Transitional Year followed by a military GMO tour

[njones9]

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Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone was aware of any civilian Transitional Year programs that may be friendly to military applicants interested in doing an operational medicine tour after intern year? It seems that a lot of programs like to see you going on to something like thoracic nuclear radiation dermato-oncology... 😉

 

[NotAProgDirector]

As long as you have a plan for what follows your TY, and the credentials to compete, I doubt they will really care. Perhaps a better question is whether you would want to do a prelim IM or GS year instead, so that you get as much training as possible before your military service? TY's are generally thought of as much less intense experiences ideal for competitive applicants going into fields that don't need generalist skills.

 

[njones9]

Thanks for the reply. I have definitely considered an IM prelim year. My thoughts are the following... most of the operational medicine billets involve general outpatient medicine. In the Air Force (my branch), flight medicine docs are the most common operational medicine physicians. They ensure that pilots, flight crews, etc. are fit for their specific and particular duties. In addition, they provide basic primary care for these individuals, as well as their family members. My sense is that a transitional year (where I would be able to pursue some electives in outpatient settings) might better prepare me for this kind of practice situation than an intpatient-heavy IM prelim year. I am aware that every intern year will have it's share of inpatient. I am simply looking to maximize the applicability (is that a word?) of my training during inter year to the next phase of my career.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Thanks for the reply. I have definitely considered an IM prelim year. My thoughts are the following... most of the operational medicine billets involve general outpatient medicine. In the Air Force (my branch), flight medicine docs are the most common operational medicine physicians. They ensure that pilots, flight crews, etc. are fit for their specific and particular duties. In addition, they provide basic primary care for these individuals, as well as their family members. My sense is that a transitional year (where I would be able to pursue some electives in outpatient settings) might better prepare me for this kind of practice situation than an intpatient-heavy IM prelim year. I am aware that every intern year will have it's share of inpatient. I am simply looking to maximize the applicability (is that a word?) of my training during inter year to the next phase of my career.

A rotation in surgery as an intern TY resident or some of the other ones won't really add much to your job. An IM year is likely to help more. I would go IM prelim for the knowledge. The TY years are traditionally noted to be easy, laid back rotations for those going into stuff like Derm, Radiology, and the like.

 

[Raryn]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone was aware of any civilian Transitional Year programs that may be friendly to military applicants interested in doing an operational medicine tour after intern year? It seems that a lot of programs like to see you going on to something like thoracic nuclear radiation dermato-oncology... 😉

In general, the programs don't give a rip what you're going into, just most of the thoracic nuclear radiation dermato-oncologists have more impressive CVs than the people attempting to match PM&R.

 

[Gastrapathy]

My GMO experience:
30% Psych: Depression, Anxiety, Adjustment Disorders, Personality Disorders, one true psychosis
20% Derm: acne and rashes galore
20%: Ortho: chronic stuff (PFPS, back pain, etc), acute fractures and dislocations
15% Gyn: routine stuff, bleeding, pregnancy
10% IM: DM, HTN, lipids, thyroid, occ rare stuff like IBD, other autoimmune dzs, meningitis
5% Urgent Care: chest pain, belly pain, lacerations, ocular foreign body, GI bleed

What I think you need to do this job right: a primary care residency
What I had: a military IM internship with rotations that included ortho, gyn and psych (but no Derm)
What you should do : Learn to identify and take care of sick. Learn to splint. Learn to do a good gyn exam. Learn to suture. Over-consult while in garrison. If the specialists complain, just point out that the AF in its wisdom has you pretending to be fully trained while taking care of our nation's heroes.

My bias is that you would be best served by an IM internship that provides you with more than the average amount of flexibility/elective time. The military TY years were more rigorous than average but still too easy. The damn trannies still got days off to go out together and play dodgeball.

You can also plug these holes as an MS4. You are going to be a practicing physician very soon so you shouldn't take 4th year off. Do an ENT elective. Get proficient with a slit lamp. Do an acute care ortho elective (they will let you hang with the cast techs who can really teach you to splint in a week). Do Derm. You get good at that stuff as an MS4 and you'll be fine with a medicine internship.