So I was just thinking... military cadetships

[smilingbeinghappy]

Well to say I was "just thinking" is a lie I've been thinking about it for a while... I was in the Air Cadets at school and a large proportion of mi familia are in the forces...
So what's the deal? Anyone a current medic/going through the sponsorship and university cadets? Anyone else thinking about it?

Just pondering

Jess

[DamianUK]

Do a search on top of the site...there have been uite a few questions and answers...you may find better answers there as people may not repeat what they have already said.

[pipedreamer]

A cadetship was a bit too big a commitment for me but there's a couple of guys on my course doing it and they seem to enjoy it.

I joined my local TA medical unit instead. There's a few medical students in it as well as qualified doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, ODPs, dentists etc. I really enjoy it: there's a friendly atmosphere, it keeps me in good physical shape and the pay is always useful when you're trying to scrape by on a student loan!

[f_debelder]

Pipedreamer, what's the deal with your local unit? I'm a DETAPO officer cadet in the making, apparently my local medical unit will not accept commissioned officers. They prefer medical students to come in after their third year, get given a commission as a 2Lt initially with a promotion to Captain after qualification.

Any ideas what you can do before third year? I suppose train as a CMT?

[pipedreamer]

I don't know about going in as an officer as none of the students in my unit are in that position. However I'm surprised they don't want you - we're always trying to get new recruits!

Here medical students go in as privates right from the first year of the course and do basic recruits training with the unit, then they can apply for a commission and do PQO1b at Sandhurst when they qualify. (I've heard from some sources that you can apply for a commission in your final year and become a 2nd Lt but my unit say I can't do the PQO course until I'm actually qualified). As medical students we still take part in everything, the only difference I know of is that we are not allowed to deploy.

We also have one student who is on a cadetship, he is a final year student and a 2nd Lt but I don't know much about how the cadetship works in relation to TA.

[Everhopeful]

With the RAF you can apply for a bursary prior to year 1 as long as you have a firm offer. I applied and was accepted. You do a 3 day selection centre after a couple of interviews and presentations. Details of the bursary and cadetship amounts to be found on the RAF site. First 2 years you attend University Air Squadron one night per week (quite good fun, listen to talks, get drunk, meet nice people) and you do a 2 week summer camp (paid) and one week attachment to a military med centre. At the end of year 2 the RAF decide if you're fit to upgrade to cadetship (circa 14k per yr) after an interview. If you're picked up for cadetship you have to do 6 years return of service post GMC reg otherwise give the money back (the cadet and bursar bit, not the pay you get for turning up each week). The only specialties currently are really surgery and anaesthesia, but they're crying out for GPs if you want to do that. It is very competitive however, and only about 15 cadetships are offered per year.
if you need any more info on the RAF just PM me, be glad to help.

[Riffraf]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but if anyone hasn't seen this Channel 4 News report on the work of MERTs (emergency response teams) in Afghanistan, it's definitely worth a watch. Happens to be mainly RAF and some navy medics shown, but the army are doing exactly the same stuff. It gives a flavour of the operational dets that military docs are involved in.

Click this link and select "Watch the Report". For some reason, it's titled "Miliband Backs Troops", but that's not what it's about:

http://www.channel4.com/news/article...nistan/1507947