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National Capital Region Chief Clinical Informatics Officer – Senior O5/O6
Here is a call for the National Capital Region Chief Clinical Informatics Officer position. The position description calls for an O-6, but senior O-5 applicants will be considered. Prior to application, you are supposed to check with your Detailer to ensure he/she would support your application.
If you are interested, BUMED has asked that all applicants route their package through their Specialty Leader and include CV/BIO/LOI/OSR/PSR by 3 FEB.
Tips to Get Selected for GME
The Graduate Medical Education Selection Board (GMESB) results were released last month with a 30 DEC deadline to accept or decline any spots you were offered. Undoubtedly there were some people who didn’t get what they want. I’ve participated in the last three GMESBs and would like to offer tips for people looking to match for GME in the future. We’ll cover general tips and those specific for internship and residency/fellowship:
General Tips
- Money is getting tight for permanent change of station (PCS) moves at BUPERS. I think you can increase your chances of matching in GME by being local, or at least on the same coast, as the GME program where you want to train. Keep this in mind when you are picking your Flight Surgery (FS), Undersea Medical Officer (UMO), General Medical Officer (GMO), or post-residency assignments.
- You can increase your score at the GMESB by having publications. If you want to give yourself the best chance of maximizing your score, you need at least two peer-reviewed publications. Any publications or scholarly activity have the chance to get you points, but having two peer-reviewed publications is the goal you should be trying to reach.
- 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.
Tips for Medical Students Applying for Internship
- 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 for internship, make sure your 2nd choice is not a popular internship (Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics, etc.). 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.
- Your backup plan if you don’t match 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 think about what you will do in your worst-case scenario, a 1-year civilian deferment for internship. Many of the medical students I interviewed did not have a plan if they got a 1-year deferment. I think every medical student needs to do one of two things. Either they should pick 10-15 civilian transitional year internships (or whatever internship they want) and apply to those just in case they get a 1-year deferment, or they should just plan to apply to internships late or scramble if this unlikely event happens to you. Most medical students do not grasp the concept that this could happen to them and have no plan to deal with it if it does. It is an unlikely event, especially if you are a strong applicant, and you can always just scramble at the last minute, but this is an issue that every medical student should think through. If you are going to just scramble at the last minute, that is fine, but it should be an informed choice.
Tips for Officers Applying for Residency or Fellowship
- You should show up whenever you can for conferences and journal clubs. Again, you want them to know who you are and by attending these events when you can you demonstrate your commitment to the specialty and their program.
- Always get a warfare device (if one is available) during your FS, UMO, or GMO tour. Not having it is a red flag.
2016 on MCCareer.org – A Review
Thanks to all of you who have made 2016 a successful year for MCCareer.org. Here is a recap of 2016:
- Total Website Views – 43,673 (up from 10,870 in 2015)
- Total Visitors – 18,373 (up from 3,705 in 2015)
- Posts Published – 133 (up from 69 in 2015)
- Joel Schofer’s Promo Prep – 2,100 views
- Total Income – Negative $99 (the cost of the site for the year)
- Total Hours Spent On It – Hundreds!
Here are the top 5 posts that weren’t the announcement of a promotion list (which are always very popular):
- Consolidated Special Pays
- How Valuable is a Military Pension?
- Should You Send a Letter to the Promotion Board?
- LCDR Fitreps – Language for Writing Your Block 41
- Sailor of 2025 Talent Management Initiatives
Thanks for your support!
“Full” 2.1% Pay Raise in 2017
Here’s an article from Military Times about our pay raise and a PDF of the new pay table:
New in 2017: Expect rigorous debate over military pay and benefits
By: Leo Shane III, Military Times, December 27, 2016
For the first time since 2013, military personnel in January will see a “full” pay raise equal to the expected increase in private sector wages. But it remains unclear whether this is a sign of better benefits and compensation in years to come.
How Congress and the new president treat military pay and benefits will be an issue worth service members’ attention in the year ahead, since the moves will directly affect their families’ finances.
President-elect Donald Trump has already promised to boost military spending, including more personnel and equipment. He has also promised that the country will “take care of the military” better than under President Barack Obama.
Outside advocates hope this means protecting military compensation.
In recent years, Pentagon leaders trimmed expected increases for housing stipends and basic pay to instead redirect hundreds of millions of dollars to modernization and training efforts. Military officials have said it’s a distasteful but necessary tradeoff, given shortfalls in the defense budget.
But troops’ advocates and some lawmakers have said it needlessly burdens troops and their families. They successfully fought a lower pay raise proposal for 2017, and pushed back against plans for a complete overhaul of housing stipends which could have taken away thousands of dollars annually from some troops.
