GME
NCC GYN-ONC Fellowship Program Director – May 2024
- NCC Fellowship Program Director, Gynecologic Oncology– Director NCC requests qualified candidates for the NCC Fellowship Program Director position. Candidates must have sufficient post-graduate experience and documented academic achievement acceptable for the ACGME Residency Review Committee (RRC). Candidates must hold a current medical license and board certification with (sub)specialty qualifications suitable for the RCC. Please review the DoD Policy and Selection Criteria for GME Program Directors and the ACGME requirements for this position. The desired report date is NLT than 1 May 2024.
- Nomination Package Requirements: CV, Bio, and a Letter of Intent. An applicant’s CV must include a section about faculty development activities. The CV must demonstrate at least three years of documented education and administrative experience, current scholarly activity, and ongoing clinical activity in the (sub)specialty for which they apply. Additionally, the CV must show current board certification in the (sub)specialties they are applying to and current medical licensure. The letter of intent must include the candidate’s commitment to GME and to the Program Director position, including willingness to serve as Program Director for a minimum of 4 years per DHA-PI 1025.04 guidance and that, if selected, they will accept the job.
- Fully completed nomination packages will be emailed to CAPT Shauna O’Sullivan NLT 1200 EST Monday, 27 March, 2023.
Certificate and Degree Programs in Health Professions Education
Below is info regarding Professional Health Education programs available at USUHS.
National Capital Consortium Psychiatry Program Director
NCC Program Director, Psychiatry – Director NCC requests qualified candidates for the NCC Residency Program Director position. Candidates must have sufficient post-graduate experience and documented academic achievement acceptable for the ACGME Residency Review Committee (RRC). Candidates must hold a current medical license and board certification with specialty qualifications suitable for the RRC. Please review the DoD Policy and Selection Criteria for GME Program Directors and the ACGME requirements for this position. The desired report date is NLT than 1 June 2023.
Nomination Package Requirements: CV, Bio, and a Letter of Intent. An applicant’s CV must include a section about faculty development activities. The CV must demonstrate at least three years of documented education and administrative experience, current scholarly activity, and ongoing clinical activity in the specialty for which they apply. Additionally, the CV must show current board certification in the specialties they are applying to and current medical licensure. The letter of intent must include the candidate’s commitment to GME and the Program Director position, including the number of years they are willing to serve and that, if selected, they will accept the job.
Fully completed nomination packages will be emailed to CAPT Shauna O’Sullivan NLT 1600 EST Thursday, 2 March, 2023.
DIO & Chair of GME Committee at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton – O5/O6 Medical Corps
Applications are now being accepted for the position of DESIGNATED INSTITUTIONAL OFFICIAL (DIO) AND CHAIRPERSON OF GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE (GMEC) at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton (NHCP).
The DIO/GMEC Chair is responsible to the Commanding Officer as liaison and subject matter expert related to Graduate Medical Education (GME); for establishing and maintaining command GME and GMEC policies; for administration of GME programs and assuring compliance with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Common, Specialty/Subspecialty-specific programs, and Institutional Requirements; for preparing the command for ACGME and other accrediting organizations’ institutional inspections; and for oversight of the command training agreements. The direct area of responsibility includes Chairing the GMEC and oversight for family medicine and dental residencies and the sports medicine fellowship.
The position is open to officers at the O-5/O-6 level (Medical Corps only) who have an interest in Graduate Medical Education and Executive Medicine. The selected individual is expected to assume the responsibilities in the July 2023 timeframe.
The preferred candidate should have the following:
1. Prior core faculty, program director or associate program director experience in an ACGME accredited residency or fellowship
2. An understanding of ACGME common and specific program requirements
3. Track record of superior performance in previous leadership positions
4. Flexibility to work extended hours as mission dictates
5. Desire to maintain clinical practice while serving as DIO
6. Dedication to process improvement
7. Strong interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills
8. Desire to assist others with career development
9. Commitment to the strategic imperative of NHCP, San Diego Market, DHA and Navy Medicine
10. 10) Meet height/weight standards
Prospective applicants must contact their detailer in advance of applying to ensure support for PCS or extension if selected to the position. Applicants should submit a letter of intent, CV, last 3 fitness reports and BIO to: CAPT Meg Bayard NLT 27 JAN 2023.
What to Do if You Didn’t Get Selected for GME
With the recent release of the 2022 graduate medical education (GME) results, I’d like to give tips for those who didn’t get selected. I’ve participated in eight of the last nine GME selection boards as a Detailer, Specialty Leader, and Deputy Chief of the Medical Corps, so I’ve seen it from all angles. Here we go…
Be Realistic
If you are personally interested in this post, I’m sorry but you need to be realistic about your chances of matching. You probably failed to match at least once. 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 for that specialty should be able to give you some idea of your future chances of matching. Will they be honest and direct with you? I’m not sure, but it can’t hurt to ask them for an honest assessment of your chances of matching.
Be Open to Other Options
If you are having trouble matching in the Navy for GME, you may have a better chance as a civilian or with a civilian deferment. By the time you pay back your commitment to the Navy or do an operational tour, 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. In addition, the bar is often lower at the GME selection board for those who are willing to consider a non-funded civilian deferment for training called RAD-to-NADDS.
