Military Reserves - pros & cons?

[EHMPH]

Hi all,

 

I am considering the pros & cons of joining the reserves. I have a bachelors and will earn my masters in ~1 year, so I am hoping those who are more experienced can guide me as to potential options occupation-wise (i.e. MOS, AFSC, NEC) in the reserves of each branch.

 

I have spoken with many people who have used their military training and experience as medics to stand out in the civilian world, and I am hoping to see if I can use experience as a reservist to stand out among my peers.

 

Ideally, It would only be a tempting opportunity if the occupation would provide me with health-care related training and exposure. It looks like many of these jobs are enlisted-level occupations - Is that the route to go? My degrees are not clinical related.

 

I would be proud to serve, and selfishly, I'm also wondering if by having prior military experience would this better set me up HPSP-type scholarship in the future?

 

Thank for any advice,

Please ask questions if you need clarification.

[Friction]

Navy-Hospital Corpsman

Army-68w, 91w, etc

Air Force- Aerospace Medic

Coast Guard- Health Service Technician

 

In all honesty, military medical training is amazing and offers a very wide scope of practice, however, much of it is is useless in the civilian world since the latter requires a degree, certification, etc to practice certain things. As a Corpsman, I've learned how to do needle thoracentesis', cricothyrotomies, and some other fairly advanced things that would be performed by a doctor in a civilian setting, however, you can't practice those outside a military setting as you don't hold the necessary civilian license. Don't get me wrong its great knowledge, just know where your boundaries are if you decide to go that route. Either way its a great introduction to medicine and I don't think I'd be where I am now without the knowledge and practice I got through the military.

 

As far as the Reserves go, and I can only speak for the Navy, its alright. Since you're only there once a month its a lot of paperwork and making sure you're in a deployable status. I get to deliver some patient care, but its mostly blood draws, immunizations, and record keeping. If you're applying to a program that requires a good amount of HCE it's not going to provide you that, however, it will (and did for me) provide a good set of skills that makes you desirable to civilian employers. You're pretty much reserved (pardon the pun) to going enlisted since your degree(s) aren't medically related. To become and officer your job needs to relate to your degree.

 

In terms of HPSP/HSCP, I'm not really sure that being prior enlisted will give you much of a leg up on other applicants. Those are very competitive scholarships and they usually go to the most qualified candidates, whether or not the person has served. Obviously it can't hurt. Although it took me volunteering for nine months in the ER before I got hired on as an ED tech, I fully believe that my military experience and discipline helped get a job in the end. Given that the set of skills you learn as a Corpsman, medic, etc is so broad, once you get out of your basic training year you'll have the option to move into a number of health care related jobs.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to answer.