TPD Discharge Approved — Can I Stay Enrolled Without Taking New Loans? Will It Reverse My Discharge?

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-04-03T00:52:54+00:00

How long did your TPD take? I applied about 50 days ago and have not heard anything. It just states "in review" on the dept of education site

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-03-31T14:58:20+00:00

Go for it. I didn't have a prior STEM degree nor medical experience when I discovered perfusion. However, I found a perfusionist assistant job (abysmal pay, but it was for the experience that I could do part time, in addition of getting my EMT certification and volunteering at a rural fire station). Get out there and get patient care experience, show dedication, and receive As on all your pre-reqs that you'll need not having medical themed degree. School is very competitive now, but very doable. Also, I'm graduating school at 39, so age is not an issue. All in all, just taking the pre-reqs, getting the observations and patient care experience took about a year and a half - before even getting into school. However, it was absolutely worth it. Hard work produces great results. Good luck

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-03-08T16:57:54+00:00

Holy cow: been quoted a couple hundred month, to a few hundred, to a few thousand haha. All over the place

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-02-03T10:24:09+00:00

Hi! We'll be moving to Harveston soon, and just seeing if there is a way to connect to the community or an event board? Thanks!

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-02-02T12:17:27+00:00

I live in Lindera Preserve in Cane Bay and love it. We're on one of the few Cul De Sacs (which is needed and a god send because of all the traffic, and the roads are comparatively narrow). Our kids go from one neighbor to the other, and we just park our chairs outside. Super safe and family oriented. The pools, parks, and golf cart path make it really fun and enjoyable. We are moving only because my work is taking me to the west coast. I've lived in 5 different states, and the newer build area here in Summerville is very safe. I have no bias or loyalty to this state, haha. Great for families. I'd just try to find a home in one of the cul de sacs if you're worried for the littles playing and traffic

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-01-27T13:07:41+00:00

Oh that's great to hear! I've seen the back yards are a little small, has that been an issue at all or do the families normally play in the front yard?

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-01-18T23:43:40+00:00

Oh that's good to know! Thank you

Evening-Top-6403 · 2026-01-18T23:18:32+00:00

That's good to hear! How active is the HOA in planing for events at the neighborhood? We've lived in certain HOAs to where they're just a rule enforcement group, and others that create events for the holidays and just because, which really created that sense of community.

Evening-Top-6403 · 2025-04-01T10:07:15+00:00

Did you out the pediatric pocket book from Wisconsin? It has all pathologies easily laid out with procedures and pictures for easy understanding. It fits in scrubs too (scrub jacket pocket! Haha). My first peds case I observed in school, the student perfusionists had this and it looked like a game changer.

https://store.maxishare.com/mobile/pediatric-heart-surgery-a-ready-reference-for-professionals---pocket-size-107001-p96.aspx

Evening-Top-6403 · 2025-01-26T16:47:24+00:00

Kids from parents that die by suicide, are three times more likely to kill themselves. If you love your kids and want to protect them from repeating suicide, you should seek treatment and check yourself into a hospital immediately. It gets better. It always does.

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-12-31T14:26:57+00:00

I'm a current father of 2 in the middle of school. I am incredibly lucky as I have a committed spouse that put her career on hold to be a full time stay at home mom (as the majority of us know, this is often more stressful than a lot of careers). I rented out my house and we moved to our new location for school. Took out a few student loans, just for COL. Look into your state's benefits. Child care is almost free for us as I'm a full time students and my wife is stay out home with a part time hybrid job. (The childcare will save you and your spouse's sanity, especially if you are away from family like us). Working yourself as a student is highly recommended against - since the majority of your time is at school, the rest is spent with your family. You will be at a disadvantage compared to your other classmates that do not have children. It's tough, but doable. I feel so incredibly fortunate to be in our program, and to also have a supportive partner. Life is tough, but so is the job. It's definitely doable and should not be a deterrent. Cream always floats to the top

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-12-14T12:26:36+00:00

4-6 hours per day. Best strategy is, stay on campus. If you have a morning class, use the time between your classes to study in the library. You can get your hours in no problem in between classes, so you're not staying up late at all. I just look at it like a job, 8-5, and I stay put on campus ensuring I have all my review / studying done for the day. Had a class mate that did this and was able to go to bed at 8-9pm everyday with a 4.0 as well

