Military Medical Student Information
Air Force Military Medical Student Information
EMRA Military Match Website
The Military Match page has information about the match process for each service and links to various resources.
Visit EMRA's military student page
EMRA Medical Student-Resident Match
Medical students can register to be matched with a current EM resident through EMRA. There's more information, and a Google form linked below.
Register here
Did you miss the EMRA Hangout for the military match? You can find the recording here.
2017 Hangouts
Dr. Fontenette (Program director, David Grant Medical Center/UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine Integrated Residency Program) - Air Force Residency Programs EMRA Hangout!
2016 Hangouts
Tri-Service HPSP General Information Hangout - EMRA Military Match Hangout
The Military Match page has information about the match process for each service and links to various resources.
Visit EMRA's military student page
EMRA Medical Student-Resident Match
Medical students can register to be matched with a current EM resident through EMRA. There's more information, and a Google form linked below.
Register here
Did you miss the EMRA Hangout for the military match? You can find the recording here.
2017 Hangouts
Dr. Fontenette (Program director, David Grant Medical Center/UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine Integrated Residency Program) - Air Force Residency Programs EMRA Hangout!
2016 Hangouts
Tri-Service HPSP General Information Hangout - EMRA Military Match Hangout
The Military Emergency Medicine Applying Guide
A guide to the military match, provided by the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORDEM).
These slides summarize the guidelines for the Air Force, Army, and Navy uniforms that you'll come across in most situations.
Download here
Download here
Each service has different requirements and timelines.
CORDEM has branch specific schedules with medical school milestones and application tips for military applicants.
This powerpoint has information about the military match, as well as nuance about applying to Emergency Medicine in each of the services.
Check out EMRA's information for military medical students
EMRA Military Match Website
The Military Match page has information about the match process for each service and links to various resources.
Visit EMRA's military student page
EMRA Medical Student-Resident Match
Medical students can register to be matched with a current EM resident through EMRA. There's more information, and a Google form linked below.
Did you miss the EMRA Hangout for the military match? You can find the recording here.
2017 Hangouts
Dr. Fontenette (Program director, David Grant Medical Center/UC Davis Department of Emergency Medicine Integrated Residency Program) - Air Force Residency Programs EMRA Hangout!
2016 Hangouts
Tri-Service HPSP General Information Hangout - EMRA Military Match Hangout
Tri-service Uniform Guide: Downloadable slides
These slides summarize the guidelines for the Air Force, Army, and Navy uniforms that you'll come across in most situations.
Download here
A Day in the Life of a Military Resident
Tim Porea CAPT, MC, USN (ret)
- 12 or 13 blocks
- Various internships with electives or not
- Most have some rotations at civilian hospitals - local or distant
- Some also go to local military - Langley, Ft hood, Belvoir, Wright Patterson
- Duty hours: 80 hours per week for interns, max 16 hours with 10 off
- Seniors 27 max -> Big change as PL-2
- Many internships now 3 weeks days and one week nights
- Primary care continuity clinics
- Hospital staff is a mix of military and civilian
- Patient care supervised by seniors and faculty. Some NP's, CRNA's, etc
- Progressive increase in responsibility
- Duty pager, deliveries, calling staff input
- January of intern year. Earlier than civilian residencies
- Procedures
- Teaching opportunities even as intern: students, nurses, corpsmen
- Research/poster opportunities to buff fellowship apps - need to have done by July of year you'd apply for fellowship
- Some programs will require research or PI
- Also leadership collaterals for fellowship
- Fellowship opportunities and timing
- Military issues: urinalysis, health stream (short notice), other training
- PRT - promotion delays and PCS hold for failures
- Make time for yourself and family
- Fatigue mitigation - sleep in call room post call
- Leave 30 days per year but Navy only 14 allows as intern (C4 takes your other time away)
- Maternity/paternity leave
- Promotion in six years
- Inclement weather contingencies
- Sim centers
- Academic days
A Day in the Life of a Military Staff Physician
Tim Porea CAPT, MC, USN (ret)
- No hours limitations. May be up late into night and have clinic/OR next day
- Transports
- Mandatory collaterals-may not be your choice. Consider getting involved with committees as a resident to gain exposure
- Other duties: dept ones (ward director, joint commission), CMIO, Credentials, P&T, etc
- 30 days leave, carry over 60
- Department head, GME (med students, other residency collaterals). Japanese intern Program Director in Okinawa/Yokosuka
- Peer review
- Resident evals, mentorship
- HM and RN teaching
- Backfill tastings - Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR)
- Deployments, people who stay behind work more
- Stay in house for storms and typhoons
- Research opportunities
- Starting new programs (Abhik started NMCP PICU)
- Mentoring juniors - resident advisor, writing awards
- International leave - plan early for security brief/approval
- Don't forget what it's like to be a trainee - "intern work" when not at MTF or even when at an MTF due to duty hours
- Have to practice outside comfort zone at small duty station - no specialists
- Sometimes have to work gen specialty rather than sub specialty (MGMA standards) part time
- Get involved in local community - articles for base paper, etc
- Take care at small duty stations about availability - see patients at NEX, commissary, movies
Deployment
Tim Porea CAPT, MC, USN (ret)
- Planned and unplanned. Combat or Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR). Also backfills
- Planned might give you several months notice. Unplanned maybe 48 hours (i.e. Haiti earthquake)
- Tasker from BUMED/NAVMEDEAST, etc. Your dept head will pick. Volunteers first then voluntold. During war, may keep running list so you know you're next on the list. Department head likely will take into consideration who's already been but may also have to look at specialty mix - Dr. Strunc could never go as solo neurologist. Deployments typically filled from larger MTF unless big war.
