Hi there,
I am applying to med school right now and strongly, strongly considering HPSP. I've read a ton on these forums, but have yet to post anything re: mil med. I have no military background or loyalty to any one branch and am trying to decide which, if any, branch would be the best match for me. At this point, I've all but ruled out the army - while its higher chances of being able to train straight through are tempting, the longer and (seemingly) more hazardous deployments, along with the notion that the army 'doesn't treat its people as well' (mostly with regards to when i serve AD time) as the other two branches have sort of pushed me away from them
Now, I'm trying to decide whether navy or af would be a better match. The AF recruiter I've spoken with seems less-than-trustworthy, though I do have a personal friend that has helped clarify some of the discrepencies (HPSP AF guy, 5th year at a great civilian residency - he was granted a deferral for gen surg, and is now about to start his AD). The Navy recruiter I spoke with was very nice, but unfortunately was actually a nursing and dentist recruiter and had slim-to-no idea of the match process/GMOs - which is what I am most in-need of details on.
SO...
1) I know Army has higher match rates and have seen the numbers for 2010 (ratio of applicants to spots)...but for the AF and Navy I haven't been able to acquire these numbers...anyone have ANY notion of about how many applicants/year (percentage-wise?) DON'T match, and therefore funnel into FS/GMO or Transition Years?
2) IF I were to end up as a FS for the AF, what are the different tracks for flight surgery, and how does one apply to them/how are people selected for them? How long are the minimum FS commitments?
3) IF I were to end up as a GMO for the Navy, same questions as above.
ps, by "tracks" i mean flight med, dive med, with seals or marines or special forces, etc etc...apologies if I am making up random 'tracks', again NO military background here, just a bf whose father/grandfather were marines and who would flip their s if i ended up as doc for a marine battalion...
I have tons-o-questions...but figured I'd start with these and see if I get any useful feedback. Thanks in advance to anyone who tries to help!