2010-2011 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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idrywithtowels said:
Don't worry junglefever your not the only one. I'm in the same boat as you. I also interviewed 9/23 and have heard nothing.

So i'm here for some moral support ha.
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until you get accepted too..."sigh". im just trying to do my thing and not check my phone 50 times a day
 
Hey everyone, this is my first post, I've been lurking here for quite a while and finally decided to post. I've got an interview invite for Nov. 18th (invite came oct 7, complete sept 21 when my mcat score finally posted) GPA 3.6 mcat 31

USU is where I want to go. I've been in a military family all my life, Dad was 30 year career naval officer, and it's all I know. Cons being the moves, the separation, the not being able to quit when things/co workers are less than optimal. Pros are caring for soldiers and those supporting them (families), leadership opportunities, patient driven care as opposed to the bottom line finances, and of course the job security and all the financial pros (malpractice, retirement, office overhead)

Of what I've seen posted, it seems like a the camaraderie between the students is much more cooperative, and students help each other a lot more than civilian med schools?

another thing I've heard is how you can't just be a lab tech with a sense of entitlement, you have to be able to work with others, communicate and get along?

I would like to go either Navy or Army, preferably Army because of the greater number of residency spots, less likely gmo, someone said it was very likely to make 0-6 because of retention, I'd really be happy with either, the priority is go get in.

Anybody have anything to add about differences between the services? is the culture different between the two? IMHO, airforce has the largest number of toxic posters on here, followed by navy, but the army seem fairly content.
 
I interviewed on Oct 14 I was wondering if anyone knows of a way, or if it is possible, to request a change in your service preference? Thanks.
 
Eye Heart Study said:
I interviewed on Oct 14 I was wondering if anyone knows of a way, or if it is possible, to request a change in your service preference? Thanks.
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Yes, you can. Just call in to the Admission Office and tell them that you want to change your preference. They'll probably ask you to email or fax another sheet over.
 
ThunderHorse said:
Hey everyone, this is my first post, I've been lurking here for quite a while and finally decided to post. I've got an interview invite for Nov. 18th (invite came oct 7, complete sept 21 when my mcat score finally posted) GPA 3.6 mcat 31

USU is where I want to go. I've been in a military family all my life, Dad was 30 year career naval officer, and it's all I know. Cons being the moves, the separation, the not being able to quit when things/co workers are less than optimal. Pros are caring for soldiers and those supporting them (families), leadership opportunities, patient driven care as opposed to the bottom line finances, and of course the job security and all the financial pros (malpractice, retirement, office overhead)

Of what I've seen posted, it seems like a the camaraderie between the students is much more cooperative, and students help each other a lot more than civilian med schools?

another thing I've heard is how you can't just be a lab tech with a sense of entitlement, you have to be able to work with others, communicate and get along?

I would like to go either Navy or Army, preferably Army because of the greater number of residency spots, less likely gmo, someone said it was very likely to make 0-6 because of retention, I'd really be happy with either, the priority is go get in.

Anybody have anything to add about differences between the services? is the culture different between the two? IMHO, airforce has the largest number of toxic posters on here, followed by navy, but the army seem fairly content.
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For what it is worth, I think you will be accepted. While your stats are OK so all you have to do at the interview is be yourself. If you express to your interviewers what you did in this email I am sure you will be OK. During my interview, I think the general theme was "while eveyone cannot be accepted, the school wants everyone to be successful". Be sure to understand the difference between a military physician and a physician in the military.

I have been in the army for 7 years, I was a medic, a nurse and now I am a health care administrator and soon to be physician. I cant really speak intelligently about the other services but I can tell you this, Army physicians have no complaints. I have never met a doc that told me they didnot recieve their residency of choice which is a big plus.

Anyways, good luck on your big day and when you do get accepted, join USUHS Class 2015 on facebook.
 
