Air Force Veteran Andrew Bostwick’s Seven-Year Journey to Medicine

Andrew Bostwick

Med School: Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Expected Graduation Year:  2027
College & Major: Kent State University, BS Biochemistry, 2015, University of Florida, MS Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 2020

Learn more about:

• Andrew's background
• His experiences
• His application
• Why his med school chose him

Background

• Growing up in a low-income household in Salem, Ohio, Andrew is a first-generation medical student.
• Andrew’s earliest medical mentor was his local family physician, who was always engaged in his school and church. He led the First Aid and Medicine merit badges in Andrew’s Boy Scout troop, and he wanted to be just like him.
• Entered active duty in 2015 after completing Air Force ROTC at Kent State.
• Served on active duty as a US Air Force pilot, instructor, evaluator, and flight commander for seven years.
• Completed coursework in pharmaceutical chemistry while deployed in Germany, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.
• Drawn to medicine after scribing in Las Vegas and watching emergency physicians helping patients in vulnerable moments.

Experiences

While Andrew Bostwick was an active Air Force pilot and flight commander, he spent most of his weekends pulling 10-hour emergency department shifts as a medical scribe in Las Vegas. For Andrew, the path to medical school wasn’t traditional. Rather, his seven-year journey of military service, then an academic pivot back to science, experience working in several hospitals, and perseverance ultimately opened the door to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Andrew graduated from Kent State University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry. His undergraduate academic performance wasn’t where he wanted it to be. He commissioned through the Air Force ROTC pipeline the following year into active duty in the U.S. Air Force, serving as a pilot, instructor, evaluator, and flight commander. “I had always valued service and science, but my work in military aviation showed me how much I also enjoyed teaching, teamwork, and making careful decisions when the stakes were high,” Andrew reflected. For the next seven years, he served as a pilot, instructor, evaluator, and flight commander. Upon finishing flight training, Andrew still found himself “missing the sciences.”

In 2018, Andrew enrolled in a Master of Science program in Pharmaceutical Chemistry through the University of Florida. He’d found that he’d been missing sciences after he finished his flight training. This program “allowed me to do coursework while deployed in Germany, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. Graduating from that program with stronger performance motivated me to go after my dreams of becoming a doctor.”

As a non-traditional applicant, living far from his hometown and undergraduate institution, Andrew's network in medicine was practically non-existent. Aside from his family's local physician, whom he had kept in touch with since he was a young boy. Andrew shared, “His interactions with me when I was young really were my first motivator to pursue medicine. We spoke more frequently and specifically about medicine as I approached transitioning out of the Air Force.” So, while stationed in Las Vegas in 2021, Andrew began shadowing and working as a medical scribe in several hospitals. Andrew said that the people he interacted with across all areas of his life proved instrumental in guiding and shaping him. He explained, “There were also the emergency physicians I worked with while scribing in Las Vegas [who] allowed me to see …the clinical decisions they made…how they communicated with frightened patients, supported nurses and other team members, and remained steady during busy shifts. I was also influenced by military leaders and instructors who modeled service, accountability, and the responsibility to develop the people around them. Together, those examples helped me see that being a physician could combine technical skills with teaching, leadership, and human connection.”

Balancing a full-time military command with 10-hour emergency room shifts pushed Andrew to his limit.  During his first application cycle, he received a waitlist spot which ultimately did not end with matriculation that year. “That stung, but it didn't change my mind,” he remembered. But it strengthened his resolve, too. “I sought feedback, broadened my school list, and reapplied with a clearer sense of who I was as an applicant.” Applying the following cycle, Andrew was accepted at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He said that, learning about their program, he chose it because he believed the “school would not simply move me through four years of training, but would know me as a person, invest in my development, and help me build a career that combines patient care, teaching, leadership, research, and service.”

Andrew plans to pursue general surgery and is interested in several paths, including surgical oncology and pediatric surgery. He hopes to build a career in academic surgery that combines excellent patient care with teaching, mentorship, research, and improvement of surgical training.

“My military background in aviation instruction and evaluation has made me especially interested in surgical simulation and in designing safer, more reliable ways for teams to learn,” Andrew continued. “I also hope to continue serving veterans and contributing to medical education and health policy work throughout my career.”

