Military match questions

[Treehun]

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Hi all!

Does the school you go to matter for military match?

Does the military match look at COMLEX scores?

what DO schools have the best military relations ?

How do internship years work?

Thank you

 

[medickdb]

Hi all!

Does the school you go to matter for military match?

Does the military match look at COMLEX scores?

what DO schools have the best military relations ?

How do internship years work?

Thank you

1. No, not really. At the end of the day, it's mostly done on a point based system. Going to a certain school doesn't give you extra points. Things that do are research, prior service, leadership positions, board scores etc.
2. Yes. They're pretty good at interpreting COMLEX scores, too. There are many DOs in military medicine.
3. I've heard RVU is the place to go. There's a pretty active military medicine club there.
4. If you get matched in the military match, then you have to take that spot. If not, then you can apply to the civilian match which happens a few months later. There has to be a civilian deferral spot for you to take the civilian match. If you don't get something at that point, you can do a transitional year, then reapply. If you still don't get anything, then you're most likely going to do GMO for a few years. Doing GMO gives you points and makes you more competitive when you reapply for residencies down the road.

 

[Treehun]

Whats the [hypothetical] profile of a great student who matches in to a great military residency? ( do those exist? )

 

[armydocUM]

OP- I think your question depends on a couple of factors. One factor is what kind of residency you are pursuing. More competitive residencies in the military do tend to give preference to kids from better schools. However, when it comes to DO schools this will be inconsequential. PD's will only really care about school if you went to a top 25. Most specialties will be fine interpreting your COMLEX scores as previously described, but if you are planning on something competitive you really should take the USMLE. I just matched ortho in the army, and many DO students were asked about their USMLE scores. Those that did not have USMLE scores failed to match despite being strong candidates otherwise. There are many DO residents/attendings in every specialty but just be aware that the preference is still for the USMLE so that candidates can be compared directly

 

[j4pac]

Stop what you are doing...and go to the military thread. Much more helpful

 

[asdf123g]

OP- I think your question depends on a couple of factors. One factor is what kind of residency you are pursuing. More competitive residencies in the military do tend to give preference to kids from better schools. However, when it comes to DO schools this will be inconsequential. PD's will only really care about school if you went to a top 25. Most specialties will be fine interpreting your COMLEX scores as previously described, but if you are planning on something competitive you really should take the USMLE. I just matched ortho in the army, and many DO students were asked about their USMLE scores. Those that did not have USMLE scores failed to match despite being strong candidates otherwise. There are many DO residents/attendings in every specialty but just be aware that the preference is still for the USMLE so that candidates can be compared directly

If they know how to interpret the COMLEX score, what is the necessity of taking the USMLE? are you saying only the 'good residencies' can't interpret?

 

[armydocUM]

If they know how to interpret the COMLEX score, what is the necessity of taking the USMLE? are you saying only the 'good residencies' can't interpret?

I am genuinely confused as to why you decided to put the phrase "good residencies" in quotes as I did not use this language when responding to the OP. The traditionally more competitive residencies will prefer the usmle because most of the PDs programs tend to be more familiar with that particular exam. Beyond this there is really no good way to equate the USMLE and COMLEX exams to say that a certain score on one equals a certain score on the other. If the competition is stiff enough for a certain field it seems that a high USMLE would be preferred to a high COMLEX regardless of the degree you hold (MD or DO). Beyond that, consider that the military has a home institution and it is an MD school. These students all take the USMLE and are not allowed to sit the COMLEX exam

 

[asdf123g]

I am genuinely confused as to why you decided to put the phrase "good residencies" in quotes as I did not use this language when responding to the OP. The traditionally more competitive residencies will prefer the usmle because most of the PDs programs tend to be more familiar with that particular exam. Beyond this there is really no good way to equate the USMLE and COMLEX exams to say that a certain score on one equals a certain score on the other. If the competition is stiff enough for a certain field it seems that a high USMLE would be preferred to a high COMLEX regardless of the degree you hold (MD or DO). Beyond that, consider that the military has a home institution and it is an MD school. These students all take the USMLE and are not allowed to sit the COMLEX exam

I put it in quotes because good is subjective. I didn't mean it in an offensive way (if you interpreted it that way). Do they not use percentile rank? Would you say milmatch is more or less bias against DO's than a ACGME match??

 

[armydocUM]

I put it in quotes because good is subjective. I didn't mean it in an offensive way (if you interpreted it that way). Do they not use percentile rank? Would you say milmatch is more or less bias against DO's than a ACGME match??

My apologies then. People get very touchy about what is considered a good residency, and it's not necessarily synonymous with competitive because not everybody wants to do derm, ortho, ENT, etc. so I like to be careful with the language I use. PDs do not use percentile rank to compare these two exams because the USMLE does not release a percentile associated with scores. There are rumors that an algorithm is used to compare the two raw scores, but these algorithms do not favor the COMLEX exam so it is to your benefit to take the usmle for certain specialties. Army programs are all ACGME residencies, and it Is probably easier for a DO to match into one of these residencies vs. civilian match. I can't really do say this with full confidence because 1) I am not a DO and 2) I didn't go through the civ match, but DOs are certainly represented in all military specialties