Most applicants who want to train in a civilian institution want a full-time outservice (FTOS) training authorization. When you are FTOS, you are on active duty, you are paid your active duty salary (which is usually more than you’d make as a civilian resident or fellow), and your time counts toward your active duty retirement. The downside is that FTOS authorizations cost the Navy money and are therefore limited. This means they are more competitive to get.
The other type of civilian deferment is called “Release from Active Duty to Navy Active Duty Delay for Specialists” or RAD-to-NADDS. This is the one that is less popular and desirable than FTOS, but that means it can be easier to get in certain specialties. When you are in RAD-to-NADDS, you are not on active duty, you are making a civilian salary, and your time does not count towards your military retirement. Because you are not on active duty, this type of deferment is basically free for the Navy, so in certain specialties they can give out as many training slots as there are qualified applicants.
There are restrictions on RAD-to-NADDS. Most importantly, the Navy is not supposed to use it to train specialties in which it has unused training capacity in the Military Health System (MHS). For that reason, RAD-to-NADDS is only used for specialties where the training doesn’t exist in the MHS or it is full and there is no additional training capacity. For example, the Navy doesn’t use all of the training slots in Internal Medicine, so you probably couldn’t do RAD-to-NADDS in Internal Medicine. Because all the General Surgery residency slots are full in MHS training programs, you could do RAD-to-NADDS in General Surgery.
Past GME boards have been willing to give anyone who was willing to take a RAD-to-NADDS training goal in the undermanned specialties with no additional MHS training spots available (Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia, General Surgery, etc.).
If you are willing to consider RAD-to-NADDS, closely examine the GME note and by-site goals. You’ll see that some specialties are offering RAD-to-NADDS opportunities. If you are interested in one of these specialties, you’ll need to apply for civilian programs ahead of time, likely before the military GME results are released.
Make sure that the 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. You don’t want to be given a RAD-to-NADDS spot and then tell the specialty leader you didn’t apply for civilian training spots.
Make Sure They Know Who You Are
Do everything you can to make sure the leaders in the specialty know who you are at your GME program of choice. This can usually be accomplished by rotating there as a student/intern, volunteering if you are a General Medical Officer (GMO), Flight Surgeon (FS), or Undersea Medical Officer (UMO), or attending journal clubs or academic conferences when you can make it. Over the years, we have had GMO/FS/UMOs that have volunteered to work in our Emergency Department during conferences or journal clubs. They often matched the following year. Many applicants do not go this extra mile, and those that do have a leg up in matching.
Avoid Red Flags
Some applicant red flags are obvious like failed board exams and repeated medical school rotations, but there isn’t much you can do about those anymore. One other under appreciated red flag is when someone has an operational tour where they are eligible for a warfare device and they don’t get it. Always get the warfare device if one is available during your operational tour.
The Career Intermission Program
I know of multiple physicians who used the Career Intermission Program (CIP) to temporarily leave the Navy, obtain the fellowship they wanted but couldn’t get in the Navy, and then came back on active duty. All the details are on this website. There is no guarantee that your request to use the CIP for GME will be approved, but you never know unless you ask.
Eventually, You Need to Get Board Certified in Something
If you want to match in the Dermatology residency in San Diego, I get it, but if you’ve tried a few times and haven’t matched, you may need to change your approach. Is there really only one specialty that will make you happy?
Eventually, you need to get board certified in something. If you can be happy doing a less competitive specialty, you should consider adjusting course and applying for them. What are the less competitive specialties? It depends on the year, but Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Pathology, Preventive Medicine, Psychiatry, and the Residency in Aerospace Medicine (RAM) come to mind. This list will also change over time. My own specialty, Emergency Medicine, was extremely competitive, but that has changed over the last two years for a variety of reasons.
Notice to GME Applicants – E-mail Address Changes
If you are unaware, there is an enterprise-wide email migration from mail.mil to health.mil; the GME office email address has changed to usn.bethesda.navmedleadprodevcmd.mbx.gme-sb@health.mil. The health.mil email address is already active; it is highly recommended that all inquiries and documentation be sent to the new email address starting today.
Email forwarding from mail.mil to health.mil will end on 30 Sep 22. Any documents sent to the old mail.mil address after 30 Sep 22 will NOT be received by the GME office or uploaded into MODS.
Please plan accordingly, and inform your schools, LOR writers, and anyone forwarding documentation on your behalf.
Tips to Get Selected for GME – A 2022 Update
With the recent release of the 2022 GME note, I’d like to re-post an updated version of this post. I’ve participated in the last eight GME selection boards 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 medical students and those returning from an operational tour:
General Tips
- You can increase your score by having publications. If you want to give yourself the best chance of maximizing your score, you need multiple peer-reviewed publications. Any publications or scholarly activity have the chance to get you points, but having multiple 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
- 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.
- We have started our transition to straight-through GME, so you’ll notice that most specialties are considering applications from medical students for straight-through GME. If you don’t want to do straight-through and only want to apply for internship, you can opt out on MODS.
- When you are applying, 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.
- 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.
- If your first choice specialty is offering civilian NADDS deferments, you need to apply to civilian residency programs. This is also required, per the BUMED note. 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 is 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.
Video of Medical Corps Detailing Q&A Session with OMO/GME Detailer
Here a link to the 1200 EST video (62 minutes):
Here’s the 1500 EST video which is a little shorter at 53 minutes:
Joel Schofer's Career Planning Blog 