How Andrew Addressed Deficits or Concerns in His Application

Andrew Bostwick knew his low undergraduate GPA, MCAT score, and lack of clinical exposure were hurdles challenging his dream of becoming a doctor. While his first application ended in rejection, he refused to give up. After seven years of military service, spanning three worldwide deployment zones, while also working full-time, he was confident he would be able to work on strengthening his next application.

“Lower GPAs are perceived as a death sentence when it comes to the idea of applying to medical school. If I had applied directly after undergraduate, I wouldn’t have had a chance. Instead, I took time, reassessed, and worked hard while pursuing a graduate degree,” Andrew continued. “I took the program ‘for fun,’ but quickly realized that if I performed well, the door to medicine may not be completely closed. Although waitlist and rejection ended my first application cycle, that was information, not a verdict. I used the feedback I received, adjusted my approach, and returned to the process with a clearer understanding of what I wanted in a medical school.”

Preparing around full-time military duties required him to be realistic about his schedule and create protected study time. He used MCAT test prep to identify weaknesses. Through working out his study plan, he realized that the process reinforced the importance of “changing strategy when effort alone is not producing the desired result.”

In 2020, while on active duty, he completed his online master's degree in pharmaceutical chemistry through the University of Florida. “That work strengthened my background in pharmacology, chemistry, and scientific reasoning and showed that I could manage demanding academics alongside significant professional responsibilities.” He also reflected on how it helped him to prove he was now stronger academically than his previous undergraduate record.

From 2018 through 2020, despite being deployed abroad across different time zones, Andrew connected with Dr. Oliver Grundmann, Clinical Professor, Director, and Assistant Dean at the UF College of Pharmacy. They met frequently to discuss career trajectories and how to improve his candidacy. Dr. Grundmann said, “I provided my insights about my own journey and how his military and professional background [could] benefit and strengthen his application. I was honored to have reviewed a few iterations of Andrew’s application packet as he was clearly well prepared and thoughtful about his choice of words.”

The challenge for Andrew in drafting his personal statement was not a lack of experience; it was deciding on which experiences best demonstrated why he wanted to become a physician. He shared that ultimately, he “revised the statement to focus on a common thread of service, responsibility, teamwork, and the desire to care for people directly. I focused on presenting my existing commitments more clearly and continuing work that mattered to me. The most useful feedback came from readers who helped me remove impressive-sounding details that did not advance that central story.”

 “Andrew wears his dedication to healthcare on his sleeve,” Dr. Grundmann said. “He is passionate about helping others while also disciplined and dedicated to ensuring he can serve patients best by advancing his knowledge and skill sets. I am grateful to Andrew as I [also] learned from being part of his journey. [He] is an inspiration to me as an educator to continue my work.”

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth on Why They Chose Andrew

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth found Andrew to be a strong candidate; especially with his military background, he presented with the character, grit, and resilience they look for in students.

“We use the interview to corroborate what we see in the file and to get a sense of the candidate’s ability to contribute to the Geisel community,” explained Dr. Roshini Pinto-Powell, Associate Dean of Admissions at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “We ask: does the description of the experiences, personal statement, and secondaries match the ‘voice’ and spoken language? Do the qualities in the letter of recommendation(s) match the person we are interviewing?” In Andrew’s case, it was a good match and demonstrated excellent communication skills, a caring, compassionate nature, and a desire to serve.

According to Dr. Pinto-Powell, they “look for candidates who are willing to put in the extra effort and care deeply about people. This came through clearly in his file.” And through Andrew’s personal statement and secondary essays, the admissions committee felt they immediately understood who Andrew is as a person. He clearly understood that although “medicine is not always glamorous, it…requires a caring and compassionate heart with a commitment to service, learning, and growth.”

Dr. Pinto-Powell added that Andrew has blossomed and thrived and is “fulfilling all the promise we anticipated. He is kind, collegial, and is now a leader at the local and increasingly national level with his advocacy and the Organization of Student Representatives work. He is exactly the candidate we [were] looking for at Geisel.”