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? I will more than likely be attending a DO school and have been told at least that there is little to no stigma against DOs in the military. Thanks

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[pgg]

Don't choose a specialty based on whether or not the Air Force inserts a GMO detour in your training.

No one really knows what military GME is going to look like in 5 years. It'll probably still be here. It'll probably be very different. In the ~20 years since I signed up, we have not seen anything approaching the current degree of change and uncertainty. None of us really have any idea of the odds that GMO time will be required prior to inservice training in any given specialty.

 

[MadScientist95]

Don't choose a specialty based on whether or not the Air Force inserts a GMO detour in your training.

No one really knows what military GME is going to look like in 5 years. It'll probably still be here. It'll probably be very different. In the ~20 years since I signed up, we have not seen anything approaching the current degree of change and uncertainty. None of us really have any idea of the odds that GMO time will be required prior to inservice training in any given specialty.

Thank you. What do you mean when you say the current degree of change and uncertainty? What’s making military GME change like it is now?

 

[Trefoil]

Thank you. What do you mean when you say the current degree of change and uncertainty? What’s making military GME change like it is now?

Just read the thinking about HPSP/ USUHS thread. We are undergoing a massive downsizing and certain specialties will be eliminated entirely. What exactly will happen is still somewhat a mystery.

 

[pgg]

Thank you. What do you mean when you say the current degree of change and uncertainty? What’s making military GME change like it is now?

Browse the forum a bit.

The basic gist of it is that Congress has directed the armed forces to realign their medical assets in the general direction of using active duty personnel in war-critical specialties and civilian contractors in non-war-critical specialties. It seems likely that this will be accomplished with a combination of natural attrition and non-replacement of the non-war-critical physicians, and shaping of future accessions by skewing inservice training opportunities toward war-critical specialties.

Additionally, the Defense Health Administration (DHA) has recently come into existence, and will increasingly assert its authority and leadership over the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical corps.

These are complex changes, in the earliest stages right now. It's hard to offer advice or an image of the future at this time, especially to the kind of granular detail you're asking (i.e. odds of straight through matching in Air Force GME for various surgical specialties four years from now).

 

[MadScientist95]

Browse the forum a bit.

The basic gist of it is that Congress has directed the armed forces to realign their medical assets in the general direction of using active duty personnel in war-critical specialties and civilian contractors in non-war-critical specialties. It seems likely that this will be accomplished with a combination of natural attrition and non-replacement of the non-war-critical physicians, and shaping of future accessions by skewing inservice training opportunities toward war-critical specialties.

Additionally, the Defense Health Administration (DHA) has recently come into existence, and will increasingly assert its authority and leadership over the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical corps.

These are complex changes, in the earliest stages right now. It's hard to offer advice or an image of the future at this time, especially to the kind of granular detail you're asking (i.e. odds of straight through matching in Air Force GME for various surgical specialties four years from now).

 

[MadScientist95]

Thank you for this information. I have and will continue to keep browsing the forums. So I understand what you are saying and that it is hard to tell. However, lets say you are right in that they shift towards war critical specialties. Would this theoretically mean more individuals matching into specialties like general surgery, orthopedics, etc (specialties I would assume to be common needs in war) than primary care residencies like family medicine?

 

[EasyEveryoneWouldDoIt]

there is always a need for primary care specialities. internal medicine, family practice, etc. if you look further in this forum you will see specialities group into buckets. i believe general surgery, EM, family practice, internal medicine and a few others are in bucket one which is needed for warfighting while other buckets have things like cardiology, neuro, pathology, etc .... specialities are less likely need for warfighting and not really deploy. rather than focus on what speciality is easiest or less competitive i would focus more on doing the best you can so you can get whatever speciality you want. there is a breakdown on how air force match is done. you get x points for preclinical years to include step and complex score, then clinical years, then misc points from the program director you are interviewing with and bonus points for research and prior service. competitiveness varies from year to year and while these is less of stigma for D.O students in the match the highly sought after specialities will be competitive in the military match just as it is in the civilian match.

 

[j4pac]

Thank you for this information. I have and will continue to keep browsing the forums. So I understand what you are saying and that it is hard to tell. However, lets say you are right in that they shift towards war critical specialties. Would this theoretically mean more individuals matching into specialties like general surgery, orthopedics, etc (specialties I would assume to be common needs in war) than primary care residencies like family medicine?

Not necessarily. Billets produce residency seats. I don’t believe that MilMed wartime specialty billets are significantly undermanned, so I don’t see why the number of residency seats would open. I think that it has much greater implications for non-wartime specialties