Academic Year 2026-2027 DARK TRIDENT Call for Applications
This seems like a line focused initiative, but Staff Corps Officers seem to be eligible to apply…
Tips to Get Selected for GME
I’ve lost count of how many GME selection boards I’ve participated in (it is either 7 or 8). Based on my experience, here are my tips for people looking to match for GME in the future. We’ll cover general tips and those specific for medical students and those returning from an operational tour:
General Tips
- Be realistic about your chances of matching. If you are applying to a competitive specialty and you’ve failed a board exam or had to repeat a year in medical school, you are probably not going to match in that specialty. There are some specialties where you can overcome a major blight on your record, but there are some where you can’t. If this is applicable to you, the residency director or specialty leader should be able to give you some idea of your chances. Will they be honest and direct with you? I’m not sure, but it can’t hurt to ask.
- If you are having trouble matching in the Navy for GME, you may have a better chance as a civilian. By the time you pay back your commitment to the Navy, you are a wiser, more mature applicant that some civilian residency programs might prefer over an inexperienced medical student. You’ll also find some patriotic residency programs, usually with faculty who are prior military, that may take you despite your academic struggles. Many people who “are never going to match” do so in the civilian match. Trust me.
Tips for Medical Students
- Do everything you can to do a rotation with the GME program you want to match at. You want them to know who you are.
- When you are applying, make sure your 2nd choice is not a popular internship (like Orthopedics). If you don’t match in your 1st choice and your 2nd choice is a popular internship, then it will likely have filled during the initial match. This means you get put in the “intern scramble” and you’ll likely wind up in an internship you didn’t even list on your application.
- If you don’t match, your backup plan should be an alternative program at the same site where you eventually want to match for residency. For example, in my specialty (Emergency Medicine or EM) we only have residencies at NMCP and NMCSD. If someone doesn’t match for an EM internship at NMCP or NMCSD, they will have a better chance of eventually matching for EM residency if they do an internship locally, like a transitional internship. Internships at Walter Reed or any other hospital without an EM program are quality programs, but it is much easier to “pledge the fraternity” if you are physically present and can get to know people, attending conferences and journal clubs when you can.
- You need to apply to civilian residency programs. You don’t want to find out that you were given a NADDS deferment but you didn’t apply for civilian residency programs. This happens to people all the time. Don’t be that student.
Tips for Applicants Returning from Operational Tours
- You should show up whenever you can for conferences and journal clubs. Again, you want them to know who you are. By attending these events you demonstrate your commitment to the specialty and their program.
- Always get a warfare device (if one is available) during your operational tour. Not having it when one was available is a red flag.
- Closely examine the GME note and by-site goals. You may see that some specialties are offering full-time outservice (FTOS) or civilian deferment (RAD-to-NADDS). If you are in one of these specialties, you need to consider applying for civilian residency programs. If you are unsure, you should probably talk to the specialty leader for whatever specialty you are applying for. There is often a shortage of people willing to enter civilian training. If you are willing to do so, it could get you selected for the specialty you want. Make sure that they specialty leader is aware you will take a civilian deferment if one is offered to you, and make sure you apply to the civilian match.
Fair winds and following seas to Rear Adm. Freedman after 35 years of service
BLUF – Rear Adm. Rick Freedman retired after 35 years of service in the Navy Dental Corps, concluding a career that included serving as the 39th Chief of the Navy Dental Corps, Acting Navy Surgeon General, Deputy Surgeon General, and Acting Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, with leadership roles spanning operational deployments, military treatment facilities, and the Defense Health Agency. For Navy Medicine, his career reflects the increasing importance of developing clinicians who can lead across operational, clinical, and enterprise levels, demonstrating how diverse leadership experience prepares officers to guide the Medical Department through periods of transformation while maintaining readiness.
Facial Hair Grooming Standards Updates
BLUF – NAVADMIN 140/26 announces the policy and procedures for the resubmission and reevaluation of all religious accommodation requests for facial hair in accordance with the “Grooming Standards for Facial Hair Implementation” memo issued by SECWAR August 20, 2025.
