Military Peeps?

[EW1779]

Alright, SPILL!

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[SleepyTime]

Hey Emmett.

There were 29 applicants for 17 spots this year in the USAF. I landed a spot. This spot was a military residency spot at SAUSHEC in San Antonio, TX. I am very excited about it. It is a great program. I've got plans as you can imagine, E.

 

[Sugar72]

Hey Emmett.

There were 29 applicants for 17 spots this year in the USAF. I landed a spot. This spot was a military residency spot at SAUSHEC in San Antonio, TX. I am very excited about it. It is a great program. I've got plans as you can imagine, E.

Congratulations!

 

[EW1779]

nice job matt. so does this mean you will be scrapping the rest of you interviews?

congrats. at least i'll get to see you at ASA.

 

[Beck928]

Congrats!

 

[Idiopathic]

Hey Emmett.

There were 29 applicants for 17 spots this year in the USAF. I landed a spot. This spot was a military residency spot at SAUSHEC in San Antonio, TX. I am very excited about it. It is a great program. I've got plans as you can imagine, E.

Congrats. Stanford's loss.

 

[MD/TX2006]

congrats! that's awesome and what a relief

 

[Heeed!]

Hey Emmett.

There were 29 applicants for 17 spots this year in the USAF. I landed a spot. This spot was a military residency spot at SAUSHEC in San Antonio, TX. I am very excited about it. It is a great program. I've got plans as you can imagine, E.

I hope those numbers hold true for next year. I might actually land a spot!

By the way, how did you obtain the #'s???

 

[SleepyTime]

Thanks everybody! I look forward to seeing any and all of you at the ASA annual meetings (esp you E-dog)! Yeah, guess I won't be the DO to break the Stanford Barrier this year. Maybe I'll have to do a fellowship...

Peace out.

 

[masteropuppets]

Army brat who matched at NCC-WRAMC...and am pissed about it.

I wrote a letter asking for a deferment so that I can go to Duke, Penn, MGH, B&W, UCSF, or Hopkins. I talked to many students and residents who just avoided ADTs and interviews and were rewarded with deferments...total Army bull$*it.

I wanted to do things right, i.e. see the Army programs and compare/contrast with civilian programs in the area of anesthesia I am most interested in (CT,transplant,hyperbaric). In these areas the Army doesn't even compare, e.g. over 1000 cardiac cases and over 1000 lung transplants at Duke per year, with TEE training and certification (in residency)!! While the Army doesn't do heart/lung transplants and has only ~100-200 cardiac cases/yr. I guess I was punished for doing things right.

I even told the crew at BAMC and WRAMC that I wanted a deferment, but they must be desperate to get people who they are confident will get 90+% on the ABA.

 

[pescaDr]

Army brat who matched at NCC-WRAMC...and am pissed about it.

I wrote a letter asking for a deferment so that I can go to Duke, Penn, MGH, B&W, UCSF, or Hopkins. I talked to many students and residents who just avoided ADTs and interviews and were rewarded with deferments...total Army bull$*it.

I wanted to do things right, i.e. see the Army programs and compare/contrast with civilian programs in the area of anesthesia I am most interested in (CT,transplant,hyperbaric). In these areas the Army doesn't even compare, e.g. over 1000 cardiac cases and over 1000 lung transplants at Duke per year, with TEE training and certification (in residency)!! While the Army doesn't do heart/lung transplants and has only ~100-200 cardiac cases/yr. I guess I was punished for doing things right.

I even told the crew at BAMC and WRAMC that I wanted a deferment, but they must be desperate to get people who they are confident will get 90+% on the ABA.

mop...beside lack of cases, any other glaring issues with the NCC? Curious, as I matched with the NCC via da' navy. I actally asked for diego, but money was an issue as I am a flight doc in north carolina...anyhow, any gouge on the NCC would be timely and relevant. thanks.

btw...not sure how many applied to Navy anesthesia, but there were over 30 alternate positions (with no other match) for 18 positions...apparently a huge interest in gas this year...

pescaDr

 

[militarymd]

mop...beside lack of cases, any other glaring issues with the NCC? Curious, as I matched with the NCC via da' navy. I actally asked for diego, but money was an issue as I am a flight doc in north carolina...anyhow, any gouge on the NCC would be timely and relevant. thanks.

btw...not sure how many applied to Navy anesthesia, but there were over 30 alternate positions (with no other match) for 18 positions...apparently a huge interest in gas this year...

pescaDr

I trained there from 93 to 97.....all I can say, is I'm glad I'm not there anymore.
Maybe it is different now.

