No GMO positions?

[upontherocks]

I'm at a lost of what to do now. I did not match last cycle, currently doing a civilian TY. I decided to go gmo to finish my obligation and get out, try to apply for residency when I'm done. I got this from the air force people that "there may not be GMO positions available because of Congress."
So my question is what the possible outcomes are and what I should have done yesterday and get right to it.

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[Gastrapathy]

You are AF HPSP and currently doing a civilian deferred internship?

 

[upontherocks]

You are AF HPSP and currently doing a civilian deferred internship?

Yes

 

[Gastrapathy]

Well...I don’t think that’s your problem to solve. Did they tell you what they expect you to do?

 

[upontherocks]

This is the exact message i got.
"I would strongly encourage you to apply for categorical residency in this year’s JSGMESB and civilian match. We will accept your application now. There may not be GMO positions available based on the situation in Congress."
I haven't applied yet by the August 31 deadline because earlier in the year I was told I could either do that or go gmo. As I failed to match last time and haven't been able to get more competitive, I thought to go through gmo to try later or finish commitment and go out. They only reached out in last few days to bring this up. Wanted to ask here if anyone knows anything about how that works if theres no gmo spots because of Congress.
So I guess my other question is if I weren't to match this year, what ends up happening, or my options at that point?

 

[Dr. Wexler]

So I guess my other question is if I weren't to match this year, what ends up happening, or my options at that point?

You will be given a GMO spot.

The email you got is trying to drum up GME applications. There is no "situation" in Congress that has any near term bearing on the existence on AF GMO spots.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Yeah that’s weird. Their justification is nonsense. But, if it’s a competitive specialty, why not apply? Maybe they are really short applicants this year.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

You can always request release from active duty service obligation in the interests of the service, or alternatively request transfer to another service branch or release to USPHS. All they can do is say no. If you can't get GMO orders or a transfer (assuming you want that, you didn't say), the fair thing to do is for them to defer you to seek a civilian residency training opportunity.

 

[upontherocks]

To make my situation clear, last cycle I was civilian deferred for residency. I did not match and soaped to only a ty year. I spoke with someone in the af around June or so, they told me I could apply for residency with JSGMESB or enter active duty as gmo/flight surgeon. What I want to do go through gmo to finish my obligation and go for residency after. At this time I'm under the impression itll be tougher to go for residency reapplying and I have not had much opportunity to improve my application. Then last week they reached out saying I had not sent an application for JSGMESB. I expressed my desire to go through gmo and got the message that made me post here.

That said, I agree I feel they are trying to get me to apply to get more people in it, but I wanted advice first. Im only worried if there are no spots for whatever reason and how that would affect me. Im also worried that if I were to apply now starting late it won't work out and I'll end up in the same situation regardless.

Also, as an aside, I was told to apply categorical, since I'm already doing an internship, if i were to go that route, would that change anything i should know? I will ask the af again these questions to make a choice but wanted to get some advice here while I do that.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

. . . .

That said, I agree I feel they are trying to get me to apply to get more people in it, but I wanted advice first. Im only worried if there are no spots for whatever reason and how that would affect me. Im also worried that if I were to apply now starting late it won't work out and I'll end up in the same situation regardless.

. . . .

[Bolds mine]
Maybe I'm not fully understanding your situation, but if they are reaching out to you to suggest you apply it may be because they need more applicants, and not merely because they want to boost their selectivity stats by having more applicants to reject.