This August, biology major Robert Brooks ’14 will begin his education as an Air Force doctor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. In addition to pursuing the standard medical school curriculum, USU students are trained in battlefield care and engage in a series of field exercises that simulate harsh conditions. Students have opportunities for research in prominent laboratories thanks to the school’s Bethesda, Md., location, which is only a few miles from Washington, D.C., and across the street from the National Institutes of Health, where he spent the previous two summers as an intern working on cancer research.
Attending USU also comes with significant financial benefits. Brooks will get paid to attend school, which means he will avoid the considerable debt many medical students face. Though Brooks will not earn as much as his peers while serving as an Air Force doctor after his residency he will be debt-free after completing his service, which will allow him to pick a specialty without regard for financial concerns.
“I’ll be able to focus completely on learning to be the best doctor I can be,” he says. “And that means everything to me, and could literally be the difference between life and death for my future patients.”
—Sam Fox ’14
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-Haverford plans of members of the Class of 2014.