- OCONUS will not deploy. Solo duty station will not deploy.
- Usually will do general specialty care - you'll do general pediatrics even if PHO, IM clinic and sick call even if dermatology.
- Primary care likely do sick call, etc as well as staffing ward/ICU and dealing with post op patients to let surgeons stay in OR. May also be at BAS or STP. Adult specialists may have to take care of kids too. Kandahar ICU had 2 adult and 1 peds ICU doc on every third. Presence of >1 doc will depend on where you go. Closer to front lines more likely to have single. At Role 3 you'd be in a hospital.
- Frequency of deployment depends on world climate and your specialty. Currently pretty infrequent. Even during height of OEF/OIF primary care staff from NMCP might have just gone once because there we so many of us to pick from. Surgery, EM much more frequent. ICU likely also more often.
- When you're a GMO, deployment will be based on your unit's schedule - ship might be 2 times in three years. Marines similar.
- Length of deployment varies - 6-12 months
- Training - depends on lead time you're given. PICU at Kandahar did one month small arms, field medicine, humvee evacuation, etc.
- Deployments hard on people at home too - department need to take care of family of deployed sailor. Those left behind will do extra call, clinic, etc. At MTF can't shirk on teaching either - residents can't lose out because staff deployed
Don't Be That Guy!
Tim Porea CAPT, MC, USN (ret)
- Be nice to program coordinator
- Reply to PD emails - congrats on selection, schedule requests.
- Answer pages
- Professionalism issues and issues with equity among peers if one person is not doing things they should
- Excessive vacation/holiday or dream day requests. Give chief your spouse's call schedule and expect chief to work around that.
- Don't be a shift counter
- Prepare for conferences/group discussions
- Don't text during morning report, lectures, etc
- Get administrative things done on time - healthstream, log duty hours/procedures, schedule requests
- Wear uniform properly, be physically fit. You represent military and medical corps and are role model for all enlisted, etc. When on away rotation adhere to grooming standards
- Be on time to activities - conferences, sign out, etc. Go to conferences (unfair to those who DO go and speaker who prepared)
- Read email from leadership
- Close out notes in AHLTA in a timely manner - 48 hours for NMCP Peds
- Don't fail the PRT
- Legal problems - DUI, etc - TELL LEADERSHIP ASAP. DUI could be grounds for separation from military.
- Getting drunk as medical student at a weekend program event during your rotation
- Fraternization with enlisted, patients, Facebook. Also no commentary about workplace issues/policies, patients, etc on social media
- If you're on convalescent leave then adhere to that - don't be out of bed, at Target!
- Complain about things with no suggestion for improvement
- Take your education seriously - don't expect to be spoon fed
- If program arranges coverage for a night for residency activity go to that, not somewhere else.
From Chris Kuzniewski:
- Don't leave post call without checking out with staff or upper level
- Don't be the guy who always says "no". Be a team player
- Don't lack the drive or desire to be successful. Remind residents this is the profession and specialty of their choosing. No one is forcing you to be there. Work hard, as you only have these 3-5 years to train for the rest of your life.
