Military Residency Realities?

[MightyMoose]

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If we are not interested in FP or IM, how competitive are other military residency spots for people who have not had prior experience with the military. I am thinking about doing the HPSP program and that will be my first experience with the military, but I want to make sure I'm not going to be pigeonholed into FP or IM and I will still have a decent shot at other specialties.

I will most likely be applying to residencies as a DO, but possibly a MD, depends on how the rest of this application cycle pans out.

Any insights into residency competitiveness for specific fields would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[AF M4]

If we are not interested in FP or IM, how competitive are other military residency spots for people who have not had prior experience with the military. I am thinking about doing the HPSP program and that will be my first experience with the military, but I want to make sure I'm not going to be pigeonholed into FP or IM and I will still have a decent shot at other specialties.

I will most likely be applying to residencies as a DO, but possibly a MD, depends on how the rest of this application cycle pans out.

Any insights into residency competitiveness for specific fields would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hold on, let me blow the dust off the old Ouija board...

All right, now close your eyes and let's do this...ok...it's moving...

G-M-O----L-A-N-D. "Good Bye."

Damn, that was spooky.

 

[MightyMoose]

Hold on, let me blow the dust off the old Ouija board...

All right, now close your eyes and let's do this...ok...it's moving...

G-M-O----L-A-N-D. "Good Bye."

Damn, that was spooky.

Is it really that cut and dry? If you aren't planning on doing IM or FP then you can almost definitely count on a GMO tour? Are there military match lists available that just list military residency matches? Or some place I can get some real numbers?

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I will most likely be applying to residencies as a DO, but possibly a MD, depends on how the rest of this application cycle pans out.

Explain, please. Which degree are you going to get?

It probably won't matter much, if you aren't wanting FP or IM. Maybe psych would get you a straight through, but the odds of getting deferment or straight-through contract drop significantly, so you will likely get flushed into the GMO tank.

 

[Mirror Form]

Explain, please. Which degree are you going to get?

It probably won't matter much, if you aren't wanting FP or IM. Maybe psych would get you a straight through, but the odds of getting deferment or straight-through contract drop significantly, so you will likely get flushed into the GMO tank.

The large majority of the people in Army go straight through, even for most competitive residencies. But there are always going to be people who fail to match, and they end up as GMO's.

 

[AF M4]

Is it really that cut and dry? If you aren't planning on doing IM or FP then you can almost definitely count on a GMO tour? Are there military match lists available that just list military residency matches? Or some place I can get some real numbers?

Are you doubting the perspicacity of the Ouija board???? Explain thyself, lest a hex fall upon thee for thy insolence!

They stopped publishing any numbers a few years ago. If they had been good numbers, they probably would have kept publishing them.

 

[MightyMoose]

Explain, please. Which degree are you going to get?

It probably won't matter much, if you aren't wanting FP or IM. Maybe psych would get you a straight through, but the odds of getting deferment or straight-through contract drop significantly, so you will likely get flushed into the GMO tank.

The degree is going to depend on where I get in. I have interviews set up for both, but the MD program I would like to go to would put me about 80k a year in debt, which is another reason I am considering HPSP.

I'm a non-trad, 32 now, 33 when I finally start. So, that kind of debt might be difficult to pay off in my career. I can't say for sure that I don't want to do FP, IM, or Psych yet, but I was just trying to figure out if it would be possible to match into anything else, possibly gas or surgery, which doesn't sound very likely at this point...

If I do end up doing a GMO tour, do my odds increase much applying after the first GMO year, or will I likely be doing GMO tours until I have completed my contract and then have to do a civilian residency?

The large majority of the people in Army go straight through, even for most competitive residencies. But there are always going to be people who fail to match, and they end up as GMO's.

Interesting. Is there a greater likelihood of being placed towards the front lines or being shipped off to another country for a good majority of my contract in the army? or at least more so than the Navy or AF?

Are you doubting the perspicacity of the Ouija board???? Explain thyself, lest a hex fall upon thee for thy insolence!

They stopped publishing any numbers a few years ago. If they had been good numbers, they probably would have kept publishing them.

Haha. Yeah, I was kind of worried that's why there were no numbers available online.

 

[Charlie0318]

Interesting. Is there a greater likelihood of being placed towards the front lines or being shipped off to another country for a good majority of my contract in the army? or at least more so than the Navy or AF?

No.

 

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

Is it really that cut and dry? If you aren't planning on doing IM or FP then you can almost definitely count on a GMO tour? Are there military match lists available that just list military residency matches? Or some place I can get some real numbers?

Well it is not QUITE that cut and dried. For instance, this year at Portsmouth, 50% or ortho interns went straight through (but keep in mind one of those guys was a former SEAL) whereas San Diego had (by report) had 100% straight through in ortho. OB is usually 100% straight through. Peds is pretty much >80% straight through. However, some specialties (Gen Surg - 1 or 2 straight through Navy wide, EM - zero, radiology-zero, anesthesiology-zero) basically require you to perform a GMO tour. Deferment to a civilian residency immediately after military internship is a remote possibility if you are savvy, smart, and slick.