All Branch Topic (ABT) Residency...

[grapp]

Hi there,

I'm currently a high school student. I'm aware I think ahead and don't need to be told this down below.

I have a plan B as well.

If I did make it all the way through medical school and took all parts of the USMLE, but did not make a residency for my choice of emergency medicine?

Would enlisting in the army/navy/airforce/marines give me that opportunity?

Or are there other factors? Don't get me wrong, I've always loved and respected the military. If I didn't want to become a doctor so bad, I would consider enlistment.

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[pgg]

Hi there,

I'm currently a high school student. I'm aware I think ahead and don't need to be told this down below.

I have a plan B as well.

If I did make it all the way through medical school and took all parts of the USMLE, but did not make a residency for my choice of emergency medicine?

Would enlisting in the army/navy/airforce/marines give me that opportunity?

Or are there other factors? Don't get me wrong, I've always loved and respected the military. If I didn't want to become a doctor so bad, I would consider enlistment.

In general, med school graduates who do not secure a residency in the civilian match can not use the military as a backup plan. For one thing, the military training pipeline is full of HPSP and USUHS grads, and there isn't room. For another, the military doesn't want civilian failures or problems.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's extraordinarily unlikely. Especially for emergency med, which is typically more competitive in the military than the civilian world.

 

[sonofva]

Hi there,

I'm currently a high school student. I'm aware I think ahead and don't need to be told this down below.

I have a plan B as well.

If I did make it all the way through medical school and took all parts of the USMLE, but did not make a residency for my choice of emergency medicine?

Would enlisting in the army/navy/airforce/marines give me that opportunity?

Or are there other factors? Don't get me wrong, I've always loved and respected the military. If I didn't want to become a doctor so bad, I would consider enlistment.

the ways you can join military medicine are: once you've secured a med school spot, you can take a scholarship from one of the branches and do the whole pipeline. or you can graduate medical school, then secure a residency spot, then get accepted to a branch with a program that will pay back some of your loans while you are in residency. or you can graduate med school, then residency, and then join as a fully licensed physician.

the military is not a fall back plan, and as said above, EM in the military is generally super competitive. this is likely due to the personality type that gets drawn to the military shares a lot of traits with those who choose em.

 

[grapp]

In general, med school graduates who do not secure a residency in the civilian match can not use the military as a backup plan. For one thing, the military training pipeline is full of HPSP and USUHS grads, and there isn't room. For another, the military doesn't want civilian failures or problems.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's extraordinarily unlikely. Especially for emergency med, which is typically more competitive in the military than the civilian world.

Trust me when I say I support the troops. It doesn't necessarily mean someone is a failure because they don't do well on one test out of their entire medical career. Nor do I consider anyone who graduates medical school a problem. People who do not match their specialty need refinement, not classified as failures/problems.

Does this classify for all branches? I've heard of people doing this, it's why I was curious on whether or not it'd be an option. Again, anyone who chooses to become a doctor and doesn't match their specialty, isn't a failure.

 

[WernickeDO]

Trust me when I say I support the troops. It doesn't necessarily mean someone is a failure because they don't do well on one test out of their entire medical career. Nor do I consider anyone who graduates medical school a problem. People who do not match their specialty need refinement, not classified as failures/problems.

Does this classify for all branches? I've heard of people doing this, it's why I was curious on whether or not it'd be an option. Again, anyone who chooses to become a doctor and doesn't match their specialty, isn't a failure.

What pgg is trying to say is that between HPSP and USUHS the military has more than enough physicians to fill its GME programs, although some specialties run a little low. Civilians are typically not engaged to fill those spots, with some rare exceptions (IM civilian residents in some MTFs). But these are civilians, not active duty. If you are talking about turning to the military if the civilian match doesn't work out for you then that is not an option. Every military doc is guaranteed at least an internship. Annually, about 1000 civilian docs don't match out of med school to an internship. Because of this, usually there are civilian docs who didn't match who come on to this forum and ask about joining the military so they can take part in military GME as a plan B. The answer is no.

Like it or not, the USMLE/COMLEX is a huge decider on whether or not you match into a given specialty. When you are in the position to take the exam you will understand. For now, keep working hard in high school and college and set yourself up for success academically.

