medical school

[Tristan]

ok so the navy is willing to pay for medical school but i cant transition if i do. id have to give them 12 years on top of the 4 years for medical school and 3 years as a R1-2-3. so im asking can i make it and be an ok person if i dont transition.

[myles]

So 19 years total. I would say it's up to you. Some people on the forum never transition, some wait until they are older and some do it right away. I would go by how long you think you can go without transitioning and be OK with who you are. I don't think anyone can answer that but you.
Myles

[Paulina]

Personally, you be a much stronger person doing this if this is what your dream in life is. For me though, I am not even considering medical school, and if I was I would probably get a student loan (or something) if I was. If I had the calling for the military, or if the United States drafted me then I will go with honor.

It's your decision, and that's basically a quarter of your life, give or take. You probably could also become a doctor in less time, then in 19 years, probably more like 10 years or less after becoming a doctor and paying it off.

If this is what you really want to do, and you feel like you need to do it. Then do it. Or otherwise you know what the result is.

[Kate Kat]

It's not as good a deal to have the government pay for med school as it sounds.  You don't get to pick your residency as freely - it gets decided behind closed doors by a committee of officers with *some* consideration of your desired specialty.  They also pay substantially less to their practicing doctors than they could receive in private practice.  Between the two, you could actually make more money/save money not having them pay for your education.  Having the military pay for medical school is really best for people who want to be career military and just want to enjoy the fringe benefit of not facing debt.

I'm a 3rd year medical student applying for residencies right now, and I have friends who just went through the military match.  Just FYI.

Personally, I wouldn't do it.  Medical school is already pretty much the most soul draining, difficult and embittering experience I can imagine.  It's way worse than you can understand till you go through it.  It's not about the academics.  It's about the ->-bleeped-<- they put you through.  Don't add a military career AND deny yourself transition on top of that unless you really, really, really want to be in the navy.  It's hard enough to transition in medicine, as it's  still very much a good ol boy's network.

Feel free to PM me with any Qs.

[Mister]

You don't get to pick your residency as freely - it gets decided behind closed doors by a committee of officers with *some* consideration of your desired specialty.

That's what I was going to say.  Good luck becoming, say, a rheumatologist or a pediatrician in the Navy.  It is not useful for them.  Unless you want to repeat your residency post- military, I wouldn't do it.

[Kate Kat]

If you want to pay it off on the cheap, just get in to your state school.  If you do a primary care profession, you can get around 75k from the feds in loan forgiveness for your schooling, plus more from whatever state programs you have. Anyways, every doc has a ->-bleeped-<- ton of debt.  They still make a good living.  You have 25 years to pay it off.

PS Think long and hard before going into medicine.  It's a one way decision.

[Wendy]

Tristan,

A good PA makes $100K.  That sounds O.K. to most.

Other then the Navy what down side do you see to transition? 

What are the pros and cons for you?

[Jaimey]

You might also look into scholarships and financial aid just to see what is out there.  I have one friend whose undergrad was free because she got a scholarship because she's trans (...I'm not exactly sure on the details, but there are trans scholarships out there).  I have another friend who got a full ride to medical school.  Granted, you have to have top scores for that, but it is a possibility, especially if you utilize all the resources at your undergrad school.

[Audrey]

dont become a PA.  become a nurse practitioner.  they can go into business for themselves and malpractice insurance is cheap (at least in montana, lol).  Like less than my insurance premium. 

[Jay]

Personally I wouldn't do it. Couldn't give that much time of my life when I know what I want before I joined I wouldn't go in.

But like everyone has said the only person who can make that desision is you.

I wish you all the luck in what ever path you choose to take.

Jay

[myles]

The work all the time to keep my mind off it, I tried that one and it did not work at all.  I would be concerned about making such a long commitment if you are not 100% sure it is for you. The military can be hard to get out of and it's a huge investment on everyone's part. Looking into financial aid and so forth sounds like a good idea to me.
Good Luck on whatever you choose!
Myles

[imaz]

The work all the time to keep my mind off it, I tried that one and it did not work at all.  I would be concerned about making such a long commitment if you are not 100% sure it is for you. The military can be hard to get out of and it's a huge investment on everyone's part. Looking into financial aid and so forth sounds like a good idea to me.
Good Luck on whatever you choose!
Myles

100% agree with this excellent advice

[Kate Kat]

PA is really a pretty sweet gig.  Schooling is over much faster.  You make 80k+ a year.  You can move between fields when you get bored.. The only thing stopping you from going between being an ob-gyn and an emergency room doc is the place you are employed.  You start earning right away and your debt load is way lower.  Your hours are much less.  Personally, if I had to do it all over I would be a PA or a Nurse Anesthetist.  They make 120k+ a year and have a pretty mellow life.  Being a doc isn't all it's cracked up to be. 

Anyways, if you want to be a doctor you will go to medical school. That's cool,  I respect that.  I didn't listen to all the doctors who told me not to go either.  But If you are ever planning on transitioning, I would strongly advise not to go the military route.  And I would guess that if you already started hormones, then your gender dysphoria will catch up to you and knock you on your ass eventually.  Don't think of medicine like all those people treat relationships: It will not cure your GID.  It's hard enough being a transitioning physician, believe me.

[tekla]

If you want to be a doctor, and think you could have done it, and had the chance to do it - you'll hate not being the doctor.

[Jaimey]

Also, if you're not sure about whether you want to be a PA or a nurse practitioner or a doctor (or any of the other options in the medical field), the best thing to do would be shadowing or getting internships. 

Do what will make you happiest. 

[Wendy]

Tristan,

Long hours of work each week are a way of controlling the stuff but if you take hormones it tends to make the stuff worse.  If you are young and you do not want to live as a male and life would be better as a female then this is a factor in your equation.  Now if you can keep the grades in med school then you can study for a specialty that would make you in great demand.  You do have an option to transition and become a doctor.

Hey options are O.K.!

Good luck!

[Cindy]

Tristan
If you are already transitioning and are on HRT and developing your female outward appearance you may be putting yourself in hell joing the military as a guy. How will you cope?
You are developing breasts and want them removed to go military? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me

As everyone has said the decision is yours and I have no information of medic/paramedic training in the USA (I'm in Australia).

If your avatar is your pic, you look feminine. Do you really want a crew cut and be "one of the guys?".

Not sure if crew cut is USA talk, buzz cut? really short hair.

Love and Hugs and hope it works out

Cindy James

[imaz]

yeah right now with being on hormones im a barely B cup and could pass it off as gynecomastia and get minor surgery to take care of that. im already a paramedic/nurse and would like to be a doctor, but could be happy with being a PA as well still being able to practice  and all. its just that people are telling me i have made such progress ever since i've started to slowly transition. and to stop would may be put me back in the same place i was before with was really a bad place? i dont know though im just trying to figure this all out.

Just my opinion my friend but having surgery to remove your breasts when you are TS is a really, really bad idea. Be yourself and don't do something you will come to hugely regret later on.

[imaz]

yeah my BF brought that up last night.apparently im not exactly very male looking anymore.and yeah that is my avatar/photo of me. i think i still look really guyish and horribley Ugly, but my bf says i look ok. but they have to say that

You look fine, don't worry about that

Lol at "they have to say that"

[Jaimey]

i think i still look really guyish

I think your mirror is broken!  You're gorgeous and quite feminine looking!