I've got two years of active duty of commitment time left in the military, and I'm not at all interested in military GME. I'm planning on starting my applications for civilian residencies this year since most programs I'm looking at match at PGY-2.
For those of you who've managed to finally make the escape to the civilian world for residency, I've got a few questions for you.
1. Did you match through ERAS or find a program outside the match?
2. Did you wear your uniform to interviews? If so, how'd that go? (I'm contemplating doing this)
3. Were you able to phone interview for programs you were interested in if you weren't able to get leave?
4. Any advice?
Thanks!
Matched to my second choice for a competitive PGY-2 residency this past spring. It can be done. Your .mil experience can be looked upon very favorably since you will stand out from the crowd of med school grads.
1. ERAS. Although I do know of some people who were able to find a place outside the match. This takes some connections, and is somewhat easier if you're going into a less competitive residency. Competitive ones are less likely to bother with going outside the match if they know they're going to fill up anyway.
2. No. Don't wear the uniform; dress for the job that you're applying for, not the one you're leaving. You'll have plenty of opportunities to talk about your .mil experience while wearing normal clothes, and wearing the uniform means that the interviewers will be talking to a military representative, not you. Big difference.
3. Luckily never had to. Again, depends on competitiveness of residency. However, unless you know the residency really well otherwise, I wouldn't recommend this. Do you really want to commit yourself to going somewhere for 3+ years sight unseen? Kinda scary.
4. What's your service branch? I know that for the AF, there is an AFI that allows for permissive TDY for things like job interviews. If your commander is nice enough, you can quote this and get permission to go on your interviews (at your expense, of course) without burning leave. Some commanders will make you burn leave anyway though; it's very commander-dependent. Worth a shot though.
Extras: Submit your app the moment that ERAS opens. And I mean, the moment. I've talked to multiple PDs and being one of the first applications on the pile made a huge difference in whether you got an interview or not.
Have some research. Make a case of the day, something you can slap together so you can check that box on the app. Yes, some residencies have the presence of this as scoring criteria.
Use a professional to review your personal statement. I'm a halfway decent writer, I still used one and the revised edition was much better than my original. Well worth the $100+. I had multiple interviewers comment on how much they enjoyed my essay.
Apply broadly. As a GMO you've got kind of a weird stink on you because you're not a conventional med student applicant. Fair or not, you're going to have to get over a certain amount of prejudice from some programs who are afraid you must have screwed up somewhere. Your application will hopefully demonstrate that this is not the case, but you should still anticipate that you may perform slightly worse simply due to the fact that you're unconventional. Adjust and widen your net.
The whole process is still pretty fresh in my mind as you can tell. Ask more questions; I drop by here frequently.
