Combat Engineer to Medical Officer

[Tommy_ricer]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I have some questions about joining in the near future and how I can fully make the most of the CAF with my goals.

I want to be a medical officer, I’m receiving post secondary education in the sciences in hopes of successfully attending medical school some day. MO has been my biggest goal for a while.

My girlfriend’s father used to work in a combat arms trade, which led me to research more about non-medical trades. I developed a great interest in something like combat engineer or anything in combat arms. I asked on Reddit if it was an option to complete MOTP, serve the required years, and then submit an Occupational Transfer to something like engineer officer or something close to combat engineer in an officer position, but understandably MO’s are scarce right now so I was told it likely wouldn’t happen for me.

I didn’t want to bother people on Reddit more so I thought I would bring inquiries here. I began thinking it might be more obtainable to finish undergrad, enter as something like combat engineer NCM, and then apply for an occupational transfer to MOTP after (hopefully) being accepted into med school? Does this sound doable?

I really want to be able to do both of the things I am interested in during my career, and I think that doing something like combat engineer would be smart financially so I’m not placing all my eggs in one basket with the hopes of getting into med school.

 

[Winds]

Becoming a Medical Officer hinges on your ability to gain acceptance to med school. IF you are able to get into med and MOTP, then I'm not sure why you "think doing something like combat engineer would be smart financially". If you were to get accepted to MOTP, your pay as a medical student would be higher than what you would receive in the same time frame as combat engineer. After getting your license to practice, it'd be much higher.

If you want experience as an NCM, why not join the reserves now? As a bonus, you'd receive $2k/year in education reimbursement (up to $8k total).

 

[dimsum]

Regarding switching from another trade, that is the Military Medical Training Plan (MMTP), which is different than MOTP.

I wouldn’t suggest that because a) you need to serve a number of years in your trade after training, and b) there are no guarantees that your trade will let you transfer.

If you want to be an MO in the CAF, my suggestion would be to get into med school and get into MOTP.

 

[McG]

I know a few Engr who have gone through the MMTP to become doctors … don’t know any NCM who have taken MMTP.

If you want to explore different occupations and are not taking the ROTP path, than the reserve force recommendation is a good one.

 

[Tommy_ricer]

Becoming a Medical Officer hinges on your ability to gain acceptance to med school. IF you are able to get into med and MOTP, then I'm not sure why you "think doing something like combat engineer would be smart financially". If you were to get accepted to MOTP, your pay as a medical student would be higher than what you would receive in the same time frame as combat engineer. After getting your license to practice, it'd be much higher.

If you want experience as an NCM, why not join the reserves now? As a bonus, you'd receive $2k/year in education reimbursement (up to $8k total).

I thought I replied to this but I think it didn't post.

Just wanted to thank you because I don't know why, but I had never thought of the reserves as an option. I obviously knew they existed, but just never thought about how that is actually a really, really good idea. So thanks! I think I'll be doing that.

 

[da1root]

I know I'm replying to a month old post (sorry folks, been super busy with work & school lately)... but seeing as you're willing to look at the reserves, I'd suggest reaching out to a Reserve Field Ambulance near you and ask if they have any medical assistant positions. This would not only get you in the door of the CAF, but if you go through MOTP (note: MMTP is RegF only, MOTP is still the route for Reserve Force) it would give you the chance to learn the Medical Branch from square 1. Just food for thought. Best of luck in your journey.