Medical consulting after GMO?

[ArmyDawg]

Unfortunately last week I found out I did not match into a competitive specialty. Still considering rebuttal specialties (rads, path, IM, FM, peds) but my heart is with the specialty I applied for. Most likely I’ll end up doing a TY and apply again for a PGY2 spot. Worst case scenario is I don’t match again, in which case I’d become a GMO. How feasible is consulting as a career post military if I finished my obligation as a GMO…if necessary (I will still continue to reapply as GMO and as civilian)? Only asking because I have a hard time seeing myself happy with a different specialty.

-ArmyDawg

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[DeadCactus]

"Consulting" is kind of a vague term. Kids with an undergrad degree get into consulting so yes you could do it. An Ivy league MD degree would help. There are some internship type programs for physicians at some of the larger consulting firms.

More importantly, "consulting" seems to be the random filler career physicians glamorize when they've become disenchanted with medicine. Consulting can be a great career for some people but it's worth asking yourself what it is that pivoting to consulting will give you that medicine won't. The reality is medical training overemphasizes the hell out of specialty selection. That's probably hard to believe right now, I know it would have been for me at that point in my career. But most specialties can be tailored in a way to be satisfying to most people. I think you'll be surprised how 4 years as a GMO making decent money and spending some time outside of hospitals and academics will reorient your priorities.

 

[pgg]

Unfortunately last week I found out I did not match into a competitive specialty. Still considering rebuttal specialties (rads, path, IM, FM, peds) but my heart is with the specialty I applied for. Most likely I’ll end up doing a TY and apply again for a PGY2 spot. Worst case scenario is I don’t match again, in which case I’d become a GMO. How feasible is consulting as a career post military if I finished my obligation as a GMO…if necessary (I will still continue to reapply as GMO and as civilian)? Only asking because I have a hard time seeing myself happy with a different specialty.

-ArmyDawg

What specialty did you apply to? Not really any reason to be vague here, if you desire advice.

You realize that you can apply to civilian residency programs after serving as a GMO, right?

If your heart is set on the specialty you didn't match into, you can always serve out your time as a GMO and then apply to civilian programs when you get out. Lots of people do this. Ex-military docs are generally regarded positively by civilian residency programs.

You should do a realistic assessment of why you didn't match, however.

It may be worth getting some objective feedback from the military program directors. It may be you didn't match because the military is a small pool and the numbers weren't on your side this year. It may be that you're simply not competitive for that specialty - in which case, applying to it again and again (military or civilian) might be futile.

 

[ArmyDawg]

What specialty did you apply to? Not really any reason to be vague here, if you desire advice.

It was one of the ROAD specialties (not radiology)

You realize that you can apply to civilian residency programs after serving as a GMO, right?

I got that part

If your heart is set on the specialty you didn't match into, you can always serve out your time as a GMO and then apply to civilian programs when you get out. Lots of people do this. Ex-military docs are generally regarded positively by civilian residency programs.

For civilian programs, do you know how GMOs with 4 years experience are compared to applicants directly from medical school? Board scores and clinical grades can't be changed, so do those become less of a decider with experience?

You should do a realistic assessment of why you didn't match, however.

It may be worth getting some objective feedback from the military program directors. It may be you didn't match because the military is a small pool and the numbers weren't on your side this year. It may be that you're simply not competitive for that specialty - in which case, applying to it again and again (military or civilian) might be futile.

I got a call form the PD at my #1 choice, and he implied it was the former. This year was one of the highest applicants to seats ratio in 6 years+. Plenty of USUHS and prior service applicants too. On my aways, I talked with more than a handful of residents who were reapplicants, so I think that it's more likely than not to work out if you improve in ways you need and keep applying. If you persist as such, what are the chances the worst case happens?

 

[ArmyDawg]

"Consulting" is kind of a vague term. Kids with an undergrad degree get into consulting so yes you could do it. An Ivy league MD degree would help. There are some internship type programs for physicians at some of the larger consulting firms.

More importantly, "consulting" seems to be the random filler career physicians glamorize when they've become disenchanted with medicine. Consulting can be a great career for some people but it's worth asking yourself what it is that pivoting to consulting will give you that medicine won't. The reality is medical training overemphasizes the hell out of specialty selection. That's probably hard to believe right now, I know it would have been for me at that point in my career. But most specialties can be tailored in a way to be satisfying to most people. I think you'll be surprised how 4 years as a GMO making decent money and spending some time outside of hospitals and academics will reorient your priorities.

Consulting offers an out where I can still utilize my degree and earn a decent living. I may be overexaggerating when I say no other specialty would make me happy, but at this point in my career, I would genuinely rather do something other than clinical medicine for many specialties

 

[KoKoOnaJo]

What is consulting???