Do you have any advice/thoughts for a premed undergrad student interested in USUHS? Specifically things you wish you'd known before going there and recommendations for the application. Thank you so much!
The biggest things for USU are going to be the same for any medical school in America–do well in your undergraduate classes, particularly the science ones. Do well on the MCAT–there’s no denying the importance of the standardized test in the admissions process even though its been shown to really only predict future performance on other standardized tests. Take classes you enjoy–don’t major in biology just because you think it will look good on a med school application. My class has theater and french and history and all other sorts of majors in it in addition to the hard science majors. Leadership experience is important for any medical school, but USU probably puts more weight on it than civilian schools. Same with community service, since you are signing yourself up for several years of service to the greater community by attending USU. And all med schools want to see that you’ve done something to educate yourself about the medical field so that you have some sort of idea of what you’re getting yourself into (typically shadowing or something similar).
When I applied to USU I checked most of the typical pre-med boxes–I had done research, been working as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for about 6 years, shadowed a few physicians in different fields. I didn’t do ROTC or have any military connections in my immediate family. About 40% of the first year class will have some sort of military background (ROTC, academy, prior service) and an additional group have family connections to the military.
There wasn’t a whole lot about the process that I wished that I had known while I was applying. USU is incredibly open about information dissemination, what they’re looking for, and how their process works. LTC Aaron Saguil in the admissions office is a great source of information about the application and admissions process and is always willing to answer questions and talk to prospective (or current!) students about just about anything under the sun. One of the really important parts of the process at USU that does get overlooked by some individuals is the service selection component of admissions. When you are offered a seat in the class, it is attached to an offer to commission into a specific branch. Each branch only has so many seats, so its possible to get offered admission in the branch that is not your first choice, or to sit on the waitlist until a seat in your branch of choice opens up. Since you know now that you’re interested in USU, I’d try to learn as much as you can about the different opportunities that are available within each branch of service. There is absolutely a culture difference between the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Public Health Service. They work in different areas, focus on different things, and can offer different experiences (and residency options) based on the size and type of service that they support. If you’re near a military base, try to see if you can do some shadowing in the clinic there or meet the physicians who work there.
For the application and interview, be prepared to show that you’ve done your homework–that you’ve looked into military medicine, that you understand (as much as you can at this point in life) what you’re signing up for, and that you have a good reason for wanting this career path. There are a lot of unique aspects to the USU curriculum that they love to highlight, so picking out one or two unique things that you really like about the school is a good way to show interest. And don’t be afraid to ask questions. I had a lot of questions about being a female in the military when I interviewed, and both of my interviewers commented that it showed that I was trying to go into this with my eyes open which is a good impression to leave.
My school’s not perfect, but its definitely the right place for me and I’d love to answer any more or specific questions that you have about USU or military medicine or branches of service here or through messages!
