Navy HPSP

[enp0902]

Hello!

I'm having some trouble finding updated information on this topic. I'm a little concerned about how the residency/match works and if GMO's are basically guarenteed before going into a residency. I am interested in IM and would like to go straight from school to residency. Is that possible? And if I do not get a residency, what are my options for GMO? I would prefer to stay stateside if possible?

I have also heard the term transition year, so I am also confused what the difference between the GMO and TY are.

I was also wondering what average step scores are like for Navy residency applications.

Thank you!

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[Oo Cipher oO]

Hello!

I'm having some trouble finding updated information on this topic. I'm a little concerned about how the residency/match works and if GMO's are basically guarenteed before going into a residency. I am interested in IM and would like to go straight from school to residency. Is that possible? And if I do not get a residency, what are my options for GMO? I would prefer to stay stateside if possible?

I have also heard the term transition year, so I am also confused what the difference between the GMO and TY are.

I was also wondering what average step scores are like for Navy residency applications.

Thank you!

Here is an overview. Obviously there are more specific details but this will suffice for a medical student. About half of all Navy physicians serve a GMO billet between Internship and residency. You must complete an intern year prior to Being a GMO in order to be eligible for a medical license. It is possible to go straight through residency training in IM but it is still wise to prepare for the possibility of going GMO as well.

GMOs are stationed stateside and overseas but is it important to remember that they are operational billets and deployments are common. Billets can be in clinics, on ships, and with marine units.

The navy also has some different types of GMO that require additional 6-8 months of training. They are flight surgeons and undersea medical officers. The first takes care of pilots and aircrew and clears them for flight duty. Flight surgeons also have opportunities to fly in military aircraft. Undersea docs performs dive physicals and hit the gym.

Transition year is a type of intern year that like the name implies is not specialty specific. It will give you a mix of training in inpatient and outpatient settings, just as most internships do. GMO can come from any internship specialty. Many GMOs will serve an intern year, serve 2-4 years as a GMO, and return to residency training.

Step scores are mostly in line with national civilian averages for the given specialty. If you are competitive for IM in the civilian world you are likely competitive for military IM.

 

[Startingover123]

Here is an overview. Obviously there are more specific details but this will suffice for a medical student. About half of all Navy physicians serve a GMO billet between Internship and residency. You must complete an intern year prior to Being a GMO in order to be eligible for a medical license. It is possible to go straight through residency training in IM but it is still wise to prepare for the possibility of going GMO as well.

GMOs are stationed stateside and overseas but is it important to remember that they are operational billets and deployments are common. Billets can be in clinics, on ships, and with marine units.

The navy also has some different types of GMO that require additional 6-8 months of training. They are flight surgeons and undersea medical officers. The first takes care of pilots and aircrew and clears them for flight duty. Flight surgeons also have opportunities to fly in military aircraft. Undersea docs performs dive physicals and hit the gym.

Transition year is a type of intern year that like the name implies is not specialty specific. It will give you a mix of training in inpatient and outpatient settings, just as most internships do. GMO can come from any internship specialty. Many GMOs will serve an intern year, serve 2-4 years as a GMO, and return to residency training.

Step scores are mostly in line with national civilian averages for the given specialty. If you are competitive for IM in the civilian world you are likely competitive for military IM.

If you owe four years with a HPSP does the GMO count as one of those payback years?

 

[Oo Cipher oO]

If you owe four years with a HPSP does the GMO count as one of those payback years?

Yes but returning to residency after GMO may increase your obligation time. It’s a bit complicated so I’m going to quote Perrotfish who I think explained it pretty well.

Still not exactly. The rule is that the length of time you owe coming out of residency is either the length of time you owed on the day you go into residency, or the length of residency, whichever is more. Also intern years don't count, only the rest of residency

If you have a 4 year HPSP obligation and do a 3 year straight through FM residency your obligation from HPSP (4 years) is greater than your obligation from residency (2 years) so you come out owing 4 years. 3 years training + 4 years payback = 7 total years in the military

If you have a 4 year HPSP obligation and do a 6 year general surgery residency (Intern year + research year + 4 residency years) then your obligation from residency (5 years) is greater than your obligation from HPSP (4 years) and youcome out of residency owing 5 years. 6 years residency + 5 years payback = 11 years in the military

If you have a 4 year HPSP obligation, do a general surgery intern year, and payback 3 years as a flight surgeon you now owe one year. Then if you go into a 5 year general surgery Residency (4 years training + 1 year research) your obligation from residency (5 years) is greater than what you owed when you started residency (1 year) so you will owe 5 years. When you get out you still owe 5 years at the end of residency, just like if you'd trained straight through. So now 1 Intern year + 3 years flight surgery + 5 years training + 5 years paybacck = 14 years in the military.

