Hey everyone, long ltime lurker finally done with boards. I got 630ish on comlex 1 and am interested in DR and Gas. I would appreciate any advice regarding applying to either in the army. Thank you
looking for residency advice.. army
- Thread starter Mbidmc
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Can you be more specific? Advice regarding what?
General advice: do well in school, interview and do well in your interviews. Are you HPSP?
General advice: do well in school, interview and do well in your interviews. Are you HPSP?
Sorry, thank you for replying. Yes I'm HPSP. I've done well so far (top quartile). I was hoping to get advice regarding radiology vs anesthesia applications in milmed. I've looked at the 2017 pdf with the average comlex scores for accepted applicants, but I'm not sure how far to trust them.
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The average scores ought to be fairly accurate. I haven't seen those vary considerably. However, match rates can vary dramatically year-to-year. The only way I've ever found to predict that is to look at the last few years. If the match rate was very low last year, there's a decent chance it'll be better this year because everyone will avoid that specialty out of fear of not matching. Vice versa as well. But, obviously, thats a risky bet. Also, some specialties just never fill, but I doubt that is the case for DR or anesthesia. If you're doing that well in school, your next best steps are research and having good rotations at the military training facilities. You want them to know who you are, and more importantly, you want them to like you. Timing is important. If you rotate too early, they'll forget who you are, or someone else will overshadow your visit. If you rotate too late, it could be too late to effect the outcome. Try to get on to a case report or small study at your institution. Talk to the faculty there. The things that will get you a military residency aren't really different from the civilian world, it's just a smaller fish tank. And, good news, there seems to be much less bias against DOs in the Army compared with ACGME on the civilian side.
Thank you!
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Also, I would encourage you to do clinical rotation at whatever MEDCEN the consultant is located.
Know him. Because he is gonna be you best ally to get picked up somewhere.
And folks can be petty, so after getting to be best buds with the consultant, rank his program first, even if it’s not your first choice.
😉
Know him. Because he is gonna be you best ally to get picked up somewhere.
And folks can be petty, so after getting to be best buds with the consultant, rank his program first, even if it’s not your first choice.
😉
Thank you for the advice. Couple f/u questions:
1. Who is the consultant?
2. how do I find where they work?
sounds like dialogue from a quest... lead me to the consultant...
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Go to medicalcorpsDOTameddDOTarmy DOT mil
look at the right column, click on OTAG Consultant Program, then click on 'All Consultants'. You will get a list with specialties, names, locations, email, etc.
Speaking in terms of Army Anesthesia....our consultant shouldn't be a primary focus for finding where to go to residency. First, for anesthesia he's at a MEDDAC and its not a training location. Second, from my experience decisions on who matches into residency are made by program directors with involvement by dept head and local (MEDCEN dept level) leadership. The power of the consultant becomes more apparent when your staff....in terms of assignments, PCS, getting a fellowship, liasioning with HRC. By the time you finish residency, the likelihood is high itll be a different individual anyways as their term seems to be around 4 years or so. Focus on doing well and set up an audition rotation at the 2 Army Anesthesia training programs....Walter Reed and/or BAMC. Get a feel for those programs, meet and talk with the residents, introduce yourself to local leadership, schedule an interview...get a gestalt for which program and which location (DC or San Antonio) is a better feel for your learning opportunities and family situation. That's my 2 cents...
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i agree with usma05. in general, i don't think applicants should try to "game" their match rank list at all, and certainly not to try to win favor with the consultant. as mentioned, the consultant is much more important when leaving residency, and there's a good chance it'll be a different person by then anyway.
The last two posts hit the nail on the head. Rads and Anesthesia are still fairly competitive. Don't be surprised if you find yourself in Korea for a year or two before you end up back in CONUS doing your residency.
