2017-2018 Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences

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Navy physicians go to the middle of deserts. Gotta help those Marines. :)

Fallon, Lemoore, 29 Palms to name a few.

More questions! Sorry!

I am confused if a navy flight surgeon tour is 2 years or 3 years. The training is like 6-7 months and then do you tack on 2 years of then being assigned to a squadron afterward?

As of now, I am considering Army and also doing a short stint as a flight surgeon at some time in my career post-residency and after the utilization tour. Army, in general, seems to have more flexibility when it comes to billets than Navy so although I love how Navy flight surgeons get to work with jet pilots, I am still doing Army in terms of thinking of a long term career with more maneuverability/resources to be operational (battalion surgeon, flight surgeon, SF, etc.)

Correct me if I am wrong but the only attractive pathway for me to do Navy is med school --> family med --> flight surgeon (docs on milmed forum says that you can be a flight surgeon out of residency). I want to avoid GMO after graduation and I know Navy is 50%-66% GMO first...but considering a strong application + FM residency being less competitive, is there a good chance of going straight through to family med after graduation as Navy?

Sorry for the long post!! Would love to hear any other current USUHS students weigh in.
 
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More questions! Sorry!

I am confused if a navy flight surgeon tour is 2 years or 3 years. The training is like 6-7 months and then do you tack on 2 years of then being assigned to a squadron afterward?

As of now, I am considering Army and also doing a short stint as a flight surgeon at some time in my career post-residency and after the utilization tour. Army, in general, seems to have more flexibility when it comes to billets than Navy so although I love how Navy flight surgeons get to work with jet pilots, I am still doing Army in terms of thinking of a long term career with more maneuverability/resources to be operational (battalion surgeon, flight surgeon, SF, etc.)

Correct me if I am wrong but the only attractive pathway for me to do Navy is med school --> family med --> flight surgeon (docs on milmed forum says that you can be a flight surgeon out of residency). I want to avoid GMO after graduation and I know Navy is 50%-66% GMO first...but considering a strong application + FM residency being less competitive, is there a good chance of going straight through to family med after graduation as Navy?

Sorry for the long post!! Would love to hear any other current USUHS students weigh in.

I'm active duty Navy and work in Navy Medicine. A colleague of mine is a Navy FP and she trained straight through without having to do a GMO tour. My boss is also a FP and is also a flight surgeon. He was able to train straight through residency as well. By choice, he chose to do flight surgery later in his career. He spent about 10 years working in a MTF and with the Fleet Marine Force. The point is, many FP's don't do GMO's because it is not as competitive relative to other residencies and the Navy really needs FP's so there's a lot of slots. Your military residency application is graded on a point system and having a GMO tour gives you a decent amount of points. That is why most doc's who end up accepted into competitive residencies had previous GMO experience.
 
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I'm active duty Navy and work in Navy Medicine. A colleague of mine is a Navy FP and she trained straight through without having to do a GMO tour. My boss is also a FP and is also a flight surgeon. He was able to train straight through residency as well. By choice, he chose to do flight surgery later in his career. He spent about 10 years working in a MTF and with the Fleet Marine Force. The point is, many FP's don't do GMO's because it is not as competitive relative to other residencies and the Navy really needs FP's so there's a lot of slots. Your military residency application is graded on a point system and having a GMO tour gives you a decent amount of points. That is why most doc's who end up accepted into competitive residencies had previous GMO experience.

That's awesome information, thank you for the anecdotal evidence! I don't want to sidetrack from this thread too much from the application cycle itself but in terms of operational billets in the Navy, what are possible? So far I am aware of DMO, FS, and being with the Marines, thank you for the perspective! :)

I heard somewhere that you can play with the SEAL but I'm sure the billet for that is once every few years only.
 
That's awesome information, thank you for the anecdotal evidence! I don't want to sidetrack from this thread too much from the application cycle itself but in terms of operational billets in the Navy, what are possible? So far I am aware of DMO, FS, and being with the Marines, thank you for the perspective! :)

I heard somewhere that you can play with the SEAL but I'm sure the billet for that is once every few years only.

Usually you have to be a UMO (Undersea Medical Officer) to work with the SEALs/EOD/Divers/Submarines as a physician. This requires you to go to the Navy's Dive school which is rather physically demanding but manageable. After dive school you go up to NUMI (Naval Undersea Medical Institue) to learn to give medicine to those in the undersea environment. There's usually billets available for these communities but you have to have the appropriate training to qualify.

It is very difficult to answer your question about the various operational physician billets in the Navy because there are so many, depending on specialty, and the battlefield is always changing therefore the needs of the Navy are always changing. What is available now will likely be completely different when you're up for orders many years from now. That being said, if you can think of it, there's probably a billet for it.
 