ThunderHorse said:
Hey everyone, this is my first post, I've been lurking here for quite a while and finally decided to post. I've got an interview invite for Nov. 18th (invite came oct 7, complete sept 21 when my mcat score finally posted) GPA 3.6 mcat 31

USU is where I want to go. I've been in a military family all my life, Dad was 30 year career naval officer, and it's all I know. Cons being the moves, the separation, the not being able to quit when things/co workers are less than optimal. Pros are caring for soldiers and those supporting them (families), leadership opportunities, patient driven care as opposed to the bottom line finances, and of course the job security and all the financial pros (malpractice, retirement, office overhead)

Of what I've seen posted, it seems like a the camaraderie between the students is much more cooperative, and students help each other a lot more than civilian med schools?
Click to expand...

Students at USUHS are helpful. I wouldn't say they are significantly more helpful than your average medical school, though.

another thing I've heard is how you can't just be a lab tech with a sense of entitlement, you have to be able to work with others, communicate and get along?
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This is true for life in general as a physician, whether in the military or not.

I would like to go either Navy or Army, preferably Army because of the greater number of residency spots, less likely gmo, someone said it was very likely to make 0-6 because of retention, I'd really be happy with either, the priority is go get in.
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Gooo Army.

Anybody have anything to add about differences between the services? is the culture different between the two? IMHO, airforce has the largest number of toxic posters on here, followed by navy, but the army seem fairly content.
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In the beginning of first year people really separated by service. Now everyone mixes together. I choose Army for the reasons you listed (more residency slots, less likely GMO, etc). Another plus is that the new "Walter Reed Medical Center" is going to be "triservice." I have been told by many navy/army/airforce attendings that residents that triservice is code for "army led" since the Army has the most funding and resources of the three service branches. So, that's swanky.
 
Interview invite for 12/9! Complete 10/4; invite today, 10/22; reapplicant. Hope you guys haven't taken all the slots for this year!
 
Boethius said:
Interview invite for 12/9! Complete 10/4; invite today, 10/22; reapplicant. Hope you guys haven't taken all the slots for this year!
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I second that! 🙂 I would really like to go here.
 
crevmed and mace1370, thanks for the replies. This forum has been immensely helpful.

anybody know what the timeline is like for when concorde contacts you for the physical?
 
ThunderHorse said:
crevmed and mace1370, thanks for the replies. This forum has been immensely helpful.

anybody know what the timeline is like for when concorde contacts you for the physical?
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I received my interview invite on 10/1 and received info in the mail from Concorde sometime late last week (not really sure of the exact date as I was out of town on an interview and didn't get home until Sunday). So it took right around 2 weeks.
 
I know they said it didn't matter but do you guys think it would be bad to put the physical off until after the interview? Will it hold up the committee or something like that? Is there any advantage to doing it earlier?
 
Hey DocBell,

During our morning briefing with the USUHS admissions staff, it was explained to us that it was in our best interest to get the physical done as soon as possible because it would help with matriculation, rather than admissions. My understanding is that your DoDMERB physical and security background check do not play a part in getting your conditional acceptance. Once you get a conditional acceptance, these two things are evaluated to see if you will get an unconditional acceptance.

The main point to keep in mind about the medical physical evaluation process is that it can be surprisingly bumpy even if you think you're pretty healthy - your DoDMERB exam might be filled out incorrectly, you might need some additional labwork or you might need to get a waiver/remedial for something - all of which will require additional work in order to get an unconditional acceptance. (I had to do remedial labwork for example.) You seriously do not want to leave this to the last minute because others have in previous years - resulting in a failure to matriculate and thus needing to reapply to USUHS the following year.
 
UCD15 said:
I received my interview invite on 10/1 and received info in the mail from Concorde sometime late last week (not really sure of the exact date as I was out of town on an interview and didn't get home until Sunday). So it took right around 2 weeks.
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Thanks, I'll look for it pretty soon then!
 
So I have my interview January 6th (applied really late), for the army at what point would you say you are interviewing for the alternate list? I know by then we will be interviewing for a Wait list spot which stinks but I know that especially for army the waitlist moves fairly well (I have hope). I am just trying to figure out a time line here if any one has any ideas.
 