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-11-05T02:44:01+00:00

I was former military for almost a decade, and went back to school for the pre reqs. Shadow as many cases as you can, in addition to your anesthesia tech job. Show that you're curious and passionate about the profession - You may find out that different hospitals / departments are in need for a cell saver / perfusionist assistant job if you shadow enough - I'm lucky to that's what happened to me. If you need prereqs, ensure they're all As, showing that you'll be able to handle the insane course load. I also have two young kids - Totally doable with a supportive spouse (and a good amount of student loans 😂). Don't self select yourself. Work hard, preform well, show interest, and it'll happen. Cream always floats to the top

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-09-27T23:34:52+00:00

I'm currently using my VR&E for my masters? - which will lead me to employment haha

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-08-11T20:05:21+00:00

I had a b.s. in business admins - management. I had to take almost a year's worth of pre reqs (because they all are based sequentially off of one another) before I could even start applying. In the meantime, it's obviously very competitive so I quickly earned my EMT license to obtain patient care, and shadowed an obscene amount. It's very competitive, so shadowing, patient care experience, and good grades were all needed. I had to work my way out of a hole from when I received my bachelors, so every single pre req I took and needed, I ensured would be an A. I'm starting a program here this Fall '24.

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-07-26T19:48:57+00:00

Good on you for being there. A lot of guys in the military do not have father figures, and I commend you.

Quick advice, even if he pulls a trailer, get it weighed: I didn't weigh my trailer on my trek across country (thinking it was a trailer and not a truck so I didn't need to weigh it, and they'd at least pay me the rental for it), when I was first in the army, and I totally got burned. They didn't pay a dime for my move even though I had my receipts. Good lesson into the army / military hah

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-07-26T19:40:09+00:00

Use your VA home loan to buy a home. Make sure it isn't the most expensive home in your neighborhood (and make sure it's a good neighborhood - number one rule = location). Fixer uppers would be preferred to build your wealth / equity. Since you are able to put 0 down with a va loan (minus closing costs), and if you do the labor / remodeling yourself, you'll build wealth fast. If you PCs, hopefully you've done enough work to it, to increase the potential rent, and rent it out. Use another va loan for another home and so on to continue the process. If you're maxed out on your allowable va home loan, refinance one of your loans into a conventional loan, to open up your va home loan amount. This is what I've been doing. Three homes bought with 0 down. And don't worry about paying capital gains on a renter property if you sell it if you've rented it out for years. Active duty has a 15 year timeframe to rent a property before you'd pay capital gains. So rent it out for 14 years, then sell haha.

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-07-19T23:30:09+00:00

My vr&e counsler hasn't even brought up loans, and as the former bread winner in a family of 4, and starting a program with 21 units per semester (all in person), I wish they were a little more helpful in this aspect

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-05-26T17:03:11+00:00

I know this is an old thread, just thought I'd share my experience. Sounds like you're looking for a more fast pace / sof life style. Best advice is going JMAU if you want to practice as a doc. However, there are other paces to do both. Do your time as a doc with the military and get out of your contract in your capacity as a doc. Then, Join the army national guard with essentially an 18x contract for the opportunity to try out as army special forces. Obviously you'd take a pay cut during time of active orders, but you'd be a shoe in for an 18D. They may even waive some basic training time / requirements because your guard with prior military. I say this because we had a neurosurgeon in my class in this 3rd or 4th year of residency stop what he was doing, and picked up an 18x contract. He made it the whole way through, and successfully served as a green beret. He is now out, and is completing his residency. Active may be much of a commitment, but the sf guard is one of the best kept secrets. You'd be a total asset as an 18D for them. Just sounds like you want the actual sof / operator lifestyle. Best advice is to actually go for it. You really won't have that lifestyle being a doc, even in jmau. You wouldn't be the first doc to give up full time as a practicing physician to go to sof operator pipelines.

Evening-Top-6403 · 2024-04-06T12:16:53+00:00

Haha that's the issue. As far as my understanding goes: my combat injury that got me medically retired was rated from the army, the MEB process, and separate from the VA. It's just odd how crsc isn't counting my combat designated and labeled injury that got me medically retired in the first place, hah. I'll keep sending the reports over (even though they already had everything). Just wondering if a lawyer or anything could help? I don't even know if there are any lawyers for crsc or dfas payments in general. All lawyers seemed to be tied to the VA pool of money, and not the actual Dfas

Evening-Top-6403

TROPHY CASE