With the new administration they’ll push Trump’s Pentagon to hold personnel costs separate from major weapons purchases, and hope to recoup some of the lost trims in the years to come.
Promotion Zones Officially Released. Game On!
BLUF – If you are above zone, in zone, or below zone for a FY18 promotion board, it is time to download the Promo Prep Document, read it, and do what it says to make sure you’re ready for the board.
The FY18 promotion zones have been officially released:
NOTICE OF CONVENING FY-18 NAVY ACTIVE-DUTY PROMOTION SELECTION BOARDS
This message announces the promotion board dates:
- 7 FEB 2017 Staff Corps Captain (Board #170)
- 28 MAR 2017 – Staff Corps Commander (Board #265)
- 16 MAY 2017 – Staff Corps Lieutenant Commander (Board #300)
Here is what it says about the promotion zones:
The Secretary of the Navy has authorized the release of the following list indicating the names, Active-Duty List numbers and dates of rank of the Senior in-zone, Junior in-zone and Junior officer eligible for consideration for promotion in each competitive category as of the date of this NAVADMIN. In addition, those officers on the Active-Duty List and in the same competitive category who are senior to the Senior in-zone officer listed in their category are considered above-zone and are also eligible for consideration.
CAPT Staff Corps Zones for Board #170
Senior in-zone – CDR S. Ashby 022916-50 01 OCT 2011
Junior in-zone – CDR J. Miller 023124-00 01 SEP 2012
Junior eligible – CDR B. A. Waterman 023610-75 01 SEP 2014
CDR Staff Corps Zones for Board #265
Senior in-zone – LCDR A. J. Owings II 037432-50 01 OCT 2011
Junior in-zone – LCDR A. M. Dicarlomeacham 038187-50 01 SEP 2012
Junior eligible – LCDR J. M. Carness 040050-00 01 SEP 2014
LCDR Staff Corps Zones for Board #300
Senior in-zone LT S. M. Simmons 112278-00 26 OCT 2011
Junior in-zone – LT T. B. Kiner 117814-00 17 SEP 2012
Junior eligible LT J. D. Gutierrez 130542-00 11 AUG 2014
If you don’t understand how to figure out where you are in the zones, just download the Promo Prep document. It will tell you how to figure it out with your date of rank.
Also of note, BUPERS On-Line will be undergoing maintenance for the next two weeks.
Director of Medical Services Position at NMC Portsmouth – O5/O6 Position
Director of Medical Services at NMC Portsmouth will be vacated in spring/summer 2017. To be eligible to apply, members must already be at NMCP or up for orders and must coordinate with their Detailer/Specialty Leader.
The qualified officer should be a CDR or CAPT, have senior leadership experience, and a keen understanding for the governance of hospital operations. Interested candidates should submit via e-mail a letter of intent, CV, BIO, PRIMS data, and their last three fitreps or letters of recommendation (no more than three total) no later than 1 FEB 2017 to Ms. Carley Schneider (e-mail address can be found in the global address book).
The position description is here:
National Capital Region Chief Medical Officer Position – O6
The position description is here. Interested parties need to send their CV/BIO/LOI/OSR/PSR to their Detailer or Specialty Leader by 5 Jan 2017. You need to be on-station in the National Capital Region summer 2017.
Chief, DoD Medical Exam Review Board – CAPT/CAPT(s)
The position description is here. This billet is located in Colorado Springs, CO. The rank requirement is O-6 or O-6 select. Interested parties must send their CV/Bio/Letter of Intent/OSR/PSR through their Detailer or Specialty Leader by 19 Dec 2016.
Special Pay Details and Request Templates
The BUMED Special Pays site has been updated and now says this:
2 Dec 16: The FY17 NAVADMIN (262/17) was released on 1Dec16. The attached FY17 Pay Plans are below, and explain the conversion and eligibility for the new Consolidated Special Pays. All requests must be endorsed and emailed to the below email address along with any questions.
usn.ncr.bumedfchva.mbx.specialpays-bumed@mail.mil
In addition, here are some templates one of the officers in my community got from BUMED yesterday:
Board Certified Pay CO Endorsement
Incentive Pay Request – CO Endorsement
NATO Position in Budapest – CAPT(s)/CAPT Only
Military Medicine Centre of Excellence Lessons Learned Branch Chief Position Description
The location for the position is Budapest, Hungary and the rank requirement is not waiverable. Interested applicants should contact their Detailer or Specialty Leader NLT 6 Jan 2017 and be prepared to report NLT 1 July 2017, although they prefer a June arrival.
The POCs for questions/inquiries about this position are CAPT Carlos Williams and LCDR Arcelia Wicker (both can be found in mail.mil global e-mail address book – I don’t post e-mails publicly to avoid spam).
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 