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Has anyone received confirmation about their SECNAV base access form yet?

Edit: nevermind, I got approved
 
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Does anyone know what the interview format here is? I'm assuming one on one with faculty? Also, any military members planning on wearing their service dress uniforms to the interview? Finally, does anyone know what the percentage of acceptance is of those that interview? Sorry for all the questions!
 
Does anyone know what the interview format here is? I'm assuming one on one with faculty? Also, any military members planning on wearing their service dress uniforms to the interview? Finally, does anyone know what the percentage of acceptance is of those that interview? Sorry for all the questions!
Format is 2 interviews; 1 on 1 with faculty, resident, or student. Military members strongly encouraged to be in uniform. Typically of the ~3000 applicants, they interview about 600 and accept about half of those. full class is around 170.
 
Does anyone know what the interview format here is? I'm assuming one on one with faculty? Also, any military members planning on wearing their service dress uniforms to the interview? Finally, does anyone know what the percentage of acceptance is of those that interview? Sorry for all the questions!

All this info is on their website. I don't know exact specifics but from my memory it's 2 30 minute interviews. Typically one with a faculty member and one with a student kind of open file. From what i was told at the open house, they have your entire file except for GPA and MCAT. Again, from my memory when I last looked at the information, they interview around 550 people but they can only have 171 offers at the given time until someone declines. In the end, I believe they make around 220 offers to fill up their class. I'm not able to check the exact numbers so feel free to correct me!
 
All this info is on their website. I don't know exact specifics but from my memory it's 2 30 minute interviews. Typically one with a faculty member and one with a student kind of open file. From what i was told at the open house, they have your entire file except for GPA and MCAT. Again, from my memory when I last looked at the information, they interview around 550 people but they can only have 171 offers at the given time until someone declines. In the end, I believe they make around 220 offers to fill up their class. I'm not able to check the exact numbers so feel free to correct me!

Last year when I interviewed both the faculty member and student I talked to only had my personal statement and a picture. Nothing else from my file.
 
I may not be the best for advice considering I was waitlisted last year. But it was super informal, felt like a normal conversation. My first interviewer told me they just need to know "why medicine" and "why military medicine" (which they wrote down on a paper) and once those questions are done you can talk about anything. Also they weren't allowed to ask any ethical or political type questions, so don't worry about that stuff. It's honestly super casual, just be a normal person and you'll be fine.
 
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Does anyone know the process for remedials?
 
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For those who interviewed today, congrats! Any initial thoughts/feedback/advice for the rest of us? You got a nice break in the weather today - yesterday was gloomy as hell, but today was really quite nice in the Bethesda area! Especially with the summer humidity being gone finally.
 
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I was lucky enough to receive an interview invite here (seriously shocked and thrilled), but I am having difficulty finding flights out of the state in time for another obligation while being careful to leave enough time to be at the interview.

When did interview day end for those who have gone already? Is the guideline of finishing by 4PM accurate?

Thank you :)
 
I'm not super optimistic about getting an II here, but I am curious about how long it should take to receive one? I was complete on 8/23. I suppose I'm curious if they do silent rejections as well.
 
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I am confused if a navy flight surgeon tour is 2 years or 3 years. The training is like 6-7 months and then do you tack on 2 years of then being assigned to a squadron afterward?

It is 3 years. 6 months of training and then 2.5 years with your assignment. Same timing goes for UMO pipeline.

I heard somewhere that you can play with the SEAL but I'm sure the billet for that is once every few years only.

1/3 of UMO billets goes to the dive billets to include SEALs/EOD/MARSOC/Marine Recon but many of those slots are filled by fellas that were part of the community already. So those billets are pretty scarce but they do show up. From what I heard most of the dive billets basically boils down to clinic and administration. Except for the MARSOC medical officer. Apparently they are training him to kick down doors with them for some strange strange reason. Maybe because...Marines. :shrug::)
 
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For those who interviewed today, congrats! Any initial thoughts/feedback/advice for the rest of us? You got a nice break in the weather today - yesterday was gloomy as hell, but today was really quite nice in the Bethesda area! Especially with the summer humidity being gone finally.

I've gone through only USUHS and 2 UCs school so far for interviews and I would rank USUHS #1 when it comes to the student environment and how I felt in regards to administrative support. Location wise according to my own personal preference, USUHS is in the middle
 
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I've gone through only USUHS and 2 UCs school so far for interviews and I would rank USUHS #1 when it comes to the student environment and how I felt in regards to administrative support. Location wise according to my own personal preference, USUHS is in the middle

Yep, just interviewed today and I agree that the student environment and support seemed fantastic! though I don't have anything to compare it to quite yet. Touring the sim center and trying out the WAVE was also a really nice break from the usual info sessions and interviews.
 