 

[HighPriest]

Another question would be in regards to why you didn't match. If you were very competitive, but didn't match because of some sort of fluke (one bad test score), then you are far better off applying again in the civilian sector simply because there are far more spots available with a broader range of applicants overall. Military EM spots are very competitive, and at least those with which I am familiar are more competitive than many (but not all) civilian residencies - meaning that an applicant is less likely to match in the military system because frankly there are at least some civilian residencies out there with an averaged lower quality of resident. Simply put, there isn't a huge benefit in terms of match rates to joining the military, at least when you're considering highly competitive specialties. While one bad test score might sink you on the civilian side, most competitive military specialties are turning away applicants with absolutely no blemishes on their record simple because they have more applicants than positions (just like a competitive civilian residency).

 

[pgg]

Trust me when I say I support the troops. It doesn't necessarily mean someone is a failure because they don't do well on one test out of their entire medical career. Nor do I consider anyone who graduates medical school a problem. People who do not match their specialty need refinement, not classified as failures/problems.

Does this classify for all branches? I've heard of people doing this, it's why I was curious on whether or not it'd be an option. Again, anyone who chooses to become a doctor and doesn't match their specialty, isn't a failure.

Easy there, no need to go white knighting hypothetical people who aren't you.

I'd be hard pressed to think of any professional failure - and yes it's a failure - more stressful, tragic, and heart-clenchingly agonizing than finding yourself with a shiny new MD (or DO) diploma, six figures of med school debt, and no place to go for PGY-1.

It's not a life ending failure, and it's not always a career ending failure, but let's not pretend it's not a failure in every sense of the dictionary meaning of that word. It's a colossal failure, eleven orders of magnitude worse than that 2nd grade spelling test my kid forgot to study for.


Again, the military generally doesn't have room to entertain civilians (even the superstars) who want to join at that stage. There is zero chance that someone who could neither match nor scramble anywhere in the civilian world could back into a military GME program.

 

[HighPriest]

Easy there, no need to go white knighting hypothetical people who aren't you.

"This friend I have...."

 

[grapp]

Easy there, no need to go white knighting hypothetical people who aren't you.

I'd be hard pressed to think of any professional failure - and yes it's a failure - more stressful, tragic, and heart-clenchingly agonizing than finding yourself with a shiny new MD (or DO) diploma, six figures of med school debt, and no place to go for PGY-1.

It's not a life ending failure, and it's not always a career ending failure, but let's not pretend it's not a failure in every sense of the dictionary meaning of that word. It's a colossal failure, eleven orders of magnitude worse than that 2nd grade spelling test my kid forgot to study for.


Again, the military generally doesn't have room to entertain civilians (even the superstars) who want to join at that stage. There is zero chance that someone who could neither match nor scramble anywhere in the civilian world could back into a military GME program.

It's the way it was phrased, it's why I said something.

 

[IlDestriero]

Today's Ortho failure is tomorrow's Family Medicine success!

The above posters are correct. If you fail to match in your desired specialty, the military won't have a spot for you, even if you could join at that point, which your really can't anyway.
Embrace FM! And remember it's not a failure, but an opportunity for a future success!

 

[j4pac]

Today's Ortho failure is tomorrow's Family Medicine success!

The above posters are correct. If you fail to match in your desired specialty, the military won't have a spot for you, even if you could join at that point, which your really can't anyway.
Embrace FM! And remember it's not a failure, but an opportunity for a future success!

I was dead set on Ortho then sports med...then in undergrad I stripped the bolt on my oil pan while changing my own oil. Apparently left loosy, righty tighty. It crossed my mind, "if I suck enough with tools that I can't change my own oil...perhaps I'm not cut out for Orthopedics." I am now PM&R bound...and quite good with needles.

 

[HighPriest]

When I was in undergrad, I once oiled a stripper. That actually isn't extremely conducive to a specific medical specialty, but your post reminded me that it was great.

 

[Shikima]

Once underway, stays underway.

 

[Clap MD]

When I was in undergrad, I once oiled a stripper. That actually isn't extremely conducive to a specific medical specialty, but your post reminded me that it was great.

I think this would be highly correlated with a future career in ortho actually...