 

[pgg]

mop...beside lack of cases, any other glaring issues with the NCC? Curious, as I matched with the NCC via da' navy. I actally asked for diego, but money was an issue as I am a flight doc in north carolina...anyhow, any gouge on the NCC would be timely and relevant. thanks.

btw...not sure how many applied to Navy anesthesia, but there were over 30 alternate positions (with no other match) for 18 positions...apparently a huge interest in gas this year...

I'm a USUHS grad who spent a number of 3rd & 4th year rotations at NNMC and Walter Reed, then did a transitional internship at NNMC and applied for anesthesia in 2002. NCC was my 1st choice then, for selection odds reasons (NCC had a habit of taking interns straight through, while NMCSD and NMCP rarely did), because I liked the staff there, and for family reasons (kids in school, owned a house a reasonable distance from NNMC & WRAMC). I didn't get it, so I went to Camp Lejeune to be a GMO for the Marines. Wound up extending my GMO tour for a third year, applied again, and was just selected by Portsmouth. Couldn't be happier now.

I ranked Portsmouth first, San Diego second, and NCC third, based mostly on very good experiences on away rotations and visits to interview NMCP and NMCSD, plus positive things I'd heard from people I knew who were current/prior residents. The cost of living in the Portsmouth area, and the shorter move vs. San Diego were also minor factors. There are also particular staff at NMCP that I knew and wanted to work for.

Since you ask, here are the disadvantages I saw to the NCC program, compared to NMCSD and NMCP:

• Time is mostly split between NNMC and Walter Reed. Walter Reed was a thoroughly miserable place to work, for reasons that included its nasty location, frequently lazy/unpleasant civilian staff, and perhaps something in the water supply that gave everyone there a bad attitude. I jest, but among all of my USUHS classmates, who collectively rotated at just about every military hospital in the country, Walter Reed was easily the most reviled for its work environment. You won't find many people who were unhappy to see it on the base closure list.
• Fewer big cases. WRAMC is a bit better in that regard, and there are away rotations to compensate. NCC seems to have patched together a reasonably strong program using a number of hospitals, but I was less comfortable with that arrangement than I was with NMCSD or NMCP (which have a lot less time away).
• NCC has a reputation as being the most malignant of the Navy anesthesia programs. I can't comment on that personally except to say that the residents at NMCSD seemed to be happiest, closely followed by NMCP.
• I liked the idea of having a "home" hospital ... rather than constantly moving from one hospital to the next, working for and learning from staff that I'd just met or didn't know well. NCC didn't give me the same warm fuzzy of resident community that NMCSD and NMCP did.
• There seemed to be more friction between CRNAs and the anesthesiology department at NCC than at either NMCSD or NMCP. I was more confident that at NMCSD or NMCP I wouldn't be competing with nurses. Maybe this is a non-issue, but I was never reassured to my satisfaction that it wouldn't be a distraction at NNMC.
• Bethesda is very political, though interns & residents seem to be mostly immune to that. Still, as an intern there, some of that petty maneuvering trickled down to affect me.
• Washington DC itself. The frightening real estate prices result in long distance commutes in an area with astoundingly bad traffic problems ... if I was single and would have been happy renting a studio apartment, this would have been less of an issue.

The strengths of NCC that I saw as a student and intern were that it was an academically strong program, and I genuinely liked and respected all of the staff there. Well, one exception, but he left a few years ago.