Yep, just interviewed today and I agree that the student environment and support seemed fantastic! though I don't have anything to compare it to quite yet. Touring the sim center and trying out the WAVE was also a really nice break from the usual info sessions and interviews.

Did they say when Dr. Saguil will notify applicants about admission decision? Last year thread said he called on Oct 16th or 17th.

WAVE was awesome haha, I don't think students will use it much though.
 
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Did they say when Dr. Saguil will notify applicants about admission decision? Last year thread said he called on Oct 16th or 17th.

WAVE was awesome haha, I don't think students will use it much though.

They didn't mention an exact date, just that it would be after October 15th. And yeah I highly doubt that'll be a big part of training, but it was still really cool to see :)
 
Little help, please: in the II email it says to suggest an alternate date if you'd like to reschedule. I can't find an interview calendar or anything on the materials i was sent, or the website link provided.
 
Here are the dates
 

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Before I forget, I got an II here on 15-Sept-2017. Marked complete 14-Aug-2017. The date they gave me was 26-Oct-2017. I'm so excited!
 
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Before I forget, I got an II here on 15-Sept-2017. Marked complete 14-Aug-2017. The date they gave me was 26-Oct-2017. I'm so excited!

Congrats! I finished my secondary on July 31 and haven't received an II yet. Are my chances looking slim? This is my top choice.
 
Did they say when Dr. Saguil will notify applicants about admission decision? Last year thread said he called on Oct 16th or 17th.

WAVE was awesome haha, I don't think students will use it much though.

Oct 15th was a Saturday last year, so calls went out at 8am on Monday. He emailed out beforehand to tell people he would be calling starting at 8am.

Since Oct 15th is a Sunday this year, I bet y'all are in the same boat in having to wait til Monday.

It's a AAMC thing I believe.
 
Congrats! I finished my secondary on July 31 and haven't received an II yet. Are my chances looking slim? This is my top choice.
I turned in my secondary 26 July to give you a bit more info. I also come from a military background which probably helped my case a little for this school. I wouldn't say your chances are looking thin because they are going to do interviews until mid January so you never know!
 
For those who have an interview this Thursday, did you get an invitation for a dinner on Wednesday night? If so, what are you all wearing?
 
For those who have an interview this Thursday, did you get an invitation for a dinner on Wednesday night? If so, what are you all wearing?

I got the dinner invitation as well. Since it says "informal" twice in the email and it's at a bar, I'm taking it as the dress is pretty casual. I'll probably just wear jeans and, to really make a good impression, a shirt without stains. I think a simple/comfy dress would be fine too but not sure how cold it'll be at night.

It's pretty casual! I came straight from work so I was in my work clothes (business casual erring heavily on the side of casual...). Jeans and a presentable top or a dress would fit right in. The weather is still pretty warm here but it is starting to cool off a bit more at night sometimes (but barely, you won't need more than a light jacket at most).
 
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Little late to the party here! Just got to submitting my application. Did everyone submit a LoR Confirmation email to their admissions officer if the primaries already transmitted the letter packet? Don't want to be too redundant and flood their inboxes.
 
Little late to the party here! Just got to submitting my application. Did everyone submit a LoR Confirmation email to their admissions officer if the primaries already transmitted the letter packet? Don't want to be too redundant and flood their inboxes.
I sent mine to my advisor pretty soon after I submitted my secondary. I think you'll be fine. :)
 
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I have an interview on 10/5! I was wondering if anyone has good resources on being a military physician. I have family in the Navy, but they were accountants and never deployed. USU is my top choice, so I want to be prepared for any military questions they ask.

I also had a question about deployment. I am excited to serve my country, but I want to eventually have children. Does anyone know how often military physicians will deploy and if its possible to move with your family?
 
I have an interview on 10/5! I was wondering if anyone has good resources on being a military physician. I have family in the Navy, but they were accountants and never deployed. USU is my top choice, so I want to be prepared for any military questions they ask.

I also had a question about deployment. I am excited to serve my country, but I want to eventually have children. Does anyone know how often military physicians will deploy and if its possible to move with your family?
There are some good answers to your questions in the MilMed forum on this site in case you don't come by answers here. :) If you're worried about deployment, it will vary but most likely you will deploy and more than once during the 7 year payback so maybe HPSP scholarship and their 4 year payback would better suit you? It's all very dependent on what you want out of the military and what they want out of you.
 
I was lucky enough to receive an interview invite here (seriously shocked and thrilled), but I am having difficulty finding flights out of the state in time for another obligation while being careful to leave enough time to be at the interview.

