is it professional suicide?

[anxietypeaker]

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Well, the title might be a little dramatic but...i'm thinking of applying to ushus. I've heard good and bad things. My questions are as follows:

1) How likely is it that you wont be able to complete/start a residency? Something about being pulled as a GMO or something.

2) which services are least likely for this to occur (from the navy, army, air force, public health services)?

PLEASE, people with info on this, reply........................

 

[IgD]

The problem with USUHS is that you are committing yourself to 7 years of payback. You are guaranteed an internship but after that its up in the air. I'd say there is a 50% chance you would have do complete a 2-3 year GMO tour after internship before you start residency. The available residency choices very year by year according to the needs of the military. What are you wanting to do as a career?

 

[colbgw02]

Your questions have been asked and answered on this forum more times than can be counted. Read through the tacked threads and the longer threads, and try the search function. The information is out there.

 

[DrMetal]

Well, the title might be a little dramatic but...i'm thinking of applying to ushus. I've heard good and bad things. My questions are as follows:

1) How likely is it that you wont be able to complete/start a residency? Something about being pulled as a GMO or something.

2) which services are least likely for this to occur (from the navy, army, air force, public health services)?

PLEASE, people with info on this, reply........................

I certainly don't think it's committing professional 'suicide', unless you don't really want to be in the military. This is important; if you're really not that interested in being in the military, then you shouldn't join (no matter what your profession).

Check out the USUHS catalog on their website. It explains things in good detail. Also check out the usuhs thread here, it has a lot of history.

To answer your questions:

1) there's a good chance of it. probably more so in the Navy. But the GMO pendulum can swing many ways by the time you get there. If the thought of it gives you a lot of heart-ache, then I wouldn't join.

2) Probably Army. But again, we can't be certain in saying this. There's plenty of Army folks that have done GMO tours.

 

[fsunavybabe]

GMO is not an all bad thing!

It gives you some time to breath between med school/internship and residency.

It also gives you some time to decide on residency you want and really hone your skills prior to it 'Counting'.

Plus as I understand it if you do a GMO you are more likely to be accepted into residencies both military and non.

 

[notdeadyet]

It also gives you some time to decide on residency you want and really hone your skills prior to it 'Counting'.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of folks out there know what they want to do for a living by the time they finish fourth year. Taking two or three years out to do a GMO tour to give you time to figure out what you want to do is not a plus for most people.

Plus as I understand it if you do a GMO you are more likely to be accepted into residencies both military and non.

On the civilian side, it can help or it can hurt.

Lots of folks have felt that program directors viewed it as a plus. Others have mentioned having to repeat their internship year. This qualifies as a big minus.

 

[anxietypeaker]

wait, i think im confused...

I was afraid the pathway was: medical school, GMO, no further training permitted/allowed/further training is difficult to attain

3) Are u saying its med school, GMO, residency (meaning most everyone EVENTUALLY DOES do a residency, but after a GMO)? If the answer is yes, then how hard is it to get an internal med residency (regardless of after/b4 GMO)?

4) Also, after military life, i've heard people tell me its hard to get a civilian job as a doctor in a practice....is this true???? seems incredibly odd (as u can tell, the 2 people i got most of my info from were a bit disillusioned w/ the military)...i just want ACCURATE info, dont need sugar coating/etc.

Thanks again all.

 

[notdeadyet]

I was afraid the pathway was: medical school, GMO, no further training permitted/allowed/further training is difficult to attain

The path is med school to internship. You can not practice as a physician without internship.

After internship, you may have to do a GMO tour. After your GMO tour, you can do (or apply to do) a military residency. After that you will owe the military at least as many years of service as the residency lasts.

3) Are u saying its med school, GMO, residency (meaning most everyone EVENTUALLY DOES do a residency, but after a GMO)?

Yes. Even if you do a GMO tour, you will do a residency afterwards. Some folks do a military residency. Some folks do an additional GMO tour until they've paid back their commitment and then apply for a civilian residency.

Again, some folks have gotten positive feedback about their 3 or 4 years as a GMO when applying to civilian programs. Others had to repeat their internship year.

4) Also, after military life, i've heard people tell me its hard to get a civilian job as a doctor in a practice....is this true????

You won't be limited by the fact that you came from the military. The only limitations that come to mind is the fact that you might not have the local connections and referral base of someone coming out of a civilian program, but that is pretty specialty specific.

