Editor's note: The following was sent to us via email. We thought it would be prudent to publish this if for no other reasons than to highlight the dangers of accepting bad premed advice and to help motivate any prospective applicants to fully research their admission options. Please note that we support our troops and this is intended solely for informational purposes for prospective military doctors.

I noticed your website when I did a search for pre-med advisors.

I wanted to offer you some important advice about the good and bad sides of military scholarship. Very neutral, facts only topics and questions that pre-med students should ask before accepting one of these scholarships.

My pre-med advisor was instrumental in my choosing a military scholarship, but there are just things she didn't know...and I didn't know to ask. By the time you understand what questions to ask....you are already a medical student, you've already accepted the scholarship, and it is too late.

I am just finishing my four-year commitment to the Navy. I was not told any untruths when I joined...I just didn't know as a a med student that there were important questions to ask.

I'll give you some examples of general questions/recommendations/ truths that I have, and you can decide if you are interested in trying to make your site even more valuable as a source of info for pre-med students.

All information provided here can be verified by a recruiter...if you know the right questions to ask.  Often premedical students are not fully aware of the impact that military scholarships can have on their career paths.  The military scholarship can be the right choice for some, and the wrong choice for others.  It is actually more of a personal decision than a financial one, and can only be a sound decision when all information is reviewed.

Do not rely solely upon recruiters as sources of information.  Seek out actual military scholarship recipients who have completed their commitments…preferably in recent years.  Persons who have completed the military obligation are able to tell the entire truth about the experience without personal gain or retribution.

Most of the information here is based on Navy scholarships, however the three branches are very similar. (the Marines do not have physicians…they use Navy physicians)

**It is true that you will graduate debt-free from a financial standpoint.  The full medical school tuition is paid, along with reimbursement for required books/equipment, and a standard monthly stipend for living expenses.  It is true that there are exciting, unique assignments and tours that one can only experience as a military physician or reservist.

**It is not true that the military has “all of the best equipment”.  In reality, while they do their best to keep up with the times, hospital budget limitations make updating expensive equipment very difficult.  It is often hard to keep up with the costly, advanced diagnostic machinery that is available in tertiary care civilian hospitals.

***Very Important***When you are finishing medical school, you must apply for a military internship/residency.  It is the exception, rather than the rule, that a deferment is granted to do a civilian residency.  They will not tell you what type of residency to choose (i.e. family practice, general surgery, pediatrics, etc), but they will make you do a military residency if there are spots open.  They meet the needs of the military training programs before allowing any civilian deferments.   With less and less students applying for these scholarships, it is more likely that one must plan to do a military residency.

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