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I realize that there are several similar threads, but I thought I'd chime in with my own story to show people what can happen to even a gung-ho HPSPer.....
Before I tell my story, let me say that when I signed up for HPSP with the Navy 4 years ago, I was very enthusiastic. Coming from a family where many spent time in the military, I wanted nothing more than to put on a uniform and serve my country. I felt I was well informed of all the negatives, and knew what to expect. I'd even read all the warnings on this board and while I had my doubts at times, in the end I still felt in my heart this was really what I wanted to do.
Like another recently disgruntled poster, I too sat and listed during OIS to people tell us that if we work hard and do well in school, we can get what we want. So, I worked hard..... When fourth year came around I decided to do orthopedics. I had good rec letters, an MPH, a list of publications to my name a page long and decent grades. I sent out my ERAS to ortho programs, and got my interviews. I got very positive responses (see my old posts). I also played the military game - I did rotations at the big Navy training hospitals, got along well with people and was told I would be a competitive applicant.
I contemplated applying for a deferment for a while, and even discussed it during several of my interviews. In the end though, I decided I wanted to be hoo-ya: do a Navy internship, go be a DMO or flight surgeon, then come back and finish my orthopedics training. I made sure that the appropriate selection board people knew this, and was again given a positive response.
Tuesday of selection board week, I received a very strange, cryptic phone call from the selection board. I was asked why I decided against a deferment - again I told them Navy training is what I wanted to do. I was told I was a good applicant, they only give full deferments to good applicants, and was then asked if I wanted to be considered for a deferment. I said sure, but my first choice would be training at a Navy facility.
Match day rolls around.... what do I match to? A 1-year deferment! I make some phone calls, and find out that almost everyone who got an ortho-track surgery internship was prior service/Naval Academy/USUHS. Despite all my academic accomplishments, I was an outsider for a spot from the very beginning. USUHS students at the bottom of their class and Academy HPSPers barely passing step 1 were picked over me (I'm actually friends with a lot of these guys, so I know who I got picked over me). Because I didn't put a full deferment as my first choice I didn't get it, and because I expressed interest in being a GMO I was determined to be a "good candidate" for a 1 year deferment.
Here is something else I learned: aparently, part of the selection system that also works against good applicants is that all programs in a speciality are required to take the same percentage of good, average and poor applicants. This is supposedly designed to ensure that all the good and bad applicants are spread out over all the different programs. So, if all the top applicants list the same program as their top choice, then it will be impossible for everyone to get their top choice, because they have to be spread out amongst the programs. When you think about this, this system actually encourages people to be average. If you're average, it doesn't matter where you go because you're not going to tip the balance either way. Thus, you're more likely to get your top choice, while the top people get tossed around. Talk about a messed up system - it makes me appreciate the NMRP all the more.
Now I'm stuck in this abyss..... I'm not really plugged into the military system, so I'll have a hard time getting a good application together for DMO or flight surgery. I'll most likely have to be a resitern if I want to stay in the Navy for my residency training. I'm not allowed to go through with my civilian training, so if I decide to go back to being a civilian after my military obligation, I'll have to re-do my internship.
I realize I signed my name on the line, collected my money, and now its time for me to pay it back. I'll go off and proudly serve my time as a GMO. What baffles me (and is the gist of my warning here) is how badly the military system treats its own people. All someone would have had to do is tell me what was going on all along. I'd taken my full deferment and gone on my way. I might have regretted not having the opportunity of being a DMO, but I'd be training in the speciality I wanted and would've been happy. Now I have to call back all the ortho programs I applied to and cancel my applications... and I don't even have a military spot to show for it. The Navy has taken someone who might have been a career officer and turned them into a bitter jaded person who'll probably walk away at the first chance he gets.
Bottom line: even if you think the military is for you, make sure you understand what you're getting into. The system is way more screwed up than you could imagine.
Before I tell my story, let me say that when I signed up for HPSP with the Navy 4 years ago, I was very enthusiastic. Coming from a family where many spent time in the military, I wanted nothing more than to put on a uniform and serve my country. I felt I was well informed of all the negatives, and knew what to expect. I'd even read all the warnings on this board and while I had my doubts at times, in the end I still felt in my heart this was really what I wanted to do.
Like another recently disgruntled poster, I too sat and listed during OIS to people tell us that if we work hard and do well in school, we can get what we want. So, I worked hard..... When fourth year came around I decided to do orthopedics. I had good rec letters, an MPH, a list of publications to my name a page long and decent grades. I sent out my ERAS to ortho programs, and got my interviews. I got very positive responses (see my old posts). I also played the military game - I did rotations at the big Navy training hospitals, got along well with people and was told I would be a competitive applicant.
I contemplated applying for a deferment for a while, and even discussed it during several of my interviews. In the end though, I decided I wanted to be hoo-ya: do a Navy internship, go be a DMO or flight surgeon, then come back and finish my orthopedics training. I made sure that the appropriate selection board people knew this, and was again given a positive response.
Tuesday of selection board week, I received a very strange, cryptic phone call from the selection board. I was asked why I decided against a deferment - again I told them Navy training is what I wanted to do. I was told I was a good applicant, they only give full deferments to good applicants, and was then asked if I wanted to be considered for a deferment. I said sure, but my first choice would be training at a Navy facility.
Match day rolls around.... what do I match to? A 1-year deferment! I make some phone calls, and find out that almost everyone who got an ortho-track surgery internship was prior service/Naval Academy/USUHS. Despite all my academic accomplishments, I was an outsider for a spot from the very beginning. USUHS students at the bottom of their class and Academy HPSPers barely passing step 1 were picked over me (I'm actually friends with a lot of these guys, so I know who I got picked over me). Because I didn't put a full deferment as my first choice I didn't get it, and because I expressed interest in being a GMO I was determined to be a "good candidate" for a 1 year deferment.
Here is something else I learned: aparently, part of the selection system that also works against good applicants is that all programs in a speciality are required to take the same percentage of good, average and poor applicants. This is supposedly designed to ensure that all the good and bad applicants are spread out over all the different programs. So, if all the top applicants list the same program as their top choice, then it will be impossible for everyone to get their top choice, because they have to be spread out amongst the programs. When you think about this, this system actually encourages people to be average. If you're average, it doesn't matter where you go because you're not going to tip the balance either way. Thus, you're more likely to get your top choice, while the top people get tossed around. Talk about a messed up system - it makes me appreciate the NMRP all the more.
Now I'm stuck in this abyss..... I'm not really plugged into the military system, so I'll have a hard time getting a good application together for DMO or flight surgery. I'll most likely have to be a resitern if I want to stay in the Navy for my residency training. I'm not allowed to go through with my civilian training, so if I decide to go back to being a civilian after my military obligation, I'll have to re-do my internship.
I realize I signed my name on the line, collected my money, and now its time for me to pay it back. I'll go off and proudly serve my time as a GMO. What baffles me (and is the gist of my warning here) is how badly the military system treats its own people. All someone would have had to do is tell me what was going on all along. I'd taken my full deferment and gone on my way. I might have regretted not having the opportunity of being a DMO, but I'd be training in the speciality I wanted and would've been happy. Now I have to call back all the ortho programs I applied to and cancel my applications... and I don't even have a military spot to show for it. The Navy has taken someone who might have been a career officer and turned them into a bitter jaded person who'll probably walk away at the first chance he gets.
Bottom line: even if you think the military is for you, make sure you understand what you're getting into. The system is way more screwed up than you could imagine.