When did interview day end for those who have gone already? Is the guideline of finishing by 4PM accurate?

Thank you :)
Same question, but I actually saw we shouldn't book a flight before 7 PM on Thursday. Does the day really go 12 hours? Trying to book a flight now.


Also, I called the admissions office to ask the same question and she asked for my name and interview date, any idea why?
 
Same question, but I actually saw we shouldn't book a flight before 7 PM on Thursday. Does the day really go 12 hours? Trying to book a flight now.


Also, I called the admissions office to ask the same question and she asked for my name and interview date, any idea why?


Let's say you book a flight at Reagan (DCA) at 7:00pm.

Your day ends at 4:00pm.
If you have all your stuff with you and are ready to fly, you can take the shuttle from campus to metro station ~10 minutes if there is a seat available. If not, 15-20 minute walk.

It's 4:20pm, you wait 5-10 minutes for your train and get on at 4:30.
It takes 50min - 1 hr to arrive at Regan.

It is 5:20 pm. You've now arrived about an hour prior to your boarding time. You've left very little room for error and incidentals.

If you plan to drive, it'd take anywhere between 40 minutes to an hour and a half depending on traffic from outside the base to the airport.

No, the interview day does not take 12 hours-- our budget just doesn't allow for a teleportation device at this time.
 
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Let's say you book a flight at Reagan (DCA) at 7:00pm.

Your day ends at 4:00pm.
If you have all your stuff with you and are ready to fly, you can take the shuttle from campus to metro station ~10 minutes if there is a seat available. If not, 15-20 minute walk.

It's 4:20pm, you wait 5-10 minutes for your train and get on at 4:30.
It takes 50min - 1 hr to arrive at Regan.

It is 5:20 pm. You've now arrived about an hour prior to your boarding time. You've left very little room for error and incidentals.

If you plan to drive, it'd take anywhere between 40 minutes to an hour and a half depending on traffic from outside the base to the airport.

No, the interview day does not take 12 hours-- our budget just doesn't allow for a teleportation device at this time.

Thank you so much! :)

I'll try to book the latest possible flight
 
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good luck, everybody. One day you'll sit at the library trying to study between watching fresh faces in business attire being led around and think back to all that angst and hope you were feeling. Be patient. Be resilient. It'll work out.
 
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good luck, everybody. One day you'll sit at the library trying to study between watching fresh faces in business attire being led around and think back to all that angst and hope you were feeling. Be patient. Be resilient. It'll work out.

I hope to be sitting on those double decker desks
 
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Can anyone currently at USU or familiar with the area give some insight on good/nice locations to live (for single people)? I'm also interested to know how people get to campus... I'm not sure if people walk or if the metro is an easily accessible option.
 
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Can anyone currently at USU or familiar with the area give some insight on good/nice locations to live (for single people)? I'm also interested to know how people get to campus... I'm not sure if people walk or if the metro is an easily accessible option.

Not a student but familiar with the area: There's a shuttle that picks up at the metro and goes to campus, and it seemed from my interview that lots of students take that since parking permits are limited. There are lots of options based on how much you want to spend for housing/how far you're willing to commute, but I think most people probably live in Bethesda or other areas along that end of the Red Line (Rockville, etc.). The farther you get from DC proper the cheaper (and quieter) it'll be, closer to DC will be more expensive but more options for nightlife, etc. if that's important to you. As a single person, roommates will be really helpful in keeping housing costs down.
 
I my application was complete mid-August. I haven't heard back about an interview. Should I give up hope?
 
I my application was complete mid-August. I haven't heard back about an interview. Should I give up hope?
Nope, you’re fine. USUHS was the first secondary I finished in July and was complete 8/1 with committee letter and I haven’t heard yet. I have 5 other IIs and I’m a veteran. I’m sure you’ll hear soon.
 
Did y'all get replies when you sent in the SECNAV form and passcode? I sent mine in at the appropriate time but am getting nervous as the interview approaches and I haven't hear back... I know the administrators who handle that are super busy, but I don't want to show up and some guys in uniforms to say, "Sir, you're going to need to come with us" to me.
 
Did y'all get replies when you sent in the SECNAV form and passcode? I sent mine in at the appropriate time but am getting nervous as the interview approaches and I haven't hear back... I know the administrators who handle that are super busy, but I don't want to show up and some guys in uniforms to say, "Sir, you're going to need to come with us" to me.

I got mine the day before as I was flying into the area
 
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Thank you so much! :)

I'll try to book the latest possible flight
My flight out was at 8 and I had more than enough time. Security was honestly less than 5 minutes. I had tons of time to have a few beers watching football. Best experience I have ever had at an airport to be honest haha
 
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