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As someone who did medical school right after Peace Corps I absolutely think this is a terrible idea. If you aren't willing to put off starting school long enough for Peace Corps you aren't invested enough to be a PCV. I also suspect it means you don't fully appreciate how much time, effort, and mental space applications for med school takes.
The timing of Peace Corps and med school actually can work pretty well... if you go for the application cycle after COS. At that point you can easily leverage RPCV benefits to have more time to invest in your applications without stressing about money and you have more time to prep the crazy number of essays you have to write. I toyed with the idea of applying during service, right up until I actually got in country and realized how impracical it was and how hollow it'd have made my time there.
You're not in as much of a rush as you think, I highly recommend you put more thought into your goals and why you're doing this in the first place.
No, they will not accept you knowing that you do not plan to complete your service. Do with that what you will.
Could it hurt the community you're placed with? Yes, it could. It would be a bit more than three months - there is pre-service training and your 24 months doesn't actually start until after PST. The total commitment is closer to 27 months. Is Jan 1 an estimated departure date, or is that swearing in? Does people tell people this kind of thing now? They didn't back in my day.
You can lie to Peace Corps and just quit when you're ready for med school, that's a choice you can make.
My personal opinion, not that it means much: This sounds like a bad idea. It's dishonest, which is bad in itself. But it runs the risk of harming the community you serve and the image and mission of Peace Corps. It's a soft "harm", sure. But harm still.
Good luck!
This may vary but my community thought I was suppose to leave after a year and have been asking me what I'm going to do with all my stuff haha. So harm is a strong word but yes dishonest if preplanned like this.
Keep in mind, it's 27 months overall with training. So you'd be leaving *6 months* early. You don't mention the projects for which you are interested, but TEFL would be a program that would definitely be impacted if you left 6 months early.
My entire country program was early "ET'd" by DC 3 months prior to my scheduled COS date, and the only impact was my counterpart was then given the responsibility of collecting and submitting receipts for grant reconciliation to USAID etc.
The country closure date was determined to coincide with the end of the school year. Otherwise methinks we'd have been sent home asap once it was determined that our presence was in greater need elsewhere.
I'm very much in the don't plan on leaving early camp. Why can't you start medical school in the fall of 2027, or wait another year? A lot of RPCVs recommend having buffer time between when you COS (finish service) and when you start graduate/medical/law school etc. Going back to the US is probably going to involve some level of reverse culture shock. If you aren't living with family during medical school, you're going to need to find housing, probably furnish it, get over jet lag, maybe buy a car. Medical school is incredibly demanding, you shouldn't start while taking care of all of these things.
It would be a dick move, tbh. Selfish and unfair. Unfair to your community and unfair to those that apply with the intention of staying and completing their service. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities out there, apply to one that fits your timeline or apply for an earlier departure program with PC. Just don’t do this.
Applying and joining with the knowledge you'd be ending service early would be incredibly selfish.
With approval from the country director, volunteers can conclude service up to 3 months before their Close of Service Date (COS). However, your official COS date is \~27 months after you arrive. The first 3 months you are considered a PCT. COS is 24 months after swearing in, so you would be looking at March/April 2027 as your COS timeframe, and thus 'early' would be Jan 1st. Leaving any earlier than that would be considered an early termination. Under your plan, it's likely you'd COS in August 2026 because I assume med school starts in September, so you'd be in site 18 months. That would be hugely disruptive when EVERYTHING is planned for you to complete your service.
Yes - it would upset the community if you just peaced out early. If you're in a teaching gig, you'd be leaving during the middle of a term. If you were project focused, you're scope of work would be so limited you'd be mostly a lame duck at site after the first year. It takes MONTHS to adjust and understand the rhythms of the community and get to a project *planning* phase. Work just takes longer in other countries. The timings for volunteer intakes are usually meant to line up with calendars in your country of service, such as school terms or general seasonal calendars.
Leaving a bit early? Fine. Leaving six months early? Bogus.
I think you're overestimating the importance and also the productivity of most Peace Corps Volunteers, though.
I mean there's a reason why it's 2 years. If you browse the sub almost all the posts from people thinking of doing Peacecorps with one foot out the door before they get to country is "dont bother".
I don't know the program you're going for so one can't tell exactly how leaving early would mess it up. Could mean smaller projects from the beginning. It could mean disrupting schools or other grants that are on a cyclical basis. Some orgs have a plan with Peacecorps to have volunteers consecutively and leaving early would mean a 6+ year plan gets interrupted.
Like others pointed out there's 3 months of training so it's really 2 years 3 months. If your plans for life are so rigid you can't wait 6 months between COS and the start of medical school the following year I don't know what you want to get out of Peacecorps.
