I recently had a successful civilian match and I wanted to add a few tips that I feel led to the success. It should go without saying that your academic house has to be in order and that you have a realistic shot at whatever specialty that you are going for. You’re not going to get derm as a mediocre candidate just because someone makes a phone call for you. These are things that can help get your foot in the door, but your overall app has to push it open. This is all obviously my opinion only.
About me: Internship in general surgery followed by 4 years as a flight doc.
Networking: One of the significant disadvantages that you will have as a GMO applicant is your lack of ability to easily do an away rotation or have a “home” institution. You have to counter this by doing some aggressive networking. You should plan to attend whatever your desired specialty's national conference is in the months leading up to application season. If there is a residency fair going on attending that should be your top priority, with several programs already scouted and you prepared to shake hands and leave a good impression. If you still have contacts from med school, either someone who was a student with you or staff that you worked with, get touch with them and let them know that you are getting out of the military and are looking to get back in to residency training. They may be willing to make a phone call or perhaps help set up a rotation on your behalf. A rotation will be difficult to arrange given your licensed status but not impossible: I have spoken to other former GMOs who cold-called programs and were able to set up a rotation. If you can get a friend who is on good terms with their PD and they are willing to call them up and sell you, then take advantage of that.
Try to get stationed at an area with either a civilian or military training program nearby: You may or may not have much control over this and it will vary depending on what you are going for. The reason for the close proximity is so that you can stay close to your specialty by attending conference or even rotating at the MTF if possible. Even if you have chosen to not reapply in the military, chances are the residency would be okay with you attending their education day. The same goes for a local civilian program: don’t be afraid to call the program coordinator, tell them your situation (bored GMO planning on applying to specialty X and you would love to come to conference so as to stay close to specialty X). Never hurts to ask and they may be willing to accommodate someone who is valiantly defending freedom. Plus, if you decide to apply to the local program they have some time to get to know you, and you are showing your interest by showing up on your own time. A rotation at the civilian program is unlikely (see above) but you should have some credentials at the local MTF and may be allowed to hang out in the ED, OR, L&D, or whatever. So, if you are given the offer to PCS to either Wainwright or Bliss, you are probably better off at Bliss, even if the outdoor life is better at Wainwright.
Use your GMO time wisely: If possible, get a flight physical and get into an aviation unit, as they tend to be smaller battalions than regular infantry or support battalions (in the Army at least). I am with one of the bigger battalions in the brigade and I still have ample time to put towards medical pursuits. Remember: a GMO is not a medical job and you have to fight to stay close to medicine. Write up a case study or a podcast script, keep up with reading in your specialty, and try to work at your local MTF by volunteering a half-day a week. Not only will this help to keep your sanity intact but it will a) help you to confirm that this is a specialty you want to go into; b) help you to learn and maintain clinical skills; and c) show interest. There will be plenty of time too for golf and long lunches, but put your medical career first.
Get a side-hustle: If the extra money isn’t interesting to you, then the maintenance of clinical skills and getting used to autonomous decision making should. Since you have to be licensed anyway you may as well get licensed in your state. Depending on the state you’re in you may be limited in what you can do.
If you are a DO applicant, strongly consider taking at least Step 1 USMLE: If you are reading this and are currently in med school, then definitely plan on taking both. I know that the military doesn’t require it, but things can change and you may not train in the military. You will be glad you got it done when you were studying for Level 1. If you are already graduated, stuck in GMO-land, and considering applying to ACGME residencies, take the damn test. I did not, and while I did have success this cycle I feel I would have had more interviews if I had a USMLE score to report. I do not know the details surrounding this but this is something worth exploring. ACGME programs are going to want to see USMLE scores, with the possible exception of PM&R residencies, per
@j4pac .
Those are the general tips that I want to offer. Depending on your specialty there will be other quirks to work around. For example, in EM the standardized letter of evaluation (SLOE) has become the a top evaluation tool for extending interview invites, pretty much on par with grade and boards. It will be very difficult to get a training-program SLOE as a GMO so you may need to do some cold-calling to find a place that will let you rotate.
Chances are the military is very happy to keep you in an admin job, and your bosses have no idea about how to land a civilian residency. Civilian PDs don't care about your DA photo, your most recent OER, or your skills as a Powerpoint Ranger. They want to know if you have the interest, drive, and ability to complete their training program. This all falls on you to attend to, so I hope these tips are helpful. You must fight to maintain your medical career. Hang on to hope, it can be done. Good luck!
