Former military given extreme preference?

[asdf123g]

was talking to a former HPSP doctor (finished his service...let due to skill atrophy but liked military otherwise) and they got a deferral to apply to civilian residencies after medschool. He landed a competitive Civ residency in a competitive specialty. He said he had no chance matching with what he wanted to do with milmatch since former military get major preference; and most competitive specialties are like that in the military.

Any truth to this?

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[colbgw02]

uhh...sorta?

the military match does consider prior service. prior service in the medical corps (usually as a GMO) counts more than other types of prior service. either way, it's not enough to make a poor candidate into a good one, but it can permit a marginal applicant to match into a specialty that otherwise would have been out of reach.

if the person with whom you spoke separated from the military and then did a residency, then he almost certainly served as a GMO, meaning he would have had the prior service box checked on their military residency application. if he was unable to match, then he probably simply wasn't competitive enough for it in the military. that last bit is underscored to highlight the fact that competitiveness for a specialty in the civilian and military worlds is often incongruous, as evidenced by the fact that he was apparently able to match quite well outside of the military.

he was also probably aided by the fact that military service is, on the whole, considered a bonus to PDs.

 

[asdf123g]

He did a civ residency THEN served his time. No GMO time; no prior service at all.

 

[colbgw02]

then it's a half-truth. some specialties in some of the services are obligated to do some GMO time before matching, but most of these people were competitive for their field to begin with. the fact that they're doing GMOs is really just an administrative vestige. as i said before, being a GMO can improve a marginal candidate to the point that they can match, but it's not a trump card. so when he talks about having no chance to match in the military, it's because he's competing with equally qualified candidates who have also spent their time in GMO purgatory, not because he's competing against inferior applicants who get a special pass to the front of the line.