education
Advanced Readiness Officers Course (AROC) FY26 Offerings
Navy Medical Leader and Professional Development Command (NMLPDC) has resumed the Advanced Readiness Officers Course (AROC) beginning with the following sessions:
AROC 26-30 scheduled for 17-27 February 2026 (cut-off for applications is 21 December 2025)
Members must be in the rank of LCDR or above to attend AROC.
Final eligibility determination and seat selections are made only by the BUMED Corps Chief Career Planners and Reserve Affairs. The Career Planners make the student selections during the week following the nomination due-by date for each course instance, and students will be notified shortly thereafter.
Apply by navigating to: NMLPDC Academic Course Registration site.
Advanced Readiness Officers Course (AROC) FY26 Offerings
Navy Medical Leader and Professional Development Command (NMLPDC) is resuming the Advanced Readiness Officers Course (AROC) beginning with the following sessions:
- AROC 26-10 scheduled for 10-21 November 2025 (cut-off for applications was 10 October 2025)
- AROC 26-20 scheduled for 5-16 January 2026 (cut-off for applications is 29 November 2025)
Members must be in the rank of LCDR or above to attend AROC.
Final eligibility determination and seat selections are made only by the BUMED Corps Chief Career Planner and Reserve Affairs. The Career Planners make the student selections during the week following the nomination due-by date for each course instance, and students will be notified shortly thereafter.
Apply by navigating to: NMLPDC Academic Course Registration site.
Occupational and Environmental Medicine Fundamentals Course – September 8-12, 2025
The Navy and Marine Corps Force Health Protection Command/Defense Centers for Public Health- Portsmouth (formerly Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center) is offering their Occupational and Environmental Medicine Fundamentals course September 8-12, 2025 (virtually via MS Teams).
The OEM/OHN Fundamentals Course will provide instruction on basic (routine) Occupational Medicine (OM) and how it is practiced in the US Navy/DoD. The course is intended for health care providers (physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners) and nurses that do not have formal OM training (i.e., OEM residency or experience) or are new to the Navy/DoD OM program who will be practicing in an Occupational Health clinic or have significant OM-related workload. The course will cover the history of OM, workplace hazards, risk communication, Navy/DoD Occupational Health programs, worksite visits, and available resources. This is NOT a board review course and NOT a refresher course for those who are experienced or have taken the course previously.
This course would be a great opportunity for GMOs/Flight Surgeons/UMOs, and physicians who may be interested in pursuing Occupational Medicine as a residency.
CME application is pending and anticipate the course will be approved as it has been in the past. Previous courses have been approved for 25-30 CME credits.
Please visit the Occupational Medicine Fundamentals Course webpage for more detailed information and student registration request.
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.
145th Interagency Institute for Federal Health Leaders – Sep 8-19, 2025
Who: Senior Medical Officers tracking toward Executive Medicine (O6 preferred, senior O5 acceptable)
What: 145th Interagency Institute for Federal Health Leaders (Medical Corps is limited to 2-3 seats)
When: Sep 8-19, 2025 (In-person). Sessions are scheduled from 0800-1700 daily.
Where: Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington DC (centrally funded by NML&PDC). CAPT Stacy J. Washington handles the funding if selected for the course.
Uniform: The uniform is NWUs (or Khaki’s) daily aside from SBD required for opening day, embassy visit and graduation day.
- *** BUSINESS CASUAL IS NOT AUTHORIZED!!! ***
Course Description: The purpose of the Interagency Institute for Health Leaders is to provide an opportunity for the seasoned, practicing federal health professional to examine current issues in health care policy and management and to explore their potential impact on the federal health care system. The faculty maximizes the learning experience by presenting materials resulting from research and experience, as well as examples and case studies from the contemporary national health policy decision-making process. See attached course details.
Please note the course is a full-time program and individuals selected should be in a TAD status and disengaged from their respective workplace.
Prospective applicants should the following items in an email to CAPT Shauna O’Sullivan NLT 1600 EST Monday, July 28, 2025.
- Email that includes the following in this format:
- Rank/name
- Current position
- Work address
- Contact phone number and
- Work email address
- CV, BIO (combined in one PDF)
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 