Posted on Dec 25, 2020
How can I commission as a 70A, 70B, Medical Service Corps Officer if my GPA sucks?
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I'm looking to gain some insight from prior service officers, current officers within the 70A community that give me some insight. I am currently a HM2 (E-5) in the Navy Reserve I’m 27 years old. I have an MHA (Masters and Health Administration) that is not CAHME accredited which presents as a problem when trying to commission in the NAVY RESERVE in the Medical Service Corps as a Health admin officer . I currently work in the VHA system as a administrator (GS-9) and looking to move to GS-11 probably within the next couple of months. With that being said, I am extremely interested in commissioning. However, there seems to be barriers that seem to be limiting me.
My Undergraduate GPA sucks, I doubled major in Healthcare Management and Public Health while in college. However, I had to support myself work 2 jobs and while going to school full-time. I also had some personal health issues going on with my mom so because of that my undergraduate grades suffered. I graduated with a 2.47 cumulative GPA in 2017. I manage to complete and get accepted into a MHA program due to a lot of letters of recommendation and a steller CV and I managed to finish out with a 3.5PGA. After obtaining my education, I've had no issues in employment opportunities and obtaining promotions within the government sector. However now, I can’t seem to commission in the Navy Reserve as a Healthcare Care Administrator in the Reserves because one, I don't seem to have the proper accreditation, which is CAHME, also secondly my undergrad GPA sucks. This is an extremely frustrating process as I have all these certifications: Healthcare Green Lean Belt, Healthcare Informatics certificate, Healthcare data Analyst cert. and I feel like I’m a good candidate but because of my GPA I’m held back.
I currently have 4 years working as a Healthcare Administrator within the government sector and I was hoping that it would give me a competitive edge when applying or getting by certain barriers, well from my personal experience it does not. So now I’m looking at 2 options at this point.
1. Obtaining a MPH and boosting my GPA, while obtaining the correct accreditation for a naval commission as a Healthcare Admin.
2. Going to the Army as a direct commission as a 70A series in the reserve. I was looking online and it says that I need at least 3 years of direct experience, in which I do have. However, will my GPA hold me up again.
What other options do I have at this point?
My Undergraduate GPA sucks, I doubled major in Healthcare Management and Public Health while in college. However, I had to support myself work 2 jobs and while going to school full-time. I also had some personal health issues going on with my mom so because of that my undergraduate grades suffered. I graduated with a 2.47 cumulative GPA in 2017. I manage to complete and get accepted into a MHA program due to a lot of letters of recommendation and a steller CV and I managed to finish out with a 3.5PGA. After obtaining my education, I've had no issues in employment opportunities and obtaining promotions within the government sector. However now, I can’t seem to commission in the Navy Reserve as a Healthcare Care Administrator in the Reserves because one, I don't seem to have the proper accreditation, which is CAHME, also secondly my undergrad GPA sucks. This is an extremely frustrating process as I have all these certifications: Healthcare Green Lean Belt, Healthcare Informatics certificate, Healthcare data Analyst cert. and I feel like I’m a good candidate but because of my GPA I’m held back.
I currently have 4 years working as a Healthcare Administrator within the government sector and I was hoping that it would give me a competitive edge when applying or getting by certain barriers, well from my personal experience it does not. So now I’m looking at 2 options at this point.
1. Obtaining a MPH and boosting my GPA, while obtaining the correct accreditation for a naval commission as a Healthcare Admin.
2. Going to the Army as a direct commission as a 70A series in the reserve. I was looking online and it says that I need at least 3 years of direct experience, in which I do have. However, will my GPA hold me up again.
What other options do I have at this point?
Hospital Corpsman (HM)
70A: Health Care Administration
70B: Health Services Administration
91A: Medical Corpsman
Direct Commission
Edited 4 y ago
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 6
The MS Corps, specifically 70 series is also very over strength right now. To answer your GPA question, they go off of the qualifying degree, a bachelors degree for this AOC. Unfortunately, that means you may not be competitive if it was under 3.5. Talk to an AMEDD recruiter, but I’d plan to attend OCS for a basic branch (non AMEDD) if you want to commission.
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PO2 (Join to see)
Thank you for the honest answer. I think probably going regular OCS is the best option for my situation at this point. So if the 70 series is over strength, even if I score high in OCS I might not even be given the 70B series just off of the shear fact that there is to many 70B officers.
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CPT (Join to see)
PO2 (Join to see) sure thing. To my knowledge, you couldn’t branch 70 series out of OCS either as it’s part of AMEDD. All three of the special branches have their own unique commissioning requirements. Go talk to an AMEDD recruiter and get your options tho. The answer is always no when you don’t ask.
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CPT (Join to see)
CPT (Join to see)
You can branch 70B out of OCS. I had a few in my AMEDDD BOLC who commissioned via that route. It’s rare but possible. Currently, most slots come out of the Academy and ROTC.
You can branch 70B out of OCS. I had a few in my AMEDDD BOLC who commissioned via that route. It’s rare but possible. Currently, most slots come out of the Academy and ROTC.
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PO2 West, currently AMEDD is not recruiting any 70B through direct commission. Only way is to go through the Academy, ROTC, or OCS. Also, all enter as a 70B and only move to 70A through 70K after fulfilling specific PME and civilian requirements and meeting TIG requirements. The recruiting mission may change, but with the switch to DHA, unlikely to be reopening direct commission route anytime soon.
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PO2 (Join to see)
I think at this point probably OCS is the best option at this point. I know its not a guaranteed slot for 70B. However, hopefully they can see my background and leadership skills and put me accordingly to match my background. Also, at this point I'm even considering going a different series.
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Apply. Find an AMEDD recruiter, see if they have spots opened , and drop a package. I was in your situation sort of, my undergrad gpa was a 3.01 but I also had a masters degree, two deployments. And picked up HM1..and was a federal e.ployed, GS-7 , in the public health field. Go talk to the recruiter..see what you qualify for..and drop a kit/package and let the Army tell you no. Also, use linkedin to your advantage and NETWORK
-HM1 Jared Fletcher
-HM1 Jared Fletcher
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PO2 (Join to see)
Thank you HM1. I did reach out to a couple of AMED officiers on linkdein .
HM2 West
HM2 West
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