Army Do promotion boards care about specialties?

[Gringoperdido]

When AMEDD promotion boards meet, do they compare all physicians in the same grade together, or do they only compare docs in the same specialty together?
I ask because I'm considering transfer to the Army Reserves as a 60C (Preventive Medicine - which is undermanned) and currently serving in the Army National Guard as a 62B (Field Surgeon).
Might be a moot point for me since am waiting for the SELCON board results, but would be helpful to know if it turns out that I'm allowed to stay in.

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[Onefellswoop87]

Can't speak to the Army or reserves (so feel free to stop reading my reply now), but the Navy is not supposed to take specialties into account. Promotion board is supposed to pick "best and fully qualified" (their term) based on evaluations, history of assignments, other educational pursuits/degrees, leadership roles, etc.

Though on the officer’s record that is presented for the promotion board has the medical speciality on it. So might they look favorably to a undermanned speciality or might a board member choose his/her speciality as a (sub)conscious bias? Maybe, probably, who knows.

But it’s definitely not a something obvious that they’ll promote X% of speciality 1 and Y% of speciality 2.

 

[pgg]

You will hear people who've served on boards and other "people in the know" fall all over themselves assuring everybody who'll listen that promotions are specialty-blind. But not to put too fine a point on it, of course we all know that's bull****.

The doctor part is fundamentally inseparable from the officer part, in many obvious ways.

Does every neurosurgeon get O5 & O6 promoted on time or early because they're neurosurgeons, or because the kind of people who are talented and driven enough to become neurosurgeons are also overachieving military officers? The answer is yes.

It's always been interesting to me that the Navy MC puts on airs of specialty-agnostic board selections, but the Navy MSC makes absolutely no secret of how there are different promotion opportunities within their communities (pharmacy vs lab vs etc etc).

 

[backrow]

Does every neurosurgeon get O5 & O6 promoted on time or early because they're neurosurgeons, or because the kind of people who are talented and driven enough to become neurosurgeons are also overachieving military officers? The answer is yes.
.

[Navy specific as I can’t comment on Army/AF promotion]

I’ll disagree with you here and you can look at the specialty specific promotion numbers that Joel Schofer puts out every year and see they can fluctuate wildly from year to year within specialties.

Where groups like neurosurgeons benefit is that they are all at large MTFs in small departments. So they don’t have to “fight” to get Dept Head positions, etc in order to be in line to get competitive FitReps amongst a large summary group. They also tend to not have to PCS as much so they build relationships and knowledge where they are that makes them more “competitive” for “good” jobs outside the department. This is unlike say anesthesia or EM where they might be at some small hospital or if at a large MTF have several other people of the same rank within their own department. If these folks don’t get the “good” jobs for promotion they can struggle to promote. If you aren’t DH how do you effectively compete for an Asst Director or Director job. If you aren’t APD it’s hard to compete for PD, etc etc.

Promotion to O6, and to a lesser extent, O5 (for now), is very much based on those FitReps. And how do you get those breakout FitReps? Have the jobs that produce them. If you’re in a summary group or a bunch of O5s who are directors and you aren’t a director…..well you can see what your FitRep will be and what you need to do. If all the O4’s are Dept heads and you aren’t a Dept Head, then it’s on you to find something equivalent so you can compete at the tiering boards.

Note: I’m not a fan of the system we use to promote physicians, but it’s the system we live in so one has to play the “game” if they care about promotion. If you don’t care, then just do the things that you love to do and you will be happier than chasing rank.

 

[DrMetal]

Is it possible to make O-7 without doing a beltway tour? I have no shame, I wanna spend my entire career in San Diego.

 

[Monty Python]

Is it possible to make O-7 without doing a beltway tour? I have no shame, I wanna spend my entire career in San Diego.

I was on N=7 boards at Millington 2008-2015 before retiring. While theoretically not impossible, I would give it single-digit probability. A few years in Bethesda or Falls Church are most likely needed.