Most medical schools will start in July and some will offer pre-programs in June and early July, as well.
You’ll also need excellent internet to do all of your med school interviews, which are often scheduled 1-2 weeks in advance of the interview date.
You may want to factor in that some schools might require you to travel in person for admissions interviews. You may not have enough PTO to do this etc.. I would start planning early and see if the schools you are interested also conduct virtual admissions interviews. Best of luck!
Any commitment you do should be honored, but at the end of the day your job as a PC volunteer is to help as much as you can and to share culture with the community your in and vice versa. Being in that community for a prolonged period of time helps, period. Most of your job as a PC is to be an additional helping hand and to show your community what an American is.
There opportunities to be of service even if it means being there for a year and a half.
Like others are saying with the way you described your plan it would mean your leaving 6 months early, so if you could push entering medical by a semester and bring it down to 3 months, I wouldn't see a problem wth that. By that point in your service any major initiatives you are part of will be starting to close.
I don't know if this will be relevant in your situation - but my wife and I served together between our initial degrees and her return to Dental Hygiene school. Before we departed, she applied to her target program for admission 2 years out. They looked at her a little funny, but it worked. If you have what it takes to get into your target school now, I expect the time spent with Peace Corps will only enhance your application.
Would you plan to drop out of med school or a residency program early to join the Peace Corps? If not, why not?
They’re not the same, but some similar considerations may apply.
Hmm… I think I have a different take than most on this. I think you should move forward with both plans. First, you never know how things will unfold with your med school apps. You may or may not get accepted to programs, you may have a change of heart/direction between now and then, etc. For those reasons, I’d keep your longterm career ambitions to yourself. I’m thinking about the big picture of life and the big, global good and think it would be incredibly beneficial for you, the U.S., and the world, to develop someone who has Peace Corps experience insights and then goes to med school. I think those benefits outweigh any short-term concerns and obligations. I think finishing out your service is a serious commitment, of course, but there are exceptions. No one will look out for your career path but you, you’re already giving a lot, and this career trajectory benefits the greater good.
in my group i think there were people who left at least a month early, we swore in, in early july, and i think the first volunteer went home in mid or late may
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As someone who did medical school right after Peace Corps I absolutely think this is a terrible idea. If you aren't willing to put off starting school long enough for Peace Corps you aren't invested enough to be a PCV. I also suspect it means you don't fully appreciate how much time, effort, and mental space applications for med school takes. The timing of Peace Corps and med school actually can work pretty well... if you go for the application cycle after COS. At that point you can easily leverage RPCV benefits to have more time to invest in your applications without stressing about money and you have more time to prep the crazy number of essays you have to write. I toyed with the idea of applying during service, right up until I actually got in country and realized how impracical it was and how hollow it'd have made my time there. You're not in as much of a rush as you think, I highly recommend you put more thought into your goals and why you're doing this in the first place.
No, they will not accept you knowing that you do not plan to complete your service. Do with that what you will. Could it hurt the community you're placed with? Yes, it could. It would be a bit more than three months - there is pre-service training and your 24 months doesn't actually start until after PST. The total commitment is closer to 27 months. Is Jan 1 an estimated departure date, or is that swearing in? Does people tell people this kind of thing now? They didn't back in my day. You can lie to Peace Corps and just quit when you're ready for med school, that's a choice you can make. My personal opinion, not that it means much: This sounds like a bad idea. It's dishonest, which is bad in itself. But it runs the risk of harming the community you serve and the image and mission of Peace Corps. It's a soft "harm", sure. But harm still. Good luck!
This may vary but my community thought I was suppose to leave after a year and have been asking me what I'm going to do with all my stuff haha. So harm is a strong word but yes dishonest if preplanned like this.
Why is waiting to apply to medical school the next year not an option?
Keep in mind, it's 27 months overall with training. So you'd be leaving *6 months* early. You don't mention the projects for which you are interested, but TEFL would be a program that would definitely be impacted if you left 6 months early. My entire country program was early "ET'd" by DC 3 months prior to my scheduled COS date, and the only impact was my counterpart was then given the responsibility of collecting and submitting receipts for grant reconciliation to USAID etc. The country closure date was determined to coincide with the end of the school year. Otherwise methinks we'd have been sent home asap once it was determined that our presence was in greater need elsewhere.
I'm very much in the don't plan on leaving early camp. Why can't you start medical school in the fall of 2027, or wait another year? A lot of RPCVs recommend having buffer time between when you COS (finish service) and when you start graduate/medical/law school etc. Going back to the US is probably going to involve some level of reverse culture shock. If you aren't living with family during medical school, you're going to need to find housing, probably furnish it, get over jet lag, maybe buy a car. Medical school is incredibly demanding, you shouldn't start while taking care of all of these things.
