Anesthesia Residency at Wilford Hall

[sethco]

Hi, I am a 3rd year medical student at Philadelphia College of
Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) and an HPSP Participant with the Air Force. I am thinking about going for an
anesthesia residency. I have already done one rotation in this area and
enjoyed it immensely. However, I have a couple of questions that are
bothering me. If you could be of any help, I would greatly
appreciate it.

1) I took the COMLEX and scored in the 96th percentile, but I did not
take the USMLE. Is this score good enough to apply?
Should I take the USMLE in addition? If so, what scores do I need to be
competitive?

2) I was wondering if the Anesthesia program accepts DOs into the residency program? Should I do all of my ADTs at Wilford Hall in Anesthesia to help my chances?

3) I would really like to match in San Antonio and I was wondering the best way to go about it. Does it make a difference that I am an Osteopathic student and there are a limited number of slots? Can I cross match into Army or Navy slots? Do any slots go unfilled? Do osteopathic students get military anesthesia residencies?

Any additional advice that you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help on the matter.

Seth Cohen
MS-III
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

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[GMO_52]

Seth,
You haven't gotten much AF response so...I'm Navy but I did rotate through Wilford Hall. I definitely wouldn't worry about being a DO, the military is very comfortable with this. I also don't see why you should take the USMLE as it is more likely to hurt than help, as I see it. The big key to residency selection, beyond your overall performance, is the impression you make during a rotation at the hospital. Don't just schedule a phone interview. If you have a strong #1 choice, be sure to spend a month with them before the selection board meets. The best time is probably in Sept/Oct. Good luck.

 

[sethco]

Thanks for the message. I don't know why there has not been more responses. Also, do you know if there are DOs in that residency? Also, would the selection committee take into account that my fiancee goes to law school in Texas and is committed to being there while I am doing my residency? Also, should I get letters recommendation from residents, attendings, or both? Thanks for all of your help.

Seth

 

[Heeed!]

Seth,
I read your post on the gas page too. I'm AF HPSP MS-1 @ NSUCOM. My take on the matching issue is "match to the career field." And worry about location after that. In your situation, I would ask myself, "would I want to do ___X____ residency (something other than gas) in San Antonio and be a pediatrician (for example) for the rest of my life OR find an easy gas program to get into w/ your sweet COMLEX score and get to do what you want? Difficult on the future bride? Yes. Difficult for you to be a doctor in a specialty you're not interested in? Yes. Now, I imagine you'll have multiple locations that would take you for gas so your choice probably won't come down to the hypothetical situation I just described. But the military looks at DOs and MDs the same. So, try to get the specialty AND the location, but let the location take a back seat when it comes to cruch time. Getting into top residency programs may give somebody one line on an OPR but eventually, the HPSP students that match to "crappy" gas programs will be serving side by side with those Top 10ers, as equals. My situation is I'm halfway to retirement because of my prior service. So, where I do my residency isn't going to mean anything when I retire. I'll have 10 years of experience in whatever specialty I go into. If I didn't go to a "Top 10" program, will that hurt my job chances? Doubt it. So, my intention is to take COMLEX and find a program that will take me. I hope it's a military residency. I need those years to count for retirement. But I wouldn't give up a civilian residency in my specialty of choice at a "bad" location in the hope I could somehow work a different angle. The oft spoken phrase in my prior community was this: "Don't pass up a good deal, to get a good deal." Applying it to your situation, don't pass up a gas residency WHEREVER it is, if that's what you know you want to do. I hope you get to Texas and that everything works out the way you want. But many times the needs of the military come first, which is exactly why you need to get the specialty you want and then worry about location. I'd be interested to hear how everything turns out. Good luck!

 

[cdreed]

If it helps any, I was assigned to the Same Day Surgery Unit at Wilford Hall for three years... and yes, I did meet anesthesiology residents who were DOs.

 

[Rock Star]

Hi Seth,

The main reason I felt comfortable becoming a DO is that I met so many of them when I was active duty AF at Wilford Hall. It was cool, a lot of them were in various specialties.

I don't know anything about gas at Willy, but I'd surmise its good. I'd like to suggest that you don't rule out getting a civilian defferal to do your gas training. I met a couple of gas residents on Air Force deferrals while on the interview trail this year.

Good Luck.