering becoming a doctor. V2MD is here to help.
Medical schools across the US are looking for students who can provide leadership and real-world perspective. Veterans are a natural fit for this role. Most of us have been charged with great responsibility at a young age. Almost all veterans have been exposed to a bare minimum of first aid, and many of us have interfaced regularly with medical professionals, either as providers or logisticians. Veterans are accustomed to working long hours – not out of a desire for recognition or financial gain, but because that’s what service requires of us. However, though more than a million veterans have served since 9/11, only about 400 apply to medical school each year. In short, veterans are an untapped source of talent for the medical profession.
Between 2012 and 2013, my husband and I were both trying to determine the best step to take as we finished our time in the Army, and I am currently finishing my time at The George Washington University Medical School. You can hear more about my journey here and from an interview I did with Beyond the Uniform. (My husband ultimately went in a different direction and is doing just fine post-MBA.) When contemplating this enormous step, however, while we found a wealth of resources for veterans considering business school, law school, and direct entry into several different sectors, there was very little guidance for those looking to apply to medical school. There is a great deal of contradictory information out there for “non-traditional” aspirants to medical school, and practically none of it is tailored to veterans. Vet2MD exists to help close this gap.
So, if you’re a veteran seeking a guide to what medical school is all about, please visit Start Here -> The Path to Medicine: From Application to Practice. If that doesn’t scare you off (or if you already have a good grasp of the journey to become a doctor) start with Resources -> The AMCAS, which is an abbreviated guide to the overall process of applying to medical school. From there, check out Pre-requisites, The MCAT, and Post-Bacc Programs, depending on which are applicable to you. After reading all that, if you believe this is the right path for you, go ahead and check out Application, Your Resume, and Paying for Med School.
If you have any questions about the information you find here, please leave a comment or send me a direct message at Contact Us. This is a rapidly scaling site with a robust feature map, but we want to be sure we nail the basics first. We won’t look at your questions as extra work, we’ll consider them opportunities to improve and offer the highest quality information to veterans. We want nothing more than to be a useful resource as you begin this next phase of your career.
In closing, we wish you the best of luck as you contemplate becoming a doctor and possibly even begin your application. Becoming a doctor is a rewarding way to continue a lifetime of service. We believe you have a enormous potential to add to the medical profession, and hope to see you making an impact for the better over the coming years and decades.
And of course, thank you for your service to our country.