Army or Navy HPSP? Is it easy to go straight to residency after med school?

[deleted806128]

Please explain some of the pros and cons of Army vs. Navy HPSP. Like culture, locations, residencies and total years committed. I am about to pick one of them. I have read some other posts, but just wanted the most updated info and to clear up some things I still don't know.

Some websites suggest civilian residences have about a 90% match and the military have about a 65%. But does anyone know the matching for specific fields? For example, radiology, anesthesiology and and maybe another specialty I haven't decided yet. Is it significantly different numbers between Army/Navy?

How does the GMO year/ tour work after I graduate medical school? FYGME? Navy said GMO year is not mandatory. Does army have something similar or is it almost always straight to residency?

Do people only sometimes go straight into their Navy residency? (The Navy recruiter said that's only an issue if I'm not competitive. What's competitive: Above-average? Superstar?) Can any current military residents tell me about the process/ getting placed? Do you know if this was typical for your peers?

Is it easy to do fellowships after your residency? Do most military residencies have exposure to veterans/civilians rather than only the extremely healthy soldier population?

Is it common to do GMO for 4 years after med school and then get a your residency as a civilian? Would it be very difficult to get a civilian residency after being 4 years out from medical school?

My motivations for HPSP, 1) I genuinely want to serve my country and I think I would regret passing on this opportunity. 2) my medical school is one of the expensive ones. I have managed expectations that I will have less freedoms than my civilian colleagues and there will be a significant pay differential however I see the quality of life during school and for the few years after without debt being good. Plus getting to serve.

Please provide as much information as you wish! Thank you in advance! My biggest question is about the possibility of year(s) between medical school and residency.

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[SirGecko]

Have you done any reading on this forum? A lot of your questions have been answered fairly recently.

Army vs Navy: more people go straight through in the army than the navy but it's not 100%.

GMO: while it is true these aren't "required" what your recruiter told you about GMO tours only being for people who aren't competetive is wrong. (Like most falsehoods peddled by recruiters this is likely due to ignorance rather than truest malicious intent) See many of the recent discussions in this forum for more information. The short answer is that it totally depends on what you want to do and what everyone else wants to do. It can vary significantly year to year sometimes and simply being an excellent candidate may not save you from doing a gmo tour.

Fellowship: again this depends on what you want to do and what the navy needs. I haven't gone through the fellowship selection process but I have talked to more senior military doctors about it. It is definitely less common in the military to go straight to fellowship than as a civilian. It is probably also less common to ever go to fellowship and the selection can be limited. If the military doesn't need "x" fellow or already has as many as they want they aren't going to let you train in it.

Patients: military teaching hospitals also see dependents and retirees. You also typically will do external rotations at other hospitals. That said the volume tends to still be less than a lot of civilian programs.

GMO and out: yes people do this. See other threads on this forum about this topic.

 

[deleted806128]

Have you done any reading on this forum? A lot of your questions have been answered fairly recently.

Army vs Navy: more people go straight through in the army than the navy but it's not 100%.

GMO: while it is true these aren't "required" what your recruiter told you about GMO tours only being for people who aren't competetive is wrong. (Like most falsehoods peddled by recruiters this is likely due to ignorance rather than truest malicious intent) See many of the recent discussions in this forum for more information. The short answer is that it totally depends on what you want to do and what everyone else wants to do. It can vary significantly year to year sometimes and simply being an excellent candidate may not save you from doing a gmo tour.

Fellowship: again this depends on what you want to do and what the navy needs. I haven't gone through the fellowship selection process but I have talked to more senior military doctors about it. It is definitely less common in the military to go straight to fellowship than as a civilian. It is probably also less common to ever go to fellowship and the selection can be limited. If the military doesn't need "x" fellow or already has as many as they want they aren't going to let you train in it.

Patients: military teaching hospitals also see dependents and retirees. You also typically will do external rotations at other hospitals. That said the volume tends to still be less than a lot of civilian programs.

GMO and out: yes people do this. See other threads on this forum about this topic.

