Air Force HPSP GMO Likelihood

[ne0phyte]

Hi guys,

It took me about 5 hours, but I finally managed to read through all the threads concerning the horrors of milmed and HPSP.

I really have a desire to serve this country, which is why I'm still not completely turned away from still doing this. However, not being able to choose a specialty and being forced to do a 2 year GMO is a real dealbreaker. Like what the ex-milmed doctors have said, I did not choose to get into medicine to let my skills stagnate or be forced to undertake inferior training.

I am pretty dead set on practicing psychiatry, and of course, my recruiter said it would be a piece of cake in obtaining a civilian deferment (apparently all lies according to what galo, usafdoc, and others have said).

So my question is, how likely is it that for HPSPers interested in psychiatry to end up doing a GMO tour? If I score extremely well on the boards, is it even possible for me to do a civilian residency, or would I be forced to match with an available AF residency?

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[SeminoleFan3]

Hi guys,

It took me about 5 hours, but I finally managed to read through all the threads concerning the horrors of milmed and HPSP.

I really have a desire to serve this country, which is why I'm still not completely turned away from still doing this. However, not being able to choose a specialty and being forced to do a 2 year GMO is a real dealbreaker. Like what the ex-milmed doctors have said, I did not choose to get into medicine to let my skills stagnate or be forced to undertake inferior training.

I am pretty dead set on practicing psychiatry, and of course, my recruiter said it would be a piece of cake in obtaining a civilian deferment (apparently all lies according to what galo, usafdoc, and others have said).

So my question is, how likely is it that for HPSPers interested in psychiatry to end up doing a GMO tour? If I score extremely well on the boards, is it even possible for me to do a civilian residency, or would I be forced to match with an available AF residency?

Well, if a AF residency is available, you'd have to take it. I'm not sure how many psych docs the AF trains a year, but I also can't imagine it's a very desired specialty. Almost anything that comes out of a recruiter's mouth, especially regarding civilian deferrments, is usually a lie.

 

[AFDuck]

Specifically regarding AF psychiatry GME, in the last few years there have been more spots offered every year than people applying to psych. So, if that trend continues until you're ready to apply, getting a psych residency in the AF is a given. However, there are two AF training programs that must fill before they will begin to fill the deferred positions (which are plentiful every year if you look at the forecast board results). Again, not even the 2 active duty programs have filled recently, so there have not been psych deferrments in the AF for the last few years. If, by chance, one year 30 people apply for psych, you'd have at least a 50/50 shot at deferment but thats unlikely.

Also, I know you didn't ask, but after considering psych for a while and looking into the 2 AD programs quite a bit I would tell you that they're not bad options (you don't even seem to be considering them). Both are fully integrated into civilian programs from nearby med schools, Dayton is more of a community psych setting while San Antonio is more academic. Final disclaimer: don't put too much stock into one specialty at this point, almost everyone changes their mind more than once in med school. Second final disclaimer: I bet the military will never turn down a psychiatrist if you forego HPSP and are still interested in serving down the line. Definitely think that through.

 

[ne0phyte]

I appreciate the info from you guys. and AFDuck, i'd love to hear more about AF psych residencies if you have any more information about them. I didn't ask, because honestly, the way galo and medicalcorpse describe milmed, i should be avoiding it like the plague haha. I only care about obtaining the best training that I can get based on my board score. If the two AF residencies are like what you described, I'd be pretty happy with them, if I were lucky enough to get selected.

other than that, I'm pretty set on psychiatry. I was a psych major in undergrad, and it's what drew me to pursue medicine in the first place. I'm not ruling anything out, but I just don't see myself losing interest in mental health after so much exposure to it already.

Finally, is there a place where I can find trends about number of spots by year? I looked at the AF JSGME thread and d/led the file with the matches. I'm not sure how to figure out how many ppl ended up with GMOs. For psych, I only saw the matches and number of deferments. And what's a "re-deferment"?

 

[IgD]

I was a Navy psychiatrist. My experience was that the military psych training programs were better than most of the civilian ones. Even if you could get a deferment, I would recommend against it.

 

[ne0phyte]

I was a Navy psychiatrist. My experience was that the military psych training programs were better than most of the civilian ones. Even if you could get a deferment, I would recommend against it.

things are looking up haha. as a navy psychiatrist, how was the experience? was it worth it? did you feel like you were able to utilize your training? I'd really appreciate anything you could tell me about your experience

 

[Jolie South]

I was a Navy psychiatrist. My experience was that the military psych training programs were better than most of the civilian ones. Even if you could get a deferment, I would recommend against it.

Wow, I was really not expecting this type of comment.

 

[AF M4]

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[AFDuck]

I appreciate the info from you guys. and AFDuck, i'd love to hear more about AF psych residencies if you have any more information about them. I didn't ask, because honestly, the way galo and medicalcorpse describe milmed, i should be avoiding it like the plague haha. I only care about obtaining the best training that I can get based on my board score. If the two AF residencies are like what you described, I'd be pretty happy with them, if I were lucky enough to get selected.

Just google them and read about them (Wright St in Dayton, OH is the AF's fully integrated civilian program and SAMMC in San Antonio is associated with the med school there along with the Army/AF facilities)

other than that, I'm pretty set on psychiatry. I was a psych major in undergrad, and it's what drew me to pursue medicine in the first place. I'm not ruling anything out, but I just don't see myself losing interest in mental health after so much exposure to it already.

Best of luck, keep an open mind.

Finally, is there a place where I can find trends about number of spots by year? I looked at the AF JSGME thread and d/led the file with the matches. I'm not sure how to figure out how many ppl ended up with GMOs. For psych, I only saw the matches and number of deferments. And what's a "re-deferment"?

Again, no one applying for psych has been sent to GMO for the past few years as they haven't even filled the AD programs. Overall, I would estimate ~25-30% of AF GME applicants have matched into only a PGY1 year over the last 4 years. Presumably, most of these people then went on to FS/GMO tours. I can't give you exact numbers, but if you're applying to a primary care field your odds of having to do a FS/GMO tour is much, much lower than if applying to more competitive fields like EM, ortho, anesthesia, etc.

 

[175961]

my friend just went to MEPS today and finished signing his papers with his recruiter for the Air Force side of HPSP. I had told him about GMOs earlier as he had no idea what they were. today when I was talking to him he mentioned that he asked the recruiter about GMOs and the recruiters response was "those dont exist in the Air Force, in the army or navy they may force you to go out as one but not in the air force" ......recruiters

 

[ne0phyte]

thanks for the info guys