Advice please

[EMhawkeye]

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Greetings,
I was wondering if I could have some advice for my situation. I am a us img. I applied em during my first cycle, failed to match amd scrambled into a medicine internship. I reapplied this year for em but didn't get much love. My biggest obtacles in matching was my img status and a very average step 1. Sloe's and the rest of my application was on point.
So my question is now that I will have completed my internship, would it be worth it to serve as a gmo and then reapply to military em residencies? As far as serving it has always been something I want to do so that isn't an issue. My main issue is knowing whether my odds would improve for military em spots having served as a gmo.

 

[HighPriest]

This gets asked a lot. If you're not competitive as a civilian, you'lol not be competitive in the military. A GMO tour will help a little in the best circumstances, assuming you get in to the military in the first place, but not enough to turn around an otherwise weak application.

If you're truly right on the border, and the only issue is an average step 1 score, then sure it could help in this hypothetical situation. But there is also the possibility that you don't match again, and then you should think about what your backup plan might be.

 

[Cooperd0g]

The other thing to realize is that, depending on service, EM is even more competitive in the military than outside. So you won't be successful in the military if you aren't on the outside.

Are you applying to all of the out of the way, middle of nowhere county programs or just "top" programs?

 

[EMhawkeye]

The other thing to realize is that, depending on service, EM is even more competitive in the military than outside. So you won't be successful in the military if you aren't on the outside.

Are you applying to all of the out of the way, middle of nowhere county programs or just "top" programs?

Yes i applied broadly. Applied to 65 programs. Basically anyone who has taken an img in the past 3 years.

 

[Cooperd0g]

Yes i applied broadly. Applied to 65 programs. Basically anyone who has taken an img in the past 3 years.

Then it is time to consider back up specialties. But using the military as a back up generally doesn't work. It's your life though.

 

[Helpful Troll]

Greetings,
I was wondering if I could have some advice for my situation. I am a us img. I applied em during my first cycle, failed to match amd scrambled into a medicine internship. I reapplied this year for em but didn't get much love. My biggest obtacles in matching was my img status and a very average step 1. Sloe's and the rest of my application was on point.
So my question is now that I will have completed my internship, would it be worth it to serve as a gmo and then reapply to military em residencies? As far as serving it has always been something I want to do so that isn't an issue. My main issue is knowing whether my odds would improve for military em spots having served as a gmo.

EMhawkeye - I don't know which service you are considering but Army EM Step 1 mean for class of 2016 was 234 and Step 2 mean was 246. Civilian EM class of 2014 for comparison was Step 1 230, Step 2 232. Army is likely more competitive for EM than civilian. Don't go into this thinking EM is a likely option. Did you apply IM again this year?

 

[AFlightdoc]

Greetings,
I was wondering if I could have some advice for my situation. I am a us img. I applied em during my first cycle, failed to match amd scrambled into a medicine internship. I reapplied this year for em but didn't get much love. My biggest obtacles in matching was my img status and a very average step 1. Sloe's and the rest of my application was on point.
So my question is now that I will have completed my internship, would it be worth it to serve as a gmo and then reapply to military em residencies? As far as serving it has always been something I want to do so that isn't an issue. My main issue is knowing whether my odds would improve for military em spots having served as a gmo.

To reiterate above. AF EM is generally more competitive than civilian EM. Less spots + mil applicant personalities tend to lean towards EM in general = highly competitive field. Despite what the conventional wisdom says GMO/FMed tours do not necessarily make you a more competitive candidate. If you had gaps in your application going into your GMO tour they're still going to be there when you come back out. Relatively competitive applicants who were just on the cusp of matching may slightly bump their chances with some GMO time but in my experience these tours are not looked at as a plus on your resume. So what you really need to ask yourself is will you be happier doing IM or family med on the civilian side vs the military side?

 

[deuist]

I don't think that you can become a GMO as an IMG without completing three years of residency. I might be wrong, but I don't think that any state will give you a medical license until you've completed 3 years of GME (i.e., complete a residency in FM, IM, or so on). Then, you can join the military and serve a utilization tour as either an attending in your specialty or perhaps pursue flight medicine, GMO, dive medicine, etc... In theory, you should get more points toward the military match after you have completed a utilization tour, but keep in mind that you will need publications, stellar rec letters from your internship site, and a good personal statement and interview. You can do it, but it's not as easy as going from mediocre medical student to mediocre flight surgeon to emergency medicine resident.

 

[Onefellswoop87]

I don't think that you can become a GMO as an IMG without completing three years of residency. I might be wrong, but I don't think that any state will give you a medical license until you've completed 3 years of GME (i.e., complete a residency in FM, IM, or so on). Then, you can join the military and serve a utilization tour as either an attending in your specialty or perhaps pursue flight medicine, GMO, dive medicine, etc... In theory, you should get more points toward the military match after you have completed a utilization tour, but keep in mind that you will need publications, stellar rec letters from your internship site, and a good personal statement and interview. You can do it, but it's not as easy as going from mediocre medical student to mediocre flight surgeon to emergency medicine resident.

I believe, regardless of being an IMG, he completed step 1 and 2, is in an internship and presumably has or will complete step 3, thus he's elligible for an unrestricted state license in about half the states.

But the first question is, in a era of drawing down and decreased budgets, does the DoD even want another GMO that they didn't lock into a contract before the student started med school?

 

[Gastrapathy]

@Fluffhead87 not the case. States have separate requirements for IMGs and the minimum is 2 years.

 

[Onefellswoop87]

@Fluffhead87 not the case. States have separate requirements for IMGs and the minimum is 2 years.

And I'll count that as the one thing new to learn today. Hit my cap early in the day. I didn't realize the requirements were different if you took and passed the steps. For others, here is a list of requirements broken down state by state:

https://www.ama-assn.org/sites/defa...lic/img/licensure-comparison-imgs-usmgs_1.pdf