Thank you!
Yes I spent about two hours reading before posting to try to avoid wasting everyone's time. I did see a thread with a website link to the military placement numbers, but can't seem to find it now. The website was a ".mil" I think, and it had the number of accepted applicants for each residency for a given year.

For a navy residency in anesthesia, what do you think the chance is for going straight through?

For Army residencies, why would someone not go straight into residency? What would they do instead?

 

[deleted806128]

Have you done any reading on this forum? A lot of your questions have been answered fairly recently.

Army vs Navy: more people go straight through in the army than the navy but it's not 100%.

GMO: while it is true these aren't "required" what your recruiter told you about GMO tours only being for people who aren't competetive is wrong. (Like most falsehoods peddled by recruiters this is likely due to ignorance rather than truest malicious intent) See many of the recent discussions in this forum for more information. The short answer is that it totally depends on what you want to do and what everyone else wants to do. It can vary significantly year to year sometimes and simply being an excellent candidate may not save you from doing a gmo tour.

Fellowship: again this depends on what you want to do and what the navy needs. I haven't gone through the fellowship selection process but I have talked to more senior military doctors about it. It is definitely less common in the military to go straight to fellowship than as a civilian. It is probably also less common to ever go to fellowship and the selection can be limited. If the military doesn't need "x" fellow or already has as many as they want they aren't going to let you train in it.

Patients: military teaching hospitals also see dependents and retirees. You also typically will do external rotations at other hospitals. That said the volume tends to still be less than a lot of civilian programs.

GMO and out: yes people do this. See other threads on this forum about this topic.

Another question:
If I do Army, what is the GME, from reading other threads, I got the impression that after being accepted to a residency, the first year I will be doing Army general medical examiner things, but its part of the 4 year residency?

 

[Helpful Troll]

... For Army residencies, why would someone not go straight into residency? What would they do instead?

Just apply to both Army and Navy HPSP if you get a med school acceptance in the next few years. You'll have plenty of time to read through the threads that address your questions before you have to commit to either.

If you don't match for an Army residency you will be directed to apply for a one year Civilian TY residency or placed in a one year Army TY and then do GMO time or apply for a PGY2 residency position.

From one of your other posts - what is GME - Graduate Medical Education

 

[Helpful Troll]

... Is it common to do GMO for 4 years after med school and then get a your residency as a civilian? Would it be very difficult to get a civilian residency after being 4 years out from medical school?

Please go read the Sticky Thread in Military Medicine - That OP addresses your question.
Civilian residency after GMO advice

 

[SirGecko]

For a navy residency in anesthesia, what do you think the chance is for going straight through?

Anesthesia is one of the residencies where it seems like at least currently you are more likely to need to go do a GMO tour prior to starting. (in the Navy)

 

[deleted806128]

Just apply to both Army and Navy HPSP if you get a med school acceptance in the next few years. You'll have plenty of time to read through the threads that address your questions before you have to commit to either.

I have to decide in 3 weeks, already accepted. Sorry if the username confused you, I made this account last year when I was applying to school....not sure how to change the username lol.
Thank you for your help!

 

[deleted806128]

Anesthesia is one of the residencies where it seems like at least currently you are more likely to need to go do a GMO tour prior to starting. (in the Navy)

Thank you for clearing this up!

 

[Helpful Troll]

Here is the 2016 Slideshow with Army residency information. Note the test scores for some specialties exceed civilian residency scores. Page 19 of this document lists what happens to those not selected for PGY2/categorical residency. The 2017 slideshow will be available sometime in March.

As others have indicated 'Small numbers = High risk'. For example Army Anesthesia only has 12 PGY1 residency positions but has more HPSP/USUHS/ROTC obligated med school graduates applying than Navy or AF.

Click "Advanced"
Then "Proceed to education.mods...."

I have to decide in 3 weeks, already accepted. Sorry if the username confused you, I made this account last year when I was applying to school....not sure how to change the username lol.
Thank you for your help!