HPSP & Orthopaedics

[Monoloco357]

Thanks for the view! I have a very strong personal conviction for orthopaedic surgery, and I don't much see that changing as I progress through my medical education, but I remain open-minded that it might. In any case, my question is in regards to the match rate for DO students who wish to practice orthopaedic surgery and are bobbling the idea of HPSP. I have always liked the idea of serving my country, but I wouldn't be willing to do it at the cost of the career in which I foresee myself. Basically, I would like some input, both anecdotal and statistical, on the prospects of matching in an orthopaedic residency as a civilian vs matching in an orthopaedic residency as an officer. As I understand it, DO students have a slightly more difficult time matching due to slight favorability towards MD students, though I recognize that as of current, DO students have an exclusive set of residency programs just for them. Thanks in advance, and I look forward to reading your responses!

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[AlteredScale]

This is a question that is probably a bit more suited to the Military Medicine forum since they will know more about the ortho matching chances. So I will move it there.

As a word of advice, it sounds like you have the "ortho or bust" bug, which is seriously something that has started to pop up as the new trend on SDN. Your best chances of doing so would be at an MD institution. It doesn't matter that DO schools like mine have their own ortho program because at the ned of the day, you still won't be looked at by most ACGME programs as a DO applicant and NOW you have less AOA programs because many have already started to phase out because of the merger).

I have always liked the idea of serving my country, but I wouldn't be willing to do it at the cost of the career in which I foresee myself.

You need to go into HPSP knowing full well you will serve your country in whatever way, your specialty or not, they service asks you too. If they don't need any more orthopods, you will need to choose something else for the time being to serve.

 

[SirGecko]

Not an ortho doc myself (and I'm an MD not a DO) so I can't speak to the specific numbers but it seems like we have a fair number of DO orthopods in the military. At the very least my impression has been that the military has less of a bias against DO's than the rest of the country.

Now to address the second point about you "wanting to serve your country but being unwilling to compromise on your career". Make sure you read about the realities of military medicine on this forum before joining. The best piece of advice I can give anyone looking to join the medical corps is that you need to be a truly flexible person to enjoy yourself. You will have to make compromises both big and small over the course of your career and if you can't do that and keep on rolling you should definitely look elsewhere. This means compromise in where you live, how long you will live there, how often your spouse may need to look for a new job, how often your kids move, how long you have to wait to finish residency, (i.e. Gmo tours) where you can do residency, if they even still want someone to do the specialty you want to do when you get through medical school (especially think fellowship, you might want pediatric ortho and the service you joined doesn't need any). Pretty much every aspect of your life could be something you are asked to compromise on. Just make sure you know that prior to joining.

(And to be clear I'm happy with my personal decision the join the Navy even with the negatives it brings but I knew about them ahead of time. I just want you to understand that absolutely nothing is gaurunteed when it comes to a career in the military. Semper Gumby)

 

[Ziehl-Neelsen]

In any case, my question is in regards to the match rate for DO students who wish to practice orthopaedic surgery and are bobbling the idea of HPSP. I have always liked the idea of serving my country, but I wouldn't be willing to do it at the cost of the career in which I foresee myself.

This one's easy. Stay away from the HPSP.

Ortho is especially competitive in the military. The specialty tends to attract former jock, type-A males and is quite popular amongst the Academy Graduate, top-of-their-class, former infantry-officer/fighter pilot set (as is emergency medicine). If you end up being a marginally competitive ortho applicant you'll have a decent chance of matching at a middle/lower tier civilian program if you apply widely. In the military (as a marginally competitive applicant) you'll just fail to match and have to scramble into another specialty or bide your time as a GMO until you GTFO (or self-select and set your sights on general surgery ).

 

[Helpful Troll]

...my question is in regards to the match rate for DO students who wish to practice orthopaedic surgery and are bobbling the idea of HPSP. ...but I wouldn't be willing to do it at the cost of the career in which I foresee myself. ...I would like some input, both anecdotal and statistical, on the prospects of matching in an orthopaedic residency as a civilian vs matching in an orthopaedic residency as an officer. ...

The mean step 1/2 and comlex lvl 1/2 over the last two years of orthopedic surgery residency applicants has been higher for Army applicants than civilian, with one step 2 exception. Understand the applicant pool and residency positions are much smaller for Army than civilian. These numbers tell me it is easier to match Ortho as a civilian than Army. If you can't see yourself doing something other than Ortho, or want more control over your residency choices, you should stay civilian until you complete your residency then see a recruiter to serve.

2015 graduates Army mean step 1/2 240/251, Army comlex lvl 1/2 606/672, civilian step 1/2 238/241
2016 graduates Army mean step 1/2 256/242, Army comlex lvl 1/2 651/687, civilian step 1/2 246/253

Two other key facts in pursuing Army Ortho - there are currently only 19 Ortho residency positions. In 2015 there were ten more applicants than Ortho residency positions. 2016 had five more applicants and each year they had to change residency choice or complete an Intern/Transitional year.

Keep reading this forum to help make your decision. As others above indicate - Don't take HPSP unless you are willing to compromise in all aspects of your life and career.