So i'm thinking about joining the navy and being a corpsman, because i think the experience would be good. Im definitely looking at going to medical school in the future...

Can anyone tell me their experiences? and if u can get stationed where u want etc..?

I used to work with a guy who had been one, he wanted to be a medic in the marines so he became a corpsman he was kinda glad he didnt have to do through Marine boot camp.

IM Sherm8404! He's a corpsman w/ a Marine Reserve unit on Long Island.

Thank you

Corpsmen can try for the Trident, if you're into that.

Otherwise, they station you where they need you.  You may get a few choices, but they will be the Navy's choices.

edited to add that the experience will be a good one.  Go for it.

Good luck.
Scott

wow, I didnt know that...
sounds so awesome, but no way in heck i could survive all that pt training...
oh well

It's all in the mind...You can do anything.

Scott

I am not a corpsman and I never served as one but as a retired naval officer, I had occasion to work with and be cared for by many corpsman.  One even saved my life a long time ago.

Corpsman is a great rate in the Navy.  It is a rate that can and does serve in virtually every type of unit such as all surface ships, air squadrons, submarines, USMC infantry companies and to the Fleet headquarters.  They serve ashore at virtually every single Navy/Marine Corps shore facility around the world and at all Navy clinics and hospitals around the world.  Wherever the Navy goes, you will find Corpmen.  (The Marines, as part of the Dept. of the Navy, don't have their own medics.)

Corpsmen work as X-ray techs, surgical assistants, field medics for the grunts, neo-natal (new baby) techs in hospitals and...well the list goes on forever.

Senior corpsmen often go through extended training and are detailed to a destroyer, cruiser or sub.  There is no medical officer (doctor) normally assigned to small commands like these, so the "Doc" is the only one aboard to take care of all 300 or so men and women.  He/she usually has a junior corpsman as an assistant.

If you stay a full 20 years to retirement, you can expect at least one tour with the Fleet Marine Force (FMF).  During this difficult and rewarding tour, you will by driven hard to stay up with the Grunts...which you WILL; and you will be highly regarded and respected.  The Grunts do like their Docs.  Plan on learning to shoot too...shotgun, M-16/M-4 or maybe an M-9 (Ugh!).  I know of no FMF Corpman who went into the bush unarmed.  

Oh...and most of the Navy enlisted Medal of Honor awardees have been Corpsmen.

Good Luck!

What more could I add?????

Good Job LWilde!!!

I went thru the training, before I switched to crypto/comms. Definately, great training, and you have the opportunity to specialize. I was stationed at the old Charlestown Naval Hospital, outside Boston for a while, working in the pathology/blood chemistry lab many years ago.

In the Navy, many corpsmen are almost doctors. In some circumstances, they are even allowed to write prescriptions, or at least they use to be able to.

At some of the larger shore installations where there is a hospital, they are very similar to civilian nurses/medical technicians, however, shipboard or assigned to Seals/Marines or a combat unit they have almost the same authority/power as a licensed doctor.

Great selection if you are interested in health care. Training is supurb.

Corpsman is an interesting rate and the training is great.  Be aware though, that advancement opportunities are extrememly limited in that rate.  That is good news/bad news information.  The reason that the advancement opportunity is so low is that the folks who are in that specialty very much love their work and tend not to leave the service.  Rewarding work is good, but it leaves little room for upward mobility.

With your interest in medical school, corpsman is a good rate if you are interested in becoming a military doctor.  There is a separate medical enlisted commissioning program and corpsmen tend to have the inside track there.  Lots of the female corpsmen are very hot.  Be advised though, on the male side is one of the highest percentages of homosexuals (not that there's anything wrong with that) in the Navy.  Just walking around the parking lot at Balboa Naval Hospital on my way to an appointment I was amazed at the number of cars with rainbow stickers on them.

you want to be a pecker checker?...Why?

Many of those were likely patients.  Remember, when a Navy member is diagnosed with HIV, they are transferred to the nearest major naval hospital, usually Balboa in SD or Bethesda in MD.  There they go through a workup and treatment plan.  Often they return to LIMDU at another shore command near the hospital but they never return to full duty in a combat unit.  While working at the nearby command, they have easy access to the medical treatment which is quite good and very expensive.  I lost a couple of sailors to that program.  Scary how quickly they are off the ship too.

And yes...some of the girl corpsmen were real hotties.  A close O-4 pal of mine married one and they had to keep their courtship very quiet back then.  They have been married 18 years now, live just a few miles from us and have two daughters.  She is an RN now and freely admits that her Navy training was critical to her achieving her nursing credentials.

I do agree on one thing.  I suspected that lots of the corpsmen were gay...except for one I knew back in the early '70s...a SEAL.  That dude was frightening.

I have a good friend who was a Navy Corpsman for several years and now is a MD in private practice. The military has their own medical school, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences located in Bethsda Md. If you qualify they will send you to school at the governments expense. Here is a link to the school if you are interested.
[url]www.usuhs.mil/index.html[/url]

Hell yeah! HM2 Nec 0000/8541. It was a very rewarding experience,and has lead to a VERY WELL COMPENSATED career as a Respiratory Therapist on the civy side.
The great thing about the Hospital Corps is the ability to branch out into a specialty.
FMF/Recon,Paramedic/EMT, SEALs, Nuke, on and on. I like critical care and ER/ED excitement, so I went the RT route.
I experienced A LOT of independence, respect, and admiration as a Navy RT. The autonomy was incredible! Of course,it was earned with A LOT of blood, sweat, and bullsh!t. If you can back it up with action...the sky is the limit!
It was well worth it!

rigid out


Character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

as a Marine i can say without equivocation that we love and respect our FMF Corpsmen. if attached to a Marine unit you are allowed to wear the Marine Corps uniform with proper Navy insignia and can always count on the grunts taking care of "doc"

h46driver, those rainbow stickers belong to DTs (dental techs) defintely the most gay ridden job in the military along with chaplains assistant.

My Dad was an HM1 and he said it was a good experience. He ended up getting out of the service and never using the skills he gained. Kind of a waste actually, he could have used the skills he picked up and not gotten in trouble me on the other hand, would go to prison if I used some of the shit Ive learned in the service. To this day though my Dad can still remember and perfom alot of the stuff a corpsman does like taking someones blood pressure, first aid and the like. He was even quite familiar with the M1 and M14 rifles which was a suprise to me before I really knew anything about his military service. My girlfriends Dad was also a Corpsman and retired with 20 in. He was in the Gulf with a grunt unit.

Read "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. True story, main character is a Navy Corpman attached to a Marine unit.  Good reading no matter what you decide to do in the service.