curious from some of the surgery residents out there and beyond: as a 3rd yr HPSP DO, is it necessary for me to take the USMLE Step 1 to get into an Army Gen Surg residency. I've heard the mixed bag, that it may not be "required" from some programs, but that people have actually been turned down from spots because they didn't take it...this info coming to me 6mo after taking Comlex Step 1. Obviously, I don't want to go back and study for Step 1 USMLE while on rotations and looking ahead to Step 2. Plus, I've heard the mixed bag that some programs don't look at scores as much as other things on your application and how you "fit" there.

Also curious about information on the 6 General surgery residencies in the Army and the amount of cases the interns and residents are able to do; the more the better in my eyes. Any info on what certain residents know/like and don't like about the various spots, plus caseload and number of spots available, would be huge...thanks.

I'm not a surgical resident, but during the course of my rotations I heard through the grape vine that the case volume is a real problem. I know in Ortho you'd have 1/2 to 1/3 the number of cases compared to someone at a high volume program (I'll note that this was prior to the 80 hour work week).

Ed

I was more so talking about the 6 Med Center spots for Gen Surg residents and what the various caseloads were among those spots and the pros/cons of those 6 sites; plus my initial question regarding the USMLE.