Would any current students or students who are apprised to the military graduate medical education system, care to weigh in on the chance of going on a general medical officer tour (for a person who would be matriculating to USUHS next fall)or whether they are phasing those out over time. In a nutshell, how likley would it be to obtain a gen-surg residency and finish it through all 5 years without being interrupted by some sort of tour. for the sake of this post lets make the question specific to "Navy" but info on all branches is appreciated. Secondly, does having competitive grades and USMLE scores make it more likely that you can avoid a GMO tour or are you really at the mercy of the needs of the branch regardless of how competitively you have performed.
Thanks very much
 
MarkL said:
Hey DocBell,

During our morning briefing with the USUHS admissions staff, it was explained to us that it was in our best interest to get the physical done as soon as possible because it would help with matriculation, rather than admissions. My understanding is that your DoDMERB physical and security background check do not play a part in getting your conditional acceptance. Once you get a conditional acceptance, these two things are evaluated to see if you will get an unconditional acceptance.

The main point to keep in mind about the medical physical evaluation process is that it can be surprisingly bumpy even if you think you're pretty healthy - your DoDMERB exam might be filled out incorrectly, you might need some additional labwork or you might need to get a waiver/remedial for something - all of which will require additional work in order to get an unconditional acceptance. (I had to do remedial labwork for example.) You seriously do not want to leave this to the last minute because others have in previous years - resulting in a failure to matriculate and thus needing to reapply to USUHS the following year.
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Thanks for the response. I will try to set up an appointment as soon as I get the info then. I am not worried about the security clearance but I am worried about needing a random waiver from the physical. Is it ever possible to get two wavers if you end up needing them? or at that point do they just tell you c'est la vie?
 
Hawks said:
Would any current students or students who are apprised to the military graduate medical education system, care to weigh in on the chance of going on a general medical officer tour (for a person who would be matriculating to USUHS next fall)or whether they are phasing those out over time. In a nutshell, how likley would it be to obtain a gen-surg residency and finish it through all 5 years without being interrupted by some sort of tour. for the sake of this post lets make the question specific to "Navy" but info on all branches is appreciated. Secondly, does having competitive grades and USMLE scores make it more likely that you can avoid a GMO tour or are you really at the mercy of the needs of the branch regardless of how competitively you have performed.
Thanks very much
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So I asked a Navy CDR about this a while back and she said that GMOs are voluntary. Their availability is being phased back though
 
coug,
have you heard anything about the general qaulity of Military GME, and which of residencies are the best?
 
I found some data in the quick search I did.
Higher than average Board Cert. rates: 14 Army & 9 Navy specialties with 100% pass rate over the past five years.

Also, my step-father was Navy and did his training in Bethesda (IM and fellowship in GI). He said that the fellows in GI all scored in the 99th percentile. He swears that the military has some of the best training, after training is a different story depends on what kind of person you are, but the training was excellent. Of course it is a biased view as he was a Navy doc for 12 years. 🙂
 
How have I not been accepted with the front runners? I interviewed on 9/23. What were your stats people?

I'm prior service Army with two tours in Iraq. I have a 4.0 in Chemistry and a 32 on the MCAT. I have a ton of volunteer work and what I felt were strong essays. I kind of bit it on the MCAT, so unless you all blew me away there, I can't begin to imagine how I was not a first draft pick...

I can only tremble: During my (good) interviews, I got an email (DAMN!) on my phone - I remember the military all too well; did they fail me for this?!
 
after a certain point, medical school admissions are a crap shoot. Keep the faith
 
DocBell said:
I am not worried about the security clearance but I am worried about needing a random waiver from the physical. Is it ever possible to get two wavers if you end up needing them? or at that point do they just tell you c'est la vie?
Click to expand...

