Navy HPSP question

[Teufelhunden]

Okay...say you finish your GMO tour, yet still owe the Navy more years...and you fail to match into the field you want. Now what happens?

Do you get kicked back into a GMO billet until your time is up?

What if you're career-Navy oriented...will they let you civilian match and then come back and finish your time?

Say for instance, I do an 18 month GMO tour with the Marines (ooh rah!). When I finish I'll still owe 2.5 years, right? So say I enter the military match for, say...ortho...and don't get it. Well, I'm probably screwed, huh? The Navy is gonna force me to do 2.5 more years as a GMO, right?

If you fail to military match...they should let you try civilian and defer the remainder of your obligated time until finishing residency. I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make me serve 4 years as a GMO...that's an ENORMOUS break in training.

Anyone know what the deal is?

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[Jet915]

I'm currently applying for the 3 year Navy HPSP and from what I know, even if you serve the GMO for 2 years and then go into a Navy residency after that, you will owe them the length of the residency, not the 2 years. So in other words, GMO will not be counted towards your commitment unless you decide to just do 3 years of GMO and then you can leave after that (but then you wont go to a Navy residency and you'll be pretty much on your own). The only good thing I like about GMO is that pay is pretty good (70,000 I think). I assume after you do GMO, you are gonna have to match somewhere or maybe the Navy will tell you which residencies you have a good chance of matching into.

Jetson

 

[Globus P]

Teufelhunden-

Shoot an email off to the HPSP folks with your question. The director, CAPT Cohen, came by our school last week to answer questions such as yours. He's extremely approachable and his main objective is to answer our questions and develop better communications between NMETC and us Navy HPSP students.

Address the email to LT McLeary and if she can't answer your question, she'll bump it up to the CAPT. He's an FP dive officer who spent time in Operation Desert Shield with the USMC; very impressive, down to earth, call it like it is, type of guy.

email address: [email protected]

I predict we'll be seeing a huge improvement with Q&A, career planning, general info, etc now he's in charge.

We asked him the same question and I recall his answer was generally that if you're competitive for the residency you're asking for, and there's billets open, and you did well on your GMO tour, most (if not all) get their residency. I recall we didn't spend much time on the topic since it didn't sound like a big concern. Yet he did say that the Navy would NOT force you into a residency you didn't want.

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by ToddE
We asked him the same question and I recall his answer was generally that if you're competitive for the residency you're asking for, and there's billets open, and you did well on your GMO tour, most (if not all) get their residency. I recall we didn't spend much time on the topic since it didn't sound like a big concern. Yet he did say that the Navy would NOT force you into a residency you didn't want.

What if you turn out to be not competitive enough to land a spot. I mean, if you're intersted in ortho, rads, derm, etc....those are coveted spots! I'm sure a lot of returning GMOs are competing for a handful of competitive spots. What happens to the ones that don't match? I'm afraid that the answer is --> Another GMO tour.

BTW, I emailed LT McLeary a while back (when you first suggested it)...I never heard back from him.

 

[GMO_52]

If you fail to match into a program that you would accept, that is exactly what happens. In the couple of instances that I am aware of (an ortho applicant and a radiology applicant), both extended in their current billet for an additional year and reapplied. One was subsequently selected and the other was not.
Your choices are 1) extend in place for 1 year
2) take a second tour GMO (generally an easier, shore-based billet)

 

[Navy Dive Doc]

I would like to agree that CAPT Cohen is a tremendous asset that the HPSP folks, and those thinking of applying, should make use of. I'm well past my HPSP years, but I wish he had been around then. I've known him in other jobs, though, since I was a medical student and he was my medical supervisor at my first DMO tour. He is very approachable, will tell you the truth and will not color the facts like a recruiter. He has no numbers to maintain except satisfied scholarship recipients. Anyway, he's a good resource that I still call once in awhile to runs things across for a Senior DMO opinion. Another Dive Doc, HOOYAH!

As for residency. Like the civilian world, for some specialties there are simply more people than spots, so the reality is some don't match. Unlike civilian, there is no scramble to fall back on. If you're not picked up for residency, you can almost always extend at your current command for another year and try again. Most of the program directors will tell you if you have a chance or not, expecially for a second look. You can also apply for 2 specialties at the board, and will sometimes be selected for both so you can choose. Otherwise, enter the civilian match during your last year of obligated service. Sometimes life is hard

Hope this helps.
DD

 

[Ignaz]

Okay...say you finish your GMO tour, yet still owe the Navy more years...and you fail to match into the field you want. Now what happens?

Do you get kicked back into a GMO billet until your time is up?

What if you're career-Navy oriented...will they let you civilian match and then come back and finish your time?

Say for instance, I do an 18 month GMO tour with the Marines (ooh rah!). When I finish I'll still owe 2.5 years, right? So say I enter the military match for, say...ortho...and don't get it. Well, I'm probably screwed, huh? The Navy is gonna force me to do 2.5 more years as a GMO, right?

If you fail to military match...they should let you try civilian and defer the remainder of your obligated time until finishing residency. I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make me serve 4 years as a GMO...that's an ENORMOUS break in training.

Anyone know what the deal is?

The deal is obfuscation.

 

[Gastrapathy]

The deal is obfuscation.

Exactly how much help do you think he needs 4 years after he posted? Is there some reason you resurrected this thread?