Career and Medical Corps Internship Selection

Scheduling ADTs is an important and complex part of the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP).  Each student is permitted one ADT per year of scholarship and only one can be taken per fiscal year. The fiscal year is from 1 October of one year through 30 September of the next.  Therefore, Fiscal Year (FY) 2018runs from 1 October 2017 through 30 September 2018Officer Development School (ODS) is typically the first ADT experience a student should have. ODS is a 5 week course held in Newport, Rhode Island that provides the basics of Navy history, customs and courtesies.  It provides an opportunity to purchase appropriate uniforms and learn how to wear them.  Scheduling ODS prior to the start of the first year of school is ideal, but most students enter the HPSP program too late to accomplish this.  ALL students should make an effort to complete ODS prior to graduation.  Delaying ODS until after graduation will result in a delay in starting the First Year of Graduate Medical/Dental Education or assignment to the first active duty position.  Delay in starting the First Year of Graduate Medical/Dental Education will make the first months of active duty difficult, so completing ODS before graduation is the goal.  When ODS cannot be completed between the first and second years of school, many students have been able to work with their school and their schedule to find time in their senior year to attend an ODS class.  If senior year ODS is in your future, please ensure that your Senior ADT is available for use (i.e. do not schedule a clerkship after 1 October of your senior year.  You are allowed ONLY 1 ADT per year of scholarship per fiscal year.

 

School orders are often used in either the first or second year of school when there is no time to go away to a Navy location.  School orders provide a method for balancing the requirement for an ADT and the educational requirements for school.  During school orders, a student is placed on active duty for 45 days and his/her only duty is to attend school. While on school orders, a student is required to remain in the vicinity of school and cannot travel or be on vacation.

The final 2 ADT  training periods should be taken as clinical rotations with a program to which you would like to apply for post-graduate training.  Clinical clerkships are available at all the teaching hospitals and many dental clinics.  They are generally 2 – 4 weeks in length and provide an opportunity to learn about the Navy’s medical system, meet program directors and department heads, and interview for future internships and positions. The Accessions ADT staff round out the remaining 45 day requirement with School Orders, which means students return to school and continue their normal routine while continuing to draw active duty pay and benefits.  One rotation should be scheduled in the July-September time frame (and end not later than 30 September), and the other should start after the first week of October.  Clerkships provide students an opportunity to evaluate training programs and interact with the staff of those programs.  This “face-time” is invaluable.  Program Directors make their intern selections based on what they know, and a good impression can go a long way to securing the desired training.  Even students desiring full deferments should take the opportunity for training.  Not all students who request deferments are granted them.  Clerkships allow staff of Navy training programs to evaluate your aptitude for a given specialty.  The following are helpful hints regarding your ADTs:

1. Plan ahead.  There is no substitute for proper prior planning.  Some rotations will fill early, so start the process 6-8 months in advance.  This will ensure that you get the time you want in the specialty you want.

2. Get Officer Development School completed as soon as possible.  ODS is important.  It can and will prevent you from embarrassing yourself when you go on your clerkships.  Fit it in!!!!!!

NOTE:Navy HPSP participants are expected to rotate at Navy facilities.  Rotations at Army or Air Force facilities where there are not navy training programs is not permitted unless there are special circumstances. Contact USN.OHSTUDENT@HEALTH.MIL if you have a special circumstance which requires an annual training at an Army or Air Force facility.

Click here for information on scheduling your clerkships.

During the early part (i.e. July - October) of the senior year in medical school, medical students apply for a Navy internship.  The Navy has internships in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Transitional, General Surgery, Neurosurgery (1 position only), Orthopedics, Emergency Medicine, OB/GYN, Otolaryngology, and Family Medicine.  In addition, if the Navy has more medical school graduates than available positions in Navy Internships, the Navy allows a certain number of graduates to remain in the civilian sector and get their training in what is called a "deferred" status, i.e. your obligation to serve on active duty is deferred until you complete either the PGY1 year or your residency education. This deferred status is called the Navy Active Duty Delay for Specialists (NADDS) Program. Selection for NADDS is based on the needs of the Navy.  The number selected differs every year.  Generally, the specialties for which people are chosen for NADDS are critical war time specialties such as Orthopedics, Anesthesia, General Surgery, Psychiatry, and Family Medicine. 