From Rhett:
- Dishonesty - faculty lose trust in you. Don't lie about where you were, why something wasn't done, etc. Don't lie about a lab result - just say you don't have it.
From Joe Sposato
- Don't lie in documentation - patient asked for copy of note after visit and documented physical exam was never done
- Look at medical records when unauthorized
- Returning GMO had never obtained license. Multiple reminders but still never obtained by mid PL-2 Year. Taken to admiral's mast, recoup all ASP bonuses, terminated from residency and separated from navy.
- Prior service or GMO time - don't come back with imperious attitude. One version of turnover: leave a blank piece of paper for interns to fill out and I'll pick up later. When reapplied for residency was not accepted to come back to IM despite high scores due to professionalism issues.
From Rod Borgie
- Student missed interview meeting despite being in same building. No excuse, just forgot. Rod offers phone interview makeup, student pushes for face to face. Board scores were average. Student asked why Rod didn't ask about why his low scores were discordant from his outstanding GPA. This is the wrong move.
- Voice mail left for scheduled phone interview. Student later called back "sorry dude I was at a concert". Also the wrong move.
- Entitlement and lack of humility
- Professionalism is a 24 hour entity, not just when the right people are looking.
Consequences: extra duty, dept remediation, command probation, termination
GMO Issues
Tim Porea CAPT, MC, USN (ret)
General
- Advisor to CO about all things medical. Includes occupational health and safety. Recommendation to change unit movement. Malaria prophylaxis for your unit (and consequences if non compliant), STD prevention/treatment, ages 18-50's, immunization and other preventive health. Supervision, education, Mentoring/evals/discipline of corpsmen/IDC. "On your island" with backup from MTF - phone, email, DINPACS (bandwidth issues). Smiley CF patient.
- Deploy with your unit (could join them underway or go to a ship in the yards right out of internship). Potential to see patients in clinic/MTF depending on where stationed in preparation to return to training. Maintain connections to your specialty, try for CME conferences, etc.
- All residencies will have GMO day in August to explain options (Mandatory attendance). Orders scramble on Match Day in DEC. Separate GMO detailer. Return to training usually off cycle and takes a little time to acclimate. Each specialty does it differently. Have more life experience than straight through PL-2 residents (when/how to push back, not letting others walk all over you - even senior people)
Flight
- 6 months in Pensacola, three different start months.
- Stash process if September or November class.
- Orders after Pensacola - total three years. Fly in Pensacola.
- Navy or Marine units, fixed wing or helo, worldwide. Navy units not assigned to - CVN's full time, only for cruise
- Doc for squadron
- Flight physicals, clearance
- Sometimes end up seeing squadron dependents
- Air mishap evaluations
- Short term dets (Kes stationed in Norfolk, supervising two squadrons, occasional trip to Oman, etc)
UMO
- 6 mos Groton, three different start months (July, September, January).
- Stash process.
- Sounds like most physically demanding from O'Meara, best shape to be accepted
- Typically three years total.
- Orders to sub commands, salvage, hyperbaric medicine, SEALs/NSW, Sea Bees, EOD, clinics
- Preventive med - primary/emergency care, radiation health, sub medicine, admin/leadership
- No docs on subs - would supervise IDC's for a squadron with occasional underways
- Resource for boats when underway, medevacs
- Duty stations - Bangor, King's Bay, Hawaii
Ship
- Start in July with SWMDO course then right to ship
- Large decks (CVN, Amphibs) will have SMO then GMO. Augmented by flight or Green side docs when underway.
- Small decks just GMO and HM's.
- Small deck GMO has more admin responsibilities that SMO does on large decks. - Better to get a ship with a deployment than in the yards to get full experience, goes faster, etc.
- Duty stations wherever home ports - Norfolk, San Diego, Washington, Hawaii, Yokosuka, Okinawa, JAX, Rota
- Length of tour likely 2-3 years. Potential to cut for return to GME
Green side
- FMSS type school
- Duty stations wherever there are Marines or they are deployed - Lejeune, Pendleton, Parris Island, 29 Palms, Lemoore, Okinawa.
- USMC PT if you want to fit in - Marines take great care of you
- Marine corpsmen called "doc." Confusing for patients.
Clinic based
- Sick call, processing
- More likely to fill taskers
- Varied duty station locations
- Medicine is fairly dull (Lang) - mostly sick call. Lots of MSK. Urgent things uncommon. Trauma when deployed - ATLS then helos are there