My understanding is that you can be granted waivers for multiple conditions. Typically the process is that the initial DoDMERB exam will flag any conditions that may be a disqualification. The review doc then decides if it is immediately disqualifying (e.g. you have active smallpox) or if a remedial test/waiver can be issued instead (e.g. you have a false-positive TB skin test). DoDMERB usually gives people an option of doing the waiver through one of their Concord docs or your primary care physician (you pay out of pocket for this option though). After the MD evaluation/attestation that your condition will not affect your ability to serve in the military, that gets sent to DoDMERB, the review doc will make the final decision if you're a go/no-go.
 
one50ne said:
I'm prior service Army with two tours in Iraq. I have a 4.0 in Chemistry and a 32 on the MCAT. I have a ton of volunteer work and what I felt were strong essays. I kind of bit it on the MCAT, so unless you all blew me away there, I can't begin to imagine how I was not a first draft pick...
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Holy cow, I would want you in OBC with the rest of the USUHS class...you should save us from a bunch of low-speed shenanigans! Maybe give the admissions office a call to ensure your file is complete? If something is missing maybe that is what is holding it up from committee review. GOOD LUCK!!! Drive on, Hooah!
 
CBrick said:
So I have my interview January 6th (applied really late), for the army at what point would you say you are interviewing for the alternate list? I know by then we will be interviewing for a Wait list spot which stinks but I know that especially for army the waitlist moves fairly well (I have hope). I am just trying to figure out a time line here if any one has any ideas.
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You won't be interviewing only for an Alternate List spot at any point. They keep adding to the Waitlist all the way through the last interview in March. Alternate List just means that they liked you but there is one or two parts of your application that they feel are weak and they'd like to see you improve. Waitlist means the committee has recommended that you be accepted but there is not an open slot in your service preference (and they don't make the alternate list decision based on number of slots available). Of course I am not 100% sure of this, but I've met a current USUHS student who was accepted from her interview in March, the very last interview day.
 
MarkL said:
My understanding is that you can be granted waivers for multiple conditions. Typically the process is that the initial DoDMERB exam will flag any conditions that may be a disqualification. The review doc then decides if it is immediately disqualifying (e.g. you have active smallpox) or if a remedial test/waiver can be issued instead (e.g. you have a false-positive TB skin test). DoDMERB usually gives people an option of doing the waiver through one of their Concord docs or your primary care physician (you pay out of pocket for this option though). After the MD evaluation/attestation that your condition will not affect your ability to serve in the military, that gets sent to DoDMERB, the review doc will make the final decision if you're a go/no-go.
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oo ok. thanks for the response. The clarification of the process sets my mind at ease. I can stop the obsessive googling now 🙂
 
one50ne said:
How have I not been accepted with the front runners? I interviewed on 9/23. What were your stats people?

I'm prior service Army with two tours in Iraq. I have a 4.0 in Chemistry and a 32 on the MCAT. I have a ton of volunteer work and what I felt were strong essays. I kind of bit it on the MCAT, so unless you all blew me away there, I can't begin to imagine how I was not a first draft pick...

I can only tremble: During my (good) interviews, I got an email (DAMN!) on my phone - I remember the military all too well; did they fail me for this?!
Click to expand...

I have the exact same stats as you 4.0 in Chemistry and 32 on the MCAT. I have a ton of volunteer also. I have not been in the military myself, just on the other side of deployments! 🙂 My interviews went great. I interviewed on the 16th of September. Don't freak out yet, its just the 25th of October.
 
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rmallip1 said:
What is the address we send the two signed forms too? The admission office right?
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That's correct. I checked in with the staff and they said you don't need to address it to a particular person in office either.
 
Hawks said:
Would any current students or students who are apprised to the military graduate medical education system, care to weigh in on the chance of going on a general medical officer tour (for a person who would be matriculating to USUHS next fall)or whether they are phasing those out over time. In a nutshell, how likley would it be to obtain a gen-surg residency and finish it through all 5 years without being interrupted by some sort of tour. for the sake of this post lets make the question specific to "Navy" but info on all branches is appreciated. Secondly, does having competitive grades and USMLE scores make it more likely that you can avoid a GMO tour or are you really at the mercy of the needs of the branch regardless of how competitively you have performed.
Thanks very much
Click to expand...