 

[DrMetal]

wait, i think im confused...

I was afraid the pathway was: medical school, GMO, no further training permitted/allowed/further training is difficult to attain

3) Are u saying its med school, GMO, residency (meaning most everyone EVENTUALLY DOES do a residency, but after a GMO)? If the answer is yes, then how hard is it to get an internal med residency (regardless of after/b4 GMO)?

Yes, you're a little confused. Here's the deal. you do med school (either USUHS or a civilian school via HPSP), then you do a 1 year internship at a military hospital (with either a med, surg, or peds emphasis, or a "transitional" year, whever you wanna call it), then you go do a GMO for 2 years (can be longer/shorter than this, but I think 2 years is average). Then you go do your residency (an additional 2 years for IM, 4 for GS, etc etc). If you go to USUHS, you have to do your residency at a military hospital. If you're HPSP, you can ask for a civilian deferrment and (if granted) do your residency at a civilian institution.

Now, depending on your specialty of choice and your timing, you may be allowed to skip the GMO part and go straight through your training. Trying to predict which specialty/when this may occur is difficult. Best to just assume that you will be doing a GMO. If you have to do it, you'll be prepared. If you're allowed to go straight through, then great, don't have to worry about it.

There's pros/cons to all of the above. Discussed several times on this forum, would advise you read up on it and talk to some real live military physicians before you make your decision. (Of course, you can go ahead and apply then make your decision later. You don't have to accept anything.) [/quote]

4) Also, after military life, i've heard people tell me its hard to get a civilian job as a doctor in a practice....is this true???? seems incredibly odd (as u can tell, the 2 people i got most of my info from were a bit disillusioned w/ the military)...i just want ACCURATE info, dont need sugar coating/etc.

Thanks again all.

No, not at all. I can think of plenty of military priors that have gotten great jobs (in private practice and elsewhere) after leaving the military. I don't think it's safe to generalize either way. It really just depends on how good of a doctor you personally are. There's always the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

[Perrotfish]

I was afraid the pathway was: medical school, GMO, no further training permitted/allowed/further training is difficult to attain

3) Are u saying its med school, GMO, residency (meaning most everyone EVENTUALLY DOES do a residency, but after a GMO)? If the answer is yes, then how hard is it to get an internal med residency (regardless of after/b4 GMO)?

The majority of Interns in the Army and Airforce, and hopefully soon to be a majority in the Navy, go directly from their Internship to residency. Several (many in the army, very few in Navy) get catagorical residencies which do not require you to reapply after your intern year, you're guarenteed to go straight through. The difficulty of going straight through depends on the residency (for example most orthos do a GMO first in the Navy, FPs can often go straight through). I don't have the stats, but from what I've heard it seems like the majority of people who complete a GMO and still want a residency can get one. Make sure you understand how a GMO tour + residency can effectively extend your service obligation. If you can't manage a basic IM/FP residency after a GMO I would assume you screwed the Admiral's daughter and ran over his dog (or, if you're Army, maybe the other way around).

Keep in mind that the competitiveness of specialties is not the same in the military as it is in the civilian world. The biggest example is that, if you want EM, you're going to be going up against a level of competition that would be similar to what you'd see for Ortho in the civilian world. On the other hand many specialties are no harder to get into than their civilian counterparts, or possibly even easier. Also the GMO is a good safety valve: if you're a bit short on stats for your dream residency, a couple of years as a GMO will often boost your application.

4) Also, after military life, i've heard people tell me its hard to get a civilian job as a doctor in a practice....is this true???? seems incredibly odd (as u can tell, the 2 people i got most of my info from were a bit disillusioned w/ the military)...i just want ACCURATE info, dont need sugar coating/etc.

Good luck finding a sugar coating here. I've been told that in professions that credential by procedure (surgery) or where the procedures don't match what you'd see in the civilian world (EM) docs who don't keep up their skills by moonlighting are often offered contracts that would normally be offered to someone only a year or two out of residency. Not that they CAN'T work, but they might be paid as a doc with a few less years of experience. This is all second hand, though. No stats

 

[anxietypeaker]

If you can't manage a basic IM/FP residency after a GMO I would assume you screwed the Admiral's daughter and ran over his dog (or, if you're Army, maybe the other way around).

gotta say, that was pretty hilarious...