Army General Questions

[Plaster223]

Hey all,

I'm in the midst of applying to medical schools, MD, DO, and USUHS and Army HPSP and have a few questions. I seriously appreciate any input anyone has.

I'm interested primarily in General Surgery and Family Medicine, gen surg because it's important to the Army and family med for the possibility of being more operational. Surgery is my dream, but as a backup I have mo issues with family med.

For gen surg, how competitive is it in the Army? Would going to a DO school put me at a disadvantage? What can I do as an HPSP student to make me competitive for surgery/ what do they look for?

As far as family med is concerned, it is a backup specialty as one dream is to be operational. I know I won't be a battalion surgeon as a General surgeon but if I did family med, how would I become a battalion surgeon for say infantry, airborne or SF? What army locations are good for this for residency? Final question, what are the fellowships available for FM in the army?

Thank you for any help and input anyone has!

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[armytrainingsir]

Get into medical school first.
MD>DO.
Apply to USUHS.
Apply for HPSP
Come back after the dust clears from above on your next step which is choosing civilian vs 8 years of military vs 20 years of military.

Not to be rude, but the rest of your questions right now are just idle talk. Akin to asking, "Should I have the fish or the chicken for dinner on Feb 3, 2027?"

 

[pgg]

DOs are treated well in the military - definitely less of a handicap compared to the civilian match.

Most people enter medical school with some idea of what kind of doctor they want to be, but a majority change their minds. For almost all of us, med school clinical clerkships were our first look at actual life in those specialties, and the day-to-day routine doesn't always mesh with whatever ideas we conjured from TV or friends or other sources. You may be thinking general surgery now but odds are you have never been exposed to heme/onc or radiology dozens of other specialties.

Nothing wrong with thinking ahead but agree with armytrainingsir that the cart's a bit in front of the horse here.

Get into med school, do as well as you can and see what you see.


It's really hard to tell you what practice in the military will be like 10 years from now when you exit training. Many structural changes to the medical corps are afoot. We have a new triservice master now in DHA and the new master hasn't really started flexing yet. Life in the military has never been real predictable but it's much less so right now.

 

[Plaster223]

Thank you for your answer. I know I'm getting a little ahead but I figured I'd just test the waters and see what I'd hear. But I like how you phrased the uncertainty ahead as I've been reading more and more about it. I really appreciate your input. I mainly wanted to know if being from a DO school would handicap me from things like gen surg if I wanted that path down the road.

DOs are treated well in the military - definitely less of a handicap compared to the civilian match.

Most people enter medical school with some idea of what kind of doctor they want to be, but a majority change their minds. For almost all of us, med school clinical clerkships were our first look at actual life in those specialties, and the day-to-day routine doesn't always mesh with whatever ideas we conjured from TV or friends or other sources. You may be thinking general surgery now but odds are you have never been exposed to heme/onc or radiology dozens of other specialties.

Nothing wrong with thinking ahead but agree with armytrainingsir that the cart's a bit in front of the horse here.

Get into med school, do as well as you can and see what you see.


It's really hard to tell you what practice in the military will be like 10 years from now when you exit training. Many structural changes to the medical corps are afoot. We have a new triservice master now in DHA and the new master hasn't really started flexing yet. Life in the military has never been real predictable but it's much less so right now.

 

[OMMguru]

Thank you for your answer. I know I'm getting a little ahead but I figured I'd just test the waters and see what I'd hear. But I like how you phrased the uncertainty ahead as I've been reading more and more about it. I really appreciate your input. I mainly wanted to know if being from a DO school would handicap me from things like gen surg if I wanted that path down the road.

In my surgery Clerkship I did shadow 1-2 senior residents (DO).
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