GME
GME Update
Please see this portion of the Deputy Medical Corps Chief’s message for an update on GME:
We are pleased to share recent efforts to expand physician training capacity to address projected losses and sustain operational readiness. The Military Treatment Facility remains our most effective model for training and skill sustainment, but challenges such as deployments, staffing reductions, and funding constraints have impacted these capabilities. To strengthen our foundation for training programs, the Medical Corps is pursuing several initiatives:
- Expanded Training Billets: Authorized training billets increased by 160, with 60 for in-service GME and 100 for out-service GME.
- In-Service GME Growth: Expanded capacity in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, and Psychiatry programs.
- Military-Civilian Partnerships: Leveraged new partnerships to enhance training in General Surgery, Urology, Hyperbaric Medicine, Gastroenterology, Psychiatry, and Radiation Oncology.
- MHS Collaboration: Created additional placements for Navy medical officers in Clinical Informatics, Emergency Medicine, Neurosurgery, Pediatrics, and more through partnerships with Army, Air Force, and civilian institutions.
2025 GME Application Information – New Dartmouth Master of Health Care Delivery Science Option
BUMED has released the GME application instructions (BUMEDNOTE 1524):
They also provided the attached updated FAQs for the Pilot Program:
Further, this year the BUMEDNOTE 1524 contains a new non-clinical opportunity for a Master of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth. For FY26, the Medical Corps has one opportunity, but we anticipate this increasing to three opportunities per year thereafter. More information is available at https://mhcds.dartmouth.edu. The program has established a dedicated link for prospective Navy applicants here: https://dartgo.org/mhcds-navy.
Note that fellowship opportunities can change between publication of the BUMEDNOTE and finalization of the JGMESB precept. PERS-eligible applicants interested in a fellowship not listed in the BUMEDNOTE are encouraged to discuss this with their specialty leaders and consider applying with the recognition that an officer applying for an opportunity listed within the BUMEDNOTE has a higher probability of being selected than an officer applying for an opportunity not listed in the BUMEDNOTE (i.e. a specialty leader “Wish List” opportunity).
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 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 positions that guarantee you a residency after you do your operational tour.
- 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’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.
DIO/Director of Professional Education & GME at NMC Portsmouth
The Director of Professional Education / DIO position at NMRTC-Portsmouth is open. Send applications, including letter of interest, military bio, CV, their three most recent FITREPs, and Specialty Leader concurrence in a single pdf to CAPT Shauna O’Sullivan (contact is in the file below). The deadline for applications is 03 January 2025.
GME Applications Website is Back Online – Deadline for Changes and Supporting Documents is October 15, 2024
- The GME application website (MODS) was down last week due to a data migration to the Cloud. It is now back online. Applicants can modify their GME application, site, and specialty preferences and upload supporting documents through the final deadline, October 15, 2024.
- The GME Office is actively uploading a backlog of supporting documents now that the site is operational and anticipates those will be uploaded over the next 1-2 weeks.
- The MODS contractor has provided the alternate login link below for anyone having challenges accessing the application website: https://education.mods.army.mil/navymeded/UserLogon/userlogon.asp
Deadline to Start GME Applications Pushed to 8 SEP
The MODS system used for GME applications had significant IT issues the last two weeks so the deadline for starting GME applications has been extended. The GME application deadline is now 2359 EST on Sunday, September 8, 2024.
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 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 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’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.
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