Just spoke to recruiter about 68W

[EchoMikeTango]

i got out of the army about 5 years ago, and didnt really know what i wanted to do with my life. I have just become an EMT, but i have worked in the ER for the past few years. i really want to become a PA.

I spoke to a recruiter about switching to a 68W and going back on active duty.

What is it like to be a 68W in the army? I know that there is a F6 - Flight Medic and a W4 - Ranger Medic, and a bunch of other modifiers.

What is base life like, and any other information you could give me.

Thanks guys.

 

[MadArgan]

Hey bud, covering all the bases of this job is pretty hard. I will give you my snapshot:

Baselife: Revolves largely around sick-call and PT in the morning, company / battallion buisness in the afternoon and spread amongst that comes training. Medics cover just about every training event for the unit. Ranges, Livefires, CQB, etc.

If you end up in a specialty unit your day will look a little different... figure going to jumps if you are airborne or working on a brad or 113 if you are in a armor unit.

the fundamentals of being a medic do not change, 1) Sickcall 2) coverage 3) training.

Deployment life: Depends largely on which theatre and location you end up in. Some medics are acting as truely independent providers being up in the far reaches of afghanistan. some medics will never see trauma in their entire deployment (and to some extent, their entire military experience).

Having said that, I would not trade out my experience as a platoon medic for anything. One of the curses in going up in rank is moving further and further away from the line. Other than being a platoon medic, you can be in an aid station. there are pros and cons to that as well.

If you want to see lots of trauma and live the nerf life, work for a field hospital in the ER at a place like kandahar or baghdad.

 

[Afflixion]

I enlisted as a medic and have my W1 which designates a "special operations medic" even though i never did serve as a special ops medic and was not an 18D. If your unit puts you through W1 school you can get it usually only line units will do it, and of course you have to be male to do so. i am currently going through the IPAP. or Interservice physician assistant program. life on post is purely dependant on the post your at and the unit your in for instance medics in a line unit at FT hood are mostly motor pool grunts, Ft Campbell we did BN sickcall and what not. here is a link for the IPAP, make sure you talk to an IPAP recruiter not just a standard army recruiter.

http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/

the school is quite rigorous and is extremely time consuming, and by extremely time consuming I mean you wont have a social life. though you do not need to have your bachelors to apply your not very likely to get accepted unless you do, though the army is currently very short on PAs so you may have a higher chance in getting accepted without your degree completed. As an army pa you will most likely get deployed every 6months for 6months at a time.

 

[mycrofft]

Double tap

When Aff says talk to a certain recruiter, listen to him. Recruiters are very sociable salepersons, you are a quota item.
And verbal guarantees? Fergeddaboutit.

ALso, get a lot of special duty identifiers with combat utility and your inactive reserve time after active duty can be interrupted when they need your special mix of skills experience and gullibility. I had a coworker who was a jump-qualified med tech and he was yanked back for DESERT STORM at the one and 9/12th's years passed point (expecting his first kid) to go sit in a warehouse at KKMC with a parachute, an aid pack, and a Browning 10 ga.