What is the process of joining from medical school?

As a fourth year student you would be able to apply for the Army already as you can do on your 3rd year onward you will complete the rest of your degree whilst doing so. The only pathway for doctors is to go the officer route so you would end up going to Sandhurst as a professionally qualified officers (PQOs) and do the same selection route as all other officers all that information for Sandhurst can be found on the Army website.

Hi, hopefully I can expand a bit on what Jordan has said for you.

There are two main ways to join as a doctor. The first is while you are at university, the second is once you have left.

To join at university you need to apply for a bursary, details of this can be found on the 'Army Doctor' page on our website, but essentially you get £10,000 each year for the final 3 years of medical school, then once you have completed FY1&2 and the Short Commissioning Course, you get the final £45,000. As you are in 4th year, it might be cutting it a bit fine, but worth a go if you are interested!

The other way, is you apply during FY1 and then join after finishing FY2. You will go straight in to the Short Commissioning Course. Sadly there is no extra financial benefit to this route!

I am obviously completely biased, but I think life as a military doctor, particularly after FY1&2 is brilliant. You continue to get clinical exposure, but you also get to enjoy what the Army has to offer (Adventure training, sport, travel etc..).

In regards to how it differs to the NHS pathway; the main difference is that you take 3 years 'out of training' between FY2 and starting specialty training. Of course many NHS docs will take a year or two out as well, so you won't feel as if you're starting late (or I haven't felt that at all). We are managed by defence deanary and work all over the country. So far I have preferred working for the Army as I feel much more looked after, and I have had a lot more say in my training than I would have done in an NHS programme.

Specialty training in the Army can be competitive to get in to, depending on which specialty you apply for. They are very good though, and will support you in an application to an NHS specialty training programme at the same time as your application for military training, so if you don't get a military spot, you might get an NHS one.

Happy to answer any more queries, or elaborate on any of the above.

Thank you that information is really helpful!

Can I also ask what is the minimum length to serve? And does this start before or after foundation years?

Do you get any choice/ flexibility in where training for foundation years of applying through medical school, e.g Queen Elizabeth over other hospitals?

And finally when in medical school, are there any contacts or opportunities to complete an elective project somehow with the army? As I think that would be a great insight to gain more of a feel for the life of military doctors.

The minimum length is technically 4 years and it starts from when you go to RMAS (at the end of FY2), however I have never heard of anyone struggling to leave at the 3 year point, as this is when we all apply for specialty training jobs.

You can express a preference for where you do foundation years (provided it's at a hospital affiliated with the military), but it's not always possible to give you your first choice.

Sadly I do not think there are any elective placements with the army directly available (the security checks etc.. all take a while), but you could explore doing an elective in one of the hospitals affiliated with the military, this would at least mean you can spend some time alongside military personnel and get an idea of the experiences they have had etc..