Senior military medical leaders align the joint mission around readiness
BLUF – Senior Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense Health Agency medical leaders used the 2026 Military Health System Conference to align around a common readiness-focused vision, emphasizing that future conflicts will require new approaches to operational medicine, stronger joint integration, empowered enlisted medical personnel, and closer collaboration across the Military Health System. For Navy Medicine, the discussion reinforces that success will increasingly be measured by the ability to generate medically ready forces, sustain clinical currency, and deliver interoperable joint medical capabilities that support distributed and large-scale combat operations.
From CNP: June Sailor-to-Sailor Newsletter
The newest edition of the Sailor-to-Sailor newsletter is here! Your monthly source for essential career updates, leadership messages, and policy changes that directly impact you and your Sailors.
In this edition:
– Announcement of the 2025 Fleet Award Winners
– Updated Guidance on Grooming Standards and Religious Liberty
– Expansion of the Navy COOL Program
– The 2026 Permanent Change of Station Guide
Access the full newsletter here: https://d34w7g4gy10iej.cloudfront.net/pubs/pdf_77202.pdf
Leaders: Help spread the word. Print a copy for your shop’s bulletin board, share it during quarters, or forward this email to your teams to ensure every Sailor stays informed.
For more updates, follow MyNavy HR on social media.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyNAVYHR
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MYNAVYHR/
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/MYNAVYHR
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MyNAVYHR
_________________________________________
Delivered by Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Why I Retired
“Why did you retire? I thought you were going to…”
I get this line of inquiry a lot. Here is the explanation.
Last year I started to have conversations with the Corps Chief’s Office about a post-command tour after Guam. I was told that the flag mess wanted me to get a surface warfare pin. In order to get one, I would have to become a CATF Surgeon and go to sea.
When I asked how long they would make me stay in the CATF billet before they let me compete for a more typical post-command position, they gave me the same answer that I would have given me if I was the Detailer or Deputy Corps Chief. The answer was that they would be writing me 3 year orders and that it would be up to the Detailers when I would be allowed to leave the billet for another position, hopefully a Fleet Surgeon job.
After spending 2 years in Guam unaccompanied, I was not willing to go to sea for an undetermined amount of time with an unknown endpoint. I would have been at 25 years, with only 5 years left before I was statutory. If I was going to be looked at for promotion, it would have happened very late in my 30 year career. I’d likely be age 53 or 54 before I got a serious look at promotion, and I don’t want to be working full-time at age 60.
My financial goal has always been to be financially independent by age 50 so I could retire if I wanted to. If I was having fun, I would hang around beyond that, but if I wasn’t, I’d have the option to leave. Going to sea after 2 years unaccompanied in Guam, and 2 of my last 3 sets of orders being unaccompanied/GEOBACH, was not my definition of fun. As a result, I retired.
The bottom line is that I didn’t want to go to sea just to get a pin after being unaccompanied in Guam for 2 years. If I was not willing to do what the flag mess wanted me to do, I’d rather just get out. As a result, I retired. It is that simple.
I hope that answers people’s question. I wanted to put my thought process out there.
As of now, the plan is to continue and improve the blog, helping people in Navy Medicine for as long as my help is useful.
Registration opens for the 2026 Military Health System Research Symposium
BLUF – Registration has opened for the 2026 Military Health System Research Symposium (Aug. 3–6, Kissimmee, Florida), the Department of War’s premier military medical research meeting, which will focus on warfighter medical readiness, expeditionary medicine, human performance, and return-to-duty research while bringing together more than 3,700 military, academic, government, and industry participants. For Navy Medicine, MHSRS remains the premier venue to showcase operational research, build collaborations, and translate scientific advances into capabilities that improve maritime medical readiness, combat casualty care, and expeditionary healthcare.
https://health.mil/News/Dvids-Articles/2026/06/25/news568550
Online ID Card Office Switches From DS Logon to New Verification Platform
BLUF – The article explains that the Defense Department is replacing the legacy DS Logon with the new myAuth identity verification system for ID Card Office Online, with TRICARE, MHS GENESIS, and other military health platforms transitioning later this year. For military healthcare leaders, the transition is important because it will change how beneficiaries, retirees, and staff access digital health services and patient portals, making early adoption and user education essential to minimize disruptions in access to care and administrative services.
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 