Med School Outline - long.

Just info- here is an overview of Garrett's four years of medical school. I will try to explain it as best I can -
In the first year there is overview on basic Military/Officer service orientation. Classes will focus on the basic sciences and foundational course studies. The school has advised us that this year will consist of 7am-5pm days, 5 days a week. So the first year should be fairly standard.
Garrett will spent a month prior to his 2nd year, studying the specifics of Military Medical Field Studies. The emphasis is on military medicine as a unique science. Garrett will spend a single week field training on the issue, followed by a four-week operational assignment. Listen to this....
"While in the field, students function as soldiers, marines, airmen, and platoon/squad leaders. Students learn about nuclear,chemical, and biological warfare; night operations; camouflage; emergency medical care; patient management on the battlefield; and patient movement via litter, helicopter,armored vehicle, and ambulance. They are also challenged in leadership exercises...After the initial training week, students spend four weeks with an operational unit in their parent service (Air Force). Students are exposed to military environment, its medical hazards and the occasional intensity of an operational exercise."
All of this training will be on a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia.
Once field training is completed, school begins and he second year of academics begins. There will be more advanced academic studies, and preparation for us U.S. Medical Licensing Exam.
The last two years are set aside for all medical students to engage in required and elective "clerkship's". This allows the students to better understand the specialties of medicine, in order to choose a specific area of interest.
Once an area is chosen, and clerkship's are completed, graduation happens, Garrett will be an M.D. and begin his residency program. The length of residency varies depending on your specialty (neurosurgery vs. family practice). The military has four schools that they assign their students to during residency, most of which are on the East Coast.
There will be breaks throughout the academic school years. Holiday leave in December gives us about two weeks off, and there is also minimal time in the spring and summer. We hope to come home as often as we can. Flights are a little easier to come by being part of the Air Force (yeah!), and we don't anticipate a lot of time to travel as a family once Garrett is in his residency. Not only that, but we will have babies to brag about and show off, that we hope to teach to be good travelers!
So there ya go! Everything we know about the next four years at this point. Pretty exciting!