Civilian joining Navy post-internship as GMO

[deleted590417]

Is it possible for civilians to join the Navy as an active duty physician after having completed only an internship? The information on their website seems to apply that if you have gone to an AMA-accredited medical school and completed at least 1 year of GME you are eligible to apply for a position with a minimum 2 year commitment. I assume this would be a GMO tour. If so, I assume you would have 0 points when it comes to requesting placements and may end up in an undesirable location for two years (I am asking with regards to family placement). Thanks!

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[upchit]

I don't see why you couldn't, I would call a recruiter. With regard to location selection, if you play the game with the detailer I am sure you could get somewhere acceptable to you. Is there a reason you don't want to complete a residency?

 

[deleted590417]

My wife is an AD physician in the Navy and there is a high likelihood she is going to be deployed outside the US. I was hoping to postpone my residency training (which I have already started) because living apart is becoming quite difficult for me. I had no idea joining the Navy after internship was even an option for me. Otherwise, I would have considered it earlier because now I fear it will be too late for me to enlist and complete ODS training and still obtain colocalization with her because I know the Navy will not consider me in her placement until I'm fully in the ranks.

 

[upchit]

Well. If she is deployed you likely would not get deployed to the same place. In my humble experience it is much worse to have 2 active duty physicians than one civilian one military. I absolutely would not advise leaving your residency to be a GMO unless you really want to do the work of a GMO. If she gets stationed overseas (different than deployment) for a full accompanied tour then you could consider moving with her and working abroad or doing research abroad, and then come back to residency later. I know of a couple of physicians who have worked via telemedicine or did consulting for journals, etc while their spouse was stationed overseas. However, they were board certified.

Good luck.

 

[DrMetal]

Is it possible for civilians to join the Navy as an active duty physician after having completed only an internship? The information on their website seems to apply that if you have gone to an AMA-accredited medical school and completed at least 1 year of GME you are eligible to apply for a position with a minimum 2 year commitment. I assume this would be a GMO tour. If so, I assume you would have 0 points when it comes to requesting placements and may end up in an undesirable location for two years (I am asking with regards to family placement). Thanks!

No, probably not. There's already too many interns (soon to be GMOs) in the Navy. There's no incentive to recruit civilian pgy1s. You're best bet is to complete your residency, then join as an attending physician.

 

[SuperSoccer19]

Is it possible for civilians to join the Navy as an active duty physician after having completed only an internship? The information on their website seems to apply that if you have gone to an AMA-accredited medical school and completed at least 1 year of GME you are eligible to apply for a position with a minimum 2 year commitment. I assume this would be a GMO tour. If so, I assume you would have 0 points when it comes to requesting placements and may end up in an undesirable location for two years (I am asking with regards to family placement). Thanks!

I do know two who entered as PGY-2s into a residency after doing an internship and one who went GMO, but the residency part is prob specialty specific on what is needed and not overseas. Co-location is not a garantee with two active duty and chances of deploying together would be low although I have seen it happen.

If they "deploy" her, its usually not more then 9 months apart, at most. If they give her overseas orders, unaccompanied is a max of 2 years, rarely i have seen 1 year hardship or with certain positions. Some overseas hospitals will hire civilians too or at least let you "volunteer" depending on your specialty.

Things constantly change to. They might her today she's going to Japan for two years and then tomorrow find out she got a residency position or is needed stateside so might want to keep that in mind.

 

[GMO2003]

Is it possible for civilians to join the Navy as an active duty physician after having completed only an internship? The information on their website seems to apply that if you have gone to an AMA-accredited medical school and completed at least 1 year of GME you are eligible to apply for a position with a minimum 2 year commitment. I assume this would be a GMO tour. If so, I assume you would have 0 points when it comes to requesting placements and may end up in an undesirable location for two years (I am asking with regards to family placement). Thanks!

I am not sure if volunteering as a GMO is even possible without first going through OBC with your respective branch and the JSGMEB. Your best bet is to contact the respective branch's head of GME and let them know of your intentions and see what happens. IMHO, I think it's a $hit sandwich that you're gonna choke on and regret after it's too late. Please take this for what it's worth. You can do whatever the phuck you wanna do!

 

[jabreal00]

I can attest to the perils of being a two active duty physician household. My wife and I have been apart for going on two years. The caveat though is that we are in different services.

 

[backrow]

The caveat though is that we are in different services.

That's not a caveat, that's a non starter. I actually know many dual service physician couples an I have never heard of any problems from any of them. In fact, for the Navy at least, it can actually help get you to places you may want to go depending on your specialties.

For the Navy there are actually milpersman articles that deal with collocation.

 

[prone2xl]

Ok here's a scenario. Say I matched into a civilian categorical residency. Can I complete my intern year, not sign the contract for pgy-2 renewal and join the navy into a GMO? I am a prior 0-3.

 

[j4pac]

Ok here's a scenario. Say I matched into a civilian categorical residency. Can I complete my intern year, not sign the contract for pgy-2 renewal and join the navy into a GMO? I am a prior 0-3.

Why would you do that? Not signing a PGY-2 contract sounds like an epic blunder. Absolutely do not do what you are thinking of doing. If you want to join you may want to consider FAP.

 

[deuist]

Can I...

Yes you can, just like you can run over your foot with your own car. I don't recommend doing either of those things.