Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog

Tips to Get Selected for GME

Posted on July 20, 2024 Updated on July 12, 2024

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 fairly 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.
• Many specialties are considering applications from medical students for straight-through GME. If you know you want to do an operational tour before residency, you can apply for one of the new pilot positions that guarantee you a residency after you do your operational tour.
• When you are applying, make sure your 2^nd choice is not a popular internship (like Orthopedics). If you don’t match in your 1st choice and your 2^nd 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’ll 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.