A GMO tour + a long residency can leave you stuck in the military for a very long time.

 

[MedDoc305]

If you owe four years with a HPSP does the GMO count as one of those payback years?

As for IM, since I believe its a 1+2 year residency in the military, if you did a 2 year GMO (leaving you with 2 years left), then went to your IM residency, you'd only owe 2 years after completing residency. What this means is you really won't delay your removal from the Navy if IM is your specialty of choice and IFFFFF you get into residency after your GMO.

Edit: Another option is just to do 4 year GMO and GTFO. From what I've heard, civilian IM wouldn't be too hard to match into afterward. It just takes careful prep time.

 

[Startingover123]

As for IM, since I believe its a 1+2 year residency in the military, if you did a 2 year GMO (leaving you with 2 years left), then went to your IM residency, you'd only owe 2 years after completing residency. What this means is you really won't delay your removal from the Navy if IM is your specialty of choice and IFFFFF you get into residency after your GMO.

Edit: Another option is just to do 4 year GMO and GTFO. From what I've heard, civilian IM wouldn't be too hard to match into afterward. It just takes careful prep time.

For some reason this isn’t clicking. I’m interested in ortho. If I have to do a year gmo first then a five year residency will I owe three years??

 

[MedDoc305]

For some reason this isn’t clicking. I’m interested in ortho. If I have to do a year gmo first then a five year residency will I owe three years??

No, if you want to do ortho, your time as GMO won't count towards payback because your residency will be longer than what you would owe. I'm not interested in ortho but let's say it was a 1+5 year residency. If you do HPSP, you owe 4 years. If you went straight through and did ortho, you'd owe 5 years after completing residency. If you did a 2 year GMO before residency, you'd owe 2 years, however, after residency, you'd owe 5 years. IM does not extend your time in the military because the residency is only 1+2.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

If you owe four years with a HPSP does the GMO count as one of those payback years?

No. Training time in internship does not count toward fulfillment of your HPSP payback. Unlike other military residency training time, it does not add to the (concurrent) obligated service repayment obligation.

FOR EXAMPLE:
1>If you start internship with a 4-year repayment for HPSP, and do a GMO after, you have a 4-year repayment obligation against which your GMO service time earns off obligated repayment.
2>If you did a one-year IM internship but were "selected" to go GMO, did two years aboard a ship as a GMO and returned to residency for two years, your obligation at the end of IM residency would be two years. Your remaining HPSP obligation and your residency obligation would earn off concurrently with no added service required.
3>if you did a one-year internship and were directed to GMO tour after, did two years of GMO and returned to do a three-year anesthesia residency, you would have a three-year obligation in repayment, two years remaining for your original HPSP but three years for the residency, two of which would be fulfilled concurrent with your HPSP obligation. You have the longer of the two, but they are not cumulative.
4> if you did a one year TY internship, a four-year sequence of tours as a DMO and did a 3-year dermatology residency, you would owe three years service for the residency alone, but your HPSP repayment obligation would have been fulfilled before residency.

Service-supported outservice fellowships often carry a greater than one-for-one repayment obligation.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

For some reason this isn’t clicking. I’m interested in ortho. If I have to do a year gmo first then a five year residency will I owe three years??

GMO "tours" are two years, minimum. You receive permanent change of station (PCS) orders: you move with all your household goods if your gaining command is not in your local area. If you go with a special community, as a flight surgeon or DMO, you will have a three-year minimum. A portion of one year, six months usually, will be spent at training school for medical officers, NAMI or NUMI. Those training schools are done on permanent-duty household move orders also. Any time before your class starts (they don't always start in July or August) you may be stashed in a sick-call clinic somewhere or sent to one of the short training courses the BUMED expects you to attend. Your time at NAMI or NUMI is exclusive to those schools. You will get orders on graduating and go to your gaining command at whatever time of year you finish. At one time, they ran three overlapping courses a year at NAMI.