Anyway, that's all very long, subjective, and personal, but it's a broad summary of why I didn't think NCC would have been as good a fit for me as NMCP or NMCSD. I'm supremely happy to be going to Portsmouth, though I'd have been happy to be offered NCC too - especially in light of the fact that I see three of my former USUHS classmates listed as ALTs, despite their own GMO tours. Anesthesia has become a lot more competitive; at the end of the day, a SEL is a SEL.

 

[pescaDr]

I'm a USUHS grad who spent a number of 3rd & 4th year rotations at NNMC and Walter Reed, then did a transitional internship at NNMC and applied for anesthesia in 2002. NCC was my 1st choice then, for selection odds reasons (NCC had a habit of taking interns straight through, while NMCSD and NMCP rarely did), because I liked the staff there, and for family reasons (kids in school, owned a house a reasonable distance from NNMC & WRAMC). I didn't get it, so I went to Camp Lejeune to be a GMO for the Marines. Wound up extending my GMO tour for a third year, applied again, and was just selected by Portsmouth. Couldn't be happier now.

I ranked Portsmouth first, San Diego second, and NCC third, based mostly on very good experiences on away rotations and visits to interview NMCP and NMCSD, plus positive things I'd heard from people I knew who were current/prior residents. The cost of living in the Portsmouth area, and the shorter move vs. San Diego were also minor factors. There are also particular staff at NMCP that I knew and wanted to work for.

Since you ask, here are the disadvantages I saw to the NCC program, compared to NMCSD and NMCP:

• Time is mostly split between NNMC and Walter Reed. Walter Reed was a thoroughly miserable place to work, for reasons that included its nasty location, frequently lazy/unpleasant civilian staff, and perhaps something in the water supply that gave everyone there a bad attitude. I jest, but among all of my USUHS classmates, who collectively rotated at just about every military hospital in the country, Walter Reed was easily the most reviled for its work environment. You won't find many people who were unhappy to see it on the base closure list.
• Fewer big cases. WRAMC is a bit better in that regard, and there are away rotations to compensate. NCC seems to have patched together a reasonably strong program using a number of hospitals, but I was less comfortable with that arrangement than I was with NMCSD or NMCP (which have a lot less time away).
• NCC has a reputation as being the most malignant of the Navy anesthesia programs. I can't comment on that personally except to say that the residents at NMCSD seemed to be happiest, closely followed by NMCP.
• I liked the idea of having a "home" hospital ... rather than constantly moving from one hospital to the next, working for and learning from staff that I'd just met or didn't know well. NCC didn't give me the same warm fuzzy of resident community that NMCSD and NMCP did.
• There seemed to be more friction between CRNAs and the anesthesiology department at NCC than at either NMCSD or NMCP. I was more confident that at NMCSD or NMCP I wouldn't be competing with nurses. Maybe this is a non-issue, but I was never reassured to my satisfaction that it wouldn't be a distraction at NNMC.
• Bethesda is very political, though interns & residents seem to be mostly immune to that. Still, as an intern there, some of that petty maneuvering trickled down to affect me.
• Washington DC itself. The frightening real estate prices result in long distance commutes in an area with astoundingly bad traffic problems ... if I was single and would have been happy renting a studio apartment, this would have been less of an issue.

The strengths of NCC that I saw as a student and intern were that it was an academically strong program, and I genuinely liked and respected all of the staff there. Well, one exception, but he left a few years ago.

Anyway, that's all very long, subjective, and personal, but it's a broad summary of why I didn't think NCC would have been as good a fit for me as NMCP or NMCSD. I'm supremely happy to be going to Portsmouth, though I'd have been happy to be offered NCC too - especially in light of the fact that I see three of my former USUHS classmates listed as ALTs, despite their own GMO tours. Anesthesia has become a lot more competitive; at the end of the day, a SEL is a SEL.

pgg...a very big thanks for the info. Being a surgical intern at NMCP, I rotated through the anesthesia department the first month of that beloved year. At that time, I was not completely decided on gas, and unwittingly let this be known early on...man was I ever ostracized...the attending let me know from that point on that I was a non-factor with regard to teaching and that I should of told someone to schedule my rotation later in the year, as they only wanted serious terns early on...well that made me feel welcomed ...as a result, I spent most of my cases with CRNA's. I did get to work with a couple of attendings and I was mildy impressed. Overall, I had a good month. Would of appreciated a better reception, but was a great way to start a year of hell. You mentioned the CRNA to anesthesiolgy friciton being more at NCC...I saw it a NMCP enough to know that it was straining the working relationships...but it surely exists to some degree everyhwere.

Well, for me this is a case of wanting to go to Diego, the Navy not wanting to move me and knowing the Portsmouth program well enough that I put it third...but don't get me wrong, there were some other salient reasons that I put NMCP third that are a non-issue for anyone else. Chesapeake is a great area to live if you aren't dying to live near the beach.

re: DC, where did you live as a student? Is there a navy/resident mecca, or is it everyone for themselves? I'd like to find a family friendly area (3 kids) with decent schools (oldest will be a 1st grader) and preferrably single family home...I don't mind a commute, but don't want to have to live in Baltimore or Richmond either! Any gouge would be appreciated.

Again, thanks for the info. And a SEL is a SEL...I was very surprised to see so many alternates...Several were either from my flight surgeon or intern class..very suprised that they weren't selected.

 

[militarymd]

...man was I ever ostracized...the attending let me know from that point on that I was a non-factor with regard to teaching and that I should of told someone to schedule my rotation later in the year, as they only wanted serious terns early on...well that made me feel welcomed ....

Who did that?

Did I do that?

 

[pescaDr]

Who did that?

Did I do that?

No identities need to be revealed here...water under the bridge...and it wasn't you...

 

[pgg]

You mentioned the CRNA to anesthesiolgy friciton being more at NCC...I saw it a NMCP enough to know that it was straining the working relationships...but it surely exists to some degree everyhwere.

I'm sure it does, and my general sense is that it's more of an issue for the staff to fight over. Both San Diego and Portsmouth told me in no uncertain terms that residents always had first dibs on cases.

Chesapeake is a great area to live if you aren't dying to live near the beach.

We spent a couple days looking at real estate when I visited Portsmouth to interview in August - Chesapeake and the Suffolk areas were where we were most interested.

I was spoiled by Hawaiian and southern California beaches growing up, and haven't been able to get as enthusiastic about east coast offerings anyway. My kids don't know any better, though, so as long as we're within an hour's drive that's good enough for me.

re: DC, where did you live as a student? Is there a navy/resident mecca, or is it everyone for themselves? I'd like to find a family friendly area (3 kids) with decent schools (oldest will be a 1st grader) and preferrably single family home...I don't mind a commute, but don't want to have to live in Baltimore or Richmond either! Any gouge would be appreciated.

A lot of the single students/interns I knew lived in apartments in Bethesda or not far up the 355/270 corridor. Those with families tended to live further out.

There's some info in this thread about housing near Walter Reed; I posted in that. If I was moving back to DC, I'd consider renting, as it looks like you can get something bigger and closer, and I'd worry that the oft-mentioned real estate bubble might make my short 3-year window for living in DC a little risky.

I lived in Wheaton for a couple years, then moved up to Damascus for the rest of medical school and my internship. Nice, sort of rural area, with more reasonable prices. I think real estate is out of control there now; we ended up selling our 3-bedroom townhouse for about $160,000 in 2003, our old neighbors are saying that it was resold for $220,000 or so last year.

You'll want something that's a reasonable drive to Walter Reed too, though, since you'll be spending a lot of time there. I'd follow Georgia Ave north toward Olney, or maybe off northeast up 95. You'll miss the traffic coming in early, but if you leave between 1600 and 1800 the traffic is going to suck.

Again, thanks for the info. And a SEL is a SEL...I was very surprised to see so many alternates...Several were either from my flight surgeon or intern class..very suprised that they weren't selected.

Any idea why NCC only took five this year? They 'advertised' six per year on the approved positions summary.

When I was interviewing, there was talk of possibly adding a 19th or 20th opening Navy-wide this year. Instead they took 17 and had 2 deferments.