Less competitive military specialties

[MadScientist95]

So I have done extensive research on this forum regarding information on military residencies, however I have not found an answer for the following question. I will more than likely be taking the Airforce HPSP as I matriculate this fall and am wondering what specialties other than primary care one would more than likely be able to match straight into given decent test scores and thus, avoid being a GMO in? Are there any surgical specialties one could potentially match straight into without being a GMO given that they have average to decent test scores? Thanks

 

[Scribe4Life]

Hey MadScientist, I would recommend posting this in the Military Medicine forum. I've been lurking there a long time and there are a lot of experienced physicians that could help give you advice on this. Just to prepare you for what you're probably going to hear when you repost this, military GME is really up in the air right now and it's going to be hard for you to find any kind of definitive answers about specific residency paths that may or may not be available 4 years from now. To my knowledge, the AF HPSP has one of the lowest GMO rates currently. I'm currently filling out my security clearance paperwork after getting the go-ahead from my recruiter so I'll be going the same route as you, and I would really caution you against going this route if avoiding GMO land is a big deal for you. Regardless of whether or not that's the path that ends up being given to you, it would just be an extraordinary burden of anxiety and stress towards the end of medical school if you're dreading the GMO path that much. Best of luck, I'm hoping some current/former milmed docs can help you out!