Selection for a Navy internship generally only guarantees a single year of training.  Interns apply for the second year of training and beyond in September of their intern year. Depending on the specialty, interns may continue on in residency or serve as a General Medical Officer (GMO).  GMOs serve as primary care doctors for operational forces, and are assigned on ships, with the Marines, with aviation units (Flight Surgeons), and diving units (Diving Medical Officers).  Completing a residency without interruption or assignment to a GMO tour often depends on the choice of residency.  Primary Care (IM/FM/Peds), OB/GYN, and Psychiatry tend to have their interns continue on in training.  Surgery and its subspecialties have a few go through, but the majority serve as GMOs.

After completing an initial residency, the new specialist will typically spend 2-3 years practicing that specialty prior to going into fellowship.  This depends on how many want the fellowship specialty, how many the Navy needs, and timing.​

As a rule, if a specialty is competitive in the civilian sector, it will be competitive in the military.  Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Dermatology, and Anesthesia all typically have more applicants than positions. The applicant to position ratio can range from 2:1 to 5:1. 

The GME Webpage is run by a different department. The website address is: https://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmpdc/professional-development/SitePages/Graduate%20Medical%20Education%20Overview.aspx

 

HPSP scholarship generates a year for year obligation.  Any time you are not in training and on active duty is payback time, so any General Medical Officer (GMO) time you do counts as payback.  Internship (PGY1 year) is considered a neutral year.  It does not add or subtract obligation. 

Any in-service initial residency training you take generates an obligation on a year for year basis, i.e. 3 years of training = 3 years of obligation.  The obligation for initial residency training is served at the same time as any remaining obligation for the HPSP scholarship and ROTC/Academy/ or STA-21 programs.

If you are selected for NADDS, your HPSP obligation will be served after you return to Active Duty.  You will not incur any additional obligation while training in a civilian status under the NADDS program.​
 

The NADDS program allows graduated medical students and medical officers the option to defer their active duty obligation for medical school in order to receive graduate residency education in a critical shortage specialty in the civilian sector.  While in the NADDS program, medical officers are in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and receive no benefits.  Students selected for NADDS must initiate their own search and match for a civilian program.  Once selected for a civilian program, an agreement letter is signed indicating an understanding that any obligation for active duty service is deferred until after completion of the residency training.  

A student who agrees to go into the NADDS program MUST supersede in rank to the appropriate rank.  This is done by signing a new oath of office designating the officer as a 2105, i.e. USNR Medical Officer.  At the time of graduation from medical/osteopathic school, the student WILL NOT receive orders.  The Navy does not pay a NADDS participant to move to a new location for residency training. 

NADDS participants are NOT ELIGIBLE FOR:

· Change of Station Orders to their residency training

· TRICARE (medical insurance)

· Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW)

· Active Duty For Training

· Space A Flights

· Stipend

· Reimbursements

· Tuition payments

NADDS participants are ELIGIBLE FOR:

 

 

 

INTERVIEWS:

All students are required to interview in person or via phone with ALL Program Directors for their desired specialty. It is YOUR responsibility to contact the GME Program Coordinator at each training site to schedule the interview. Refer to the HPSP Scheduling Clinical Clerkships webpage to find the appropriate point of contact at each training site:

https://www.med.navy.mil/Accessions/HPSP and FAP Clerkships.

Contact the GME Coordinators prior to scheduled rotations to set up your interview.  If you have an October clerkship, you should schedule your interview well before October 17th (the deadline to change your specialty and training location).  Each program has its own deadline for setting up interviews.  Again, it is YOUR responsibility to set up your interview before each program's deadline.

 

If requesting a full civilian deferment, you should also interview with the Navy Specialty Leader for that specialty. Please email USN.OHSTUDENT@HEALTH.MIL for Specialty Leader contact information.

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:

(1) Medical School transcripts

(2) Dean's Letter or Medical Student's Performance Evaluation (MSPE)

(3) Board Scores - USMLE Step I & Step II CK or COMLEX Level I & Level II CE

(4) Up to two letters of recommendation (letters from a staff physician in the specialty for which you are applying are highly encouraged)

(5) Personal Statement (optional)

 

Applicants must upload all supporting documents via the GME Application Website (MODS) by 15 October 2018. The only supporting documents accepted directly by the GME office are Deans' Letters and Letters of Recommendation forwarded directly by the sponsoring organization or individual via email (preferred method) to gme2help@med.navy.mil  or by postal mail to the following address:

 

Navy Medicine Professional Development Center

ATTN: Navy GME Office

Code 1WMC11

Building 1, T