How competitive are military residencies?

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RussianJoo

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I am a US citizen who is going to graduate from Caribbean medical school in 2010. I am going to be applying for anesthesia in the 2010 civilian match. My stats are slightly above average of those applying for anesthesia so there's a very good chance i'll match into a civilian program. However, if I don't match into a civilian program i would like to apply for a military residency. So does anyone know how much easier it is to gain acceptance in a military residency when compared to a civilian one? Anyone know or care to guess at the average step1 and 2 scores needed for Anesthesia in the military?

I constantly hear there's a huge shortage of military doctors, but I am sure this shortage is in primary care and not in specialties like Anesthesia.

Other specialty I am considering is neurosurgery. I spoke with an army recruiter and he told me that there's a shortage of neurosurgeons in the army, and that the army helps those that are qualified for the residency and want to do it with the military. Anyone care to comment on the competitiveness of this specialty?

I am also interested in other branches of the military not specifically the Army.

thank you in advance for your comments.

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I am a US citizen who is going to graduate from Caribbean medical school in 2010. I am going to be applying for anesthesia in the 2010 civilian match. My stats are slightly above average of those applying for anesthesia so there's a very good chance i'll match into a civilian program. However, if I don't match into a civilian program i would like to apply for a military residency. So does anyone know how much easier it is to gain acceptance in a military residency when compared to a civilian one? Anyone know or care to guess at the average step1 and 2 scores needed for Anesthesia in the military?

I constantly hear there's a huge shortage of military doctors, but I am sure this shortage is in primary care and not in specialties like Anesthesia.

Other specialty I am considering is neurosurgery. I spoke with an army recruiter and he told me that there's a shortage of neurosurgeons in the army, and that the army helps those that are qualified for the residency and want to do it with the military. Anyone care to comment on the competitiveness of this specialty?

I am also interested in other branches of the military not specifically the Army.

thank you in advance for your comments.
My understanding is that FMGs must have completed PGY-1 in a civilian US program in order to be eligible for military GME or military medicine at all. Thus if you don't match into a civilian US program in 2010, the US military will not provide an alternative avenue.
 
My understanding is that FMGs must have completed PGY-1 in a civilian US program in order to be eligible for military GME or military medicine at all. Thus if you don't match into a civilian US program in 2010, the US military will not provide an alternative avenue.

thank you for your reply, you're correct, I should have clarified it more. Since the military match is before the civilian match, I would totally miss the 2010 military match and would apply to the military in 2011 for a pgy2 spot or a spot to repeat my pgy1. With anesthesia I need to do a prelim year in either medicine or surgery, and those are easy to obtain compared to categorical spots. So what I plan on doing is apply for civilian programs first in 2010 if i don't match into anesthesia, i'll complete a prelim program somewhere and apply to the military in 2011. Also the military match is in the summer I believe and thus I'll know if I match in the military before the 2011 ERAS application opens, thus giving me a chance to apply to civilian residencies again if I don't match into a military residency.

My step1 score is 227/95, I have completed most of my 3rd year rotations and have received all A's thus far (only medicine and psych left).

Just wanted to know if you guys knew the average step scores of people applying for Anesthesia in the military, it was 220 for civilian residencies in 2007 or 2008.

thank you for your comments.
 
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