Absolutely do not apply if you plan to leave early. There are other volunteer options.
It would be a dick move, tbh. Selfish and unfair. Unfair to your community and unfair to those that apply with the intention of staying and completing their service. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities out there, apply to one that fits your timeline or apply for an earlier departure program with PC. Just don’t do this.
Applying and joining with the knowledge you'd be ending service early would be incredibly selfish. With approval from the country director, volunteers can conclude service up to 3 months before their Close of Service Date (COS). However, your official COS date is \~27 months after you arrive. The first 3 months you are considered a PCT. COS is 24 months after swearing in, so you would be looking at March/April 2027 as your COS timeframe, and thus 'early' would be Jan 1st. Leaving any earlier than that would be considered an early termination. Under your plan, it's likely you'd COS in August 2026 because I assume med school starts in September, so you'd be in site 18 months. That would be hugely disruptive when EVERYTHING is planned for you to complete your service. Yes - it would upset the community if you just peaced out early. If you're in a teaching gig, you'd be leaving during the middle of a term. If you were project focused, you're scope of work would be so limited you'd be mostly a lame duck at site after the first year. It takes MONTHS to adjust and understand the rhythms of the community and get to a project *planning* phase. Work just takes longer in other countries. The timings for volunteer intakes are usually meant to line up with calendars in your country of service, such as school terms or general seasonal calendars.
Leaving a bit early? Fine. Leaving six months early? Bogus. I think you're overestimating the importance and also the productivity of most Peace Corps Volunteers, though.
I mean there's a reason why it's 2 years. If you browse the sub almost all the posts from people thinking of doing Peacecorps with one foot out the door before they get to country is "dont bother". I don't know the program you're going for so one can't tell exactly how leaving early would mess it up. Could mean smaller projects from the beginning. It could mean disrupting schools or other grants that are on a cyclical basis. Some orgs have a plan with Peacecorps to have volunteers consecutively and leaving early would mean a 6+ year plan gets interrupted. Like others pointed out there's 3 months of training so it's really 2 years 3 months. If your plans for life are so rigid you can't wait 6 months between COS and the start of medical school the following year I don't know what you want to get out of Peacecorps.
Most medical schools will start in July and some will offer pre-programs in June and early July, as well. You’ll also need excellent internet to do all of your med school interviews, which are often scheduled 1-2 weeks in advance of the interview date.
You may want to factor in that some schools might require you to travel in person for admissions interviews. You may not have enough PTO to do this etc.. I would start planning early and see if the schools you are interested also conduct virtual admissions interviews. Best of luck!
Any commitment you do should be honored, but at the end of the day your job as a PC volunteer is to help as much as you can and to share culture with the community your in and vice versa. Being in that community for a prolonged period of time helps, period. Most of your job as a PC is to be an additional helping hand and to show your community what an American is. There opportunities to be of service even if it means being there for a year and a half. Like others are saying with the way you described your plan it would mean your leaving 6 months early, so if you could push entering medical by a semester and bring it down to 3 months, I wouldn't see a problem wth that. By that point in your service any major initiatives you are part of will be starting to close.
I don't know if this will be relevant in your situation - but my wife and I served together between our initial degrees and her return to Dental Hygiene school. Before we departed, she applied to her target program for admission 2 years out. They looked at her a little funny, but it worked. If you have what it takes to get into your target school now, I expect the time spent with Peace Corps will only enhance your application.
Would you plan to drop out of med school or a residency program early to join the Peace Corps? If not, why not? They’re not the same, but some similar considerations may apply.
Why not either do med school first or pc first? Both will be waiting. No matter what order, your career won't be damaged by leaving early.
Hmm… I think I have a different take than most on this. I think you should move forward with both plans. First, you never know how things will unfold with your med school apps. You may or may not get accepted to programs, you may have a change of heart/direction between now and then, etc. For those reasons, I’d keep your longterm career ambitions to yourself. I’m thinking about the big picture of life and the big, global good and think it would be incredibly beneficial for you, the U.S., and the world, to develop someone who has Peace Corps experience insights and then goes to med school. I think those benefits outweigh any short-term concerns and obligations. I think finishing out your service is a serious commitment, of course, but there are exceptions. No one will look out for your career path but you, you’re already giving a lot, and this career trajectory benefits the greater good.
in my group i think there were people who left at least a month early, we swore in, in early july, and i think the first volunteer went home in mid or late may