I do not pretend to know very much, but I can reiterate what I've heard here. Really the Navy is the only one with residencies where 100% of residents did a GMO tour first - i.e we're the last ones to phase it out. An example of this is EM - that said, according to one of our ED physicians here, while now it's 100% GMO, by the time my class applies to residency they want 1/2 of the slots to be straight-through and 1/2 GMO.

You mentioned gen-surg, so I should say that gen-surg almost never fills before the scramble. If you want gen-surg, family medicine, internal medicine, sometimes pediatrics, you don't need to worry about a GMO (unless you want to do one).

Consider this though, the GMO title may "go away," but the tours don't. It's not like we suddenly don't need physicians to fill those slots. The difference is whether the physicians are residency trained or just intern trained. From all the Navy physicians I've talked to here, none of them had bad things to say about their GMO if they did one. It may not have been their first choice, but they had a good time and didn't mind it in the end. Looking at the mil med forum here on SDN, you'd think everyone hates their GMO tour - it's really not true. Sure its possibly that you'll hate it, but people who tend to post on forums are disgruntled unhappy people - the happy ones don't feel the need to find a place to talk about their experiences as much as the unhappy ones. Just food for thought.
 
ChaseH87 said:
You won't be interviewing only for an Alternate List spot at any point. They keep adding to the Waitlist all the way through the last interview in March. Alternate List just means that they liked you but there is one or two parts of your application that they feel are weak and they'd like to see you improve. Waitlist means the committee has recommended that you be accepted but there is not an open slot in your service preference (and they don't make the alternate list decision based on number of slots available). Of course I am not 100% sure of this, but I've met a current USUHS student who was accepted from her interview in March, the very last interview day.
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Thank you so much that definitely makes sense. It is also true that the army tends to move through their wait list fairly well right?
 
CBrick said:
Thank you so much that definitely makes sense. It is also true that the army tends to move through their wait list fairly well right?
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I know USUHS's waitlist moves faster than most other med schools, but I really have no idea if Army's moves faster than the other services. Army does fill up last though, so if Army's is full in January you should be one of very few on the waitlist. I don't know when they will fill up this year, but in forums from previous years it appears that the Army starts putting people on the waitlist who interview in January or February. Just get your physical stuff done and figure out any waivers as soon as you can and you should have no problems getting in (I'm assuming you have decent stats and your interview goes okay 😉 ).
 
ChaseH87 said:
I know USUHS's waitlist moves faster than most other med schools, but I really have no idea if Army's moves faster than the other services. Army does fill up last though, so if Army's is full in January you should be one of very few on the waitlist. I don't know when they will fill up this year, but in forums from previous years it appears that the Army starts putting people on the waitlist who interview in January or February. Just get your physical stuff done and figure out any waivers as soon as you can and you should have no problems getting in (I'm assuming you have decent stats and your interview goes okay 😉 ).
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Alot of the students there, (tour guides, etc) said that the army wait list does move faster. 👍 Sadly (maybe) for me, the Navy waitlist is said to be highly resistant to any movement whatsoever. 👎
 
How did ya'll decide what branch of the service to go for? My dad was in the Air Force so that is what i know but I am worried that residency selection for specialities will be too competitive and I will end up in primary care (which I don't know at this point if I want). So I was thinking maybe Army since I am interviewing later anyways and would really like the opportunity to go this school. I have done some online research but I was wondering if people would feel comfortable chiming in what tipped the scales in the direction of the service they chose. Mostly between Air Force and Army.
 
DocBell said:
How did ya'll decide what branch of the service to go for? My dad was in the Air Force so that is what i know but I am worried that residency selection for specialities will be too competitive and I will end up in primary care (which I don't know at this point if I want). So I was thinking maybe Army since I am interviewing later anyways and would really like the opportunity to go this school. I have done some online research but I was wondering if people would feel comfortable chiming in what tipped the scales in the direction of the service they chose. Mostly between Air Force and Army.
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I'm in the same situation. I've been going back and forth between Navy, Air Force, and Army. I work with some Air Force physicians who liked the Air Force. That being said, one of the Air Force docs did have to do flight medicine for two years before matching into emergency medicine (though this was about 10 years ago, so maybe it's different now?). He said it was actually a really fun time for him. But like you, DocBell, I'm very interested to hear how others have come to their decisions for which branches to go for.

By the way, does anyone know if I would be disqualified from flight medicine for color blindness? I'm pretty darn red-green colorblind (though I can easily distinguish between red and green on things such as traffic signals) and was wondering how much of an effect that would have on a career in the military.
 
Well I have family in all three branches, but my husband is Army and that is what I am personally most familiar with. However it did take a while for me to make a 100% sure decision. I choose Army because they are the biggest branch, so besides residencies, they also have the most people deployed to the sand box which means they have the most need for physicians. That's really what it came down to for me. I see these soldiers everyday on post who come back from OIF and OEF, and that's where I think I can do the most good with my career and have the most impact on not just the soldiers, but their families as well. 🙂
 
one50ne said:
How have I not been accepted with the front runners? I interviewed on 9/23. What were your stats people?

I'm prior service Army with two tours in Iraq. I have a 4.0 in Chemistry and a 32 on the MCAT. I have a ton of volunteer work and what I felt were strong essays. I kind of bit it on the MCAT, so unless you all blew me away there, I can't begin to imagine how I was not a first draft pick...

I can only tremble: During my (good) interviews, I got an email (DAMN!) on my phone - I remember the military all too well; did they fail me for this?!
Click to expand...
Maybe it was your modest disposition that did you in...
 
one50ne said:
How have I not been accepted with the front runners? I interviewed on 9/23. What were your stats people?

I'm prior service Army with two tours in Iraq. I have a 4.0 in Chemistry and a 32 on the MCAT. I have a ton of volunteer work and what I felt were strong essays. I kind of bit it on the MCAT, so unless you all blew me away there, I can't begin to imagine how I was not a first draft pick...

I can only tremble: During my (good) interviews, I got an email (DAMN!) on my phone - I remember the military all too well; did they fail me for this?!
Click to expand...

Hey man, I am at a service academy with a 3.94 GPA, 35 MCAT, loads of shadowing and humanitarian work etc. Interviewed 9/16. I still haven't heard back from USUHS. I called and they said that they haven't reviewed all the files yet, so don't let your heart be troubled.
 
I'm wondering if anyone knows how "family friendly" USU is. I'm just a little curious because my wife and I just had our first child, and I don't know whether or not to mention my family life during the interview. I know some schools are awesome about family during med school, while others are staunchly against it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Well I have five children (three are my stepsons who live with us full-time) and I did mention it. 🙂 Didn't seem to be a problem at all seeing as I got accepted on the 16th. The only question I was asked about it was how I would deal with a deployment and the possibility of being away from my children. Just know the answer to that question and I don't think it will matter at all. 🙂
 
DandomRan said:
I'm wondering if anyone knows how "family friendly" USU is. I'm just a little curious because my wife and I just had our first child, and I don't know whether or not to mention my family life during the interview. I know some schools are awesome about family during med school, while others are staunchly against it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...


I don't have personal experience with this, but from what I've observed from classmates is that USUHS is extremely family friendly. We've had several students who's wives had children over the past year, and I haven't heard any problems. They've missed exams and mandatory classes (labs, small groups etc) if something came up - a few went home early from our summer experience.
It seems like its almost every day that I see at least one wife (with or without children in tow) at school hanging out with their husband during lunch or after classes. There aren't very many married women students in the class, so I don't see as many husbands, but they're around too.

tabascosauce said:
when is the best time for someone like me (age 24) to start a family?
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School wise, one of our professors states that 1st and 2nd year are the best times to have children. Now, that doesn't always work if you're not ready for children at that time, but apparently it's one of the times when there's less constraints with having to be at school/hospital.
 
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