Military vs. civilian residency matches

[DenTony11235]

Would anyone please provide me with useful links that'll show me how the military residency placements compare to civilian.

I'm seriously considering an HPSP, specifically with the Navy since I hear it offers the most flexibility. With the Navy I hear you have the option of becoming a GMO for your service years if you don't like the residencies they offer, then completing a civilian residency afterwards of your choosing (granted that it is offered). With Airforce and Army I hear you are more or less at their mercy- they make your speciality choice for you.

Can you guys vouch for this info.? Are some specialities restricted from military doctors? How do military and civilian match rates compare?

I like the idea of serving my country and all that the military has to offer, but I don't like the idea of limiting my options before I know exactly what kind of doctor I want to be.

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[Slack3r]

There's a whole sub forum for military medicine. I'd start there.

 

[biochem149]

I was seriously considering as well. I read through all the threads and talked with many folks who had military/HPSP/active duty experience and not a single person said it was worth it. I fact checked everything the recruiters told me and found out they were either not telling the truth or were not aware of what really goes on. How anyone would make that committment with so much ambiguity is beyond me but good luck! I stand by my answer....NO!

 

[Womb Raider]

Someone told me the military ultimately has control over where you get to go for residency. If this is true that's a huge turn-off for going the military route.

 

[Doctor Bob]

As people have said, there is a whole military subforum where you can get all sorts of info about the military match.

But...

The long and short of it is, if you want to be in the military, join the military. There is no other compelling reason why you should.

You should not join in order to try and game the match system.
You should not join in order to try and get a speciality that you think you are not as competitive for in the civilian world.

There are significant drawbacks to the military match system that do not occur in the civilian match. The military cannot compel you to enter a residency you do not want. They can refuse to let you train in a field you are interested and instead use you as a general medical officer after you complete an internship year, and then you fulfill your commitment in that role.

For further details and discussions, head over to the military forum. There are a lot more people there with knowledge on this subject who can answer your questions and you will find most of your questions have already been answered umpteenmillion times in umpteenmillion threads.

 

[Oo Cipher oO]

I was seriously considering as well. I read through all the threads and talked with many folks who had military/HPSP/active duty experience and not a single person said it was worth it. I fact checked everything the recruiters told me and found out they were either not telling the truth or were not aware of what really goes on. How anyone would make that committment with so much ambiguity is beyond me but good luck! I stand by my answer....NO!

That's great. You did the wise thing and researched the important decision and arrived at an informed decision. I did a similar search before joining and I found the drawbacks and sacrifices were worth the commitment. Time will tell if I will eventually regret my decision but I did my best to make a decision I can live with. Like many have said the military sub forum is a really good spot to learn. Tons of stickies with great info.

 

[kp11]

I almost did HPSP, and still might do a Navy program for repayment (I like the military and not just for the money. Big difference/point you need to search yourself for). My GF is actually doing her ODS right now.
The thing that warned me off of the Navy HPSP- GMO (you are thinking of it a little naively like I did). It's the only branch that still does this to such a large extent. If you don't want to do FM or IM, you will most likely get pushed into GMO, and then reapply for residency after your 2 year obligation is complete. They also downplay how difficult it is to have the navy allow you to join a civilian residency instead of GMO.
If that sounds okay, then by all means go for it-The navy is awesome. BUT, if you find yourself saying "but wait, that's not what the recruiter said," then dive deeper into the military med forum. I know this b/c that's what they told the Navy HPSP students at a meeting this year after all their paperwork went through. You can always do one of the programs where you join after you get into a civilian residency and they supplement your residency pay for a 1 to 1 repayment.
PM me if you have any more questions

 

[LSDiVinci]

The milmed forums are helpful, but take everything you read with a grain of salt. Stick to the posts that offer up neutral, helpful information like how @kp11 has. Milmed is not for everyone and it shows in a lot of the negative comments (failure to adapt). HPSP is a great fit for me because I've already been in for 8 years so my pay as a military resident is nearly twice what it would be as a civilian resident. I also liked the Navy for the GMO tour, but again I second @kp11 . The positive: if you decide you don't even want to do a military resident and you just want to pay back your commitment, than it's 1 year internship (neutral year) and then 4 years as a GMO and then you're out and can go do a civilian residency. The negative: say you DO want to do a military residency and you want something other than FM or IM, than you will end up doing a GMO tour anyway.

 

[Perrotfish]

Would anyone please provide me with useful links that'll show me how the military residency placements compare to civilian.

I'm seriously considering an HPSP, specifically with the Navy since I hear it offers the most flexibility. With the Navy I hear you have the option of becoming a GMO for your service years if you don't like the residencies they offer, then completing a civilian residency afterwards of your choosing (granted that it is offered). With Airforce and Army I hear you are more or less at their mercy- they make your speciality choice for you.

Can you guys vouch for this info.? Are some specialities restricted from military doctors? How do military and civilian match rates compare?

I like the idea of serving my country and all that the military has to offer, but I don't like the idea of limiting my options before I know exactly what kind of doctor I want to be.

If you sign up for the military, you sign up for the military match. That means you go to a military run residency unless you apply for, and are granted, permission to go to a civilian residency. That permission is not necessarily granted for merit (we don't necessarily send our best candidates out of our own system), and many years is not granted at all. If you join, assume you will be doing your residency in uniform in a military hospital.

The military match is a match. It is merit based: best candidate gets the slot. The Navy currently trains all specialties except PM&R and dual residencies like IM/PEDs. The definition of the 'best' candidate is slightly different than the civilian world: research is a little more emphasized, and prior military service gives an advantage. The odds of matching in a given specialty in the military match are different from the civilian world. Sometimes better (Derm) sometimes worse (Pediatrics, EM). Unlike civilian medicine there are very program slots, so random variation can result in significant variation in match rates for a given step 1 score from year to year.

The fellowship match is even more complicated: we offer most fellowships (trained in the civilian world) but so few slot for them that many fellowships only even open up every 3-7 years or so. The system is set up to make it almost impossible to be a fellow of any kind unless you've spent at least one tour (1-3 years) as a generalist.

The military can make you do an Internship you don't want. I have seen someone who wanted surgery forced into psych. They can NOT make you do a residency you don't want. You always have the option to do a GMO and to refuse a residency.

The GMO is a complicated thing, and its in flux. Many specialties just expect everyone to do one between Intern year and Residency (Ortho, Gen Surg). Some specialties treat it as a merit based match: best candidates get to stay, everyone else goes to the fleet (Peds, IM). Some programs let pretty much everyone who wants to stay, stay (FM, Psych). It could easily change in 3 years.

Keep in mind when you finish your residency you will owe the length of your residency, or what you owed going into residency, whichever is more. For surgeons this means a GMO tour functionally extends their obligation, because after paying down their obligation with a GMO tour they get it right back with their residency obligation.

The only military only 'specialties' are dive medicine (6 month course), flight medicine (6 month course), and aerospace medicine (3 year residency focusing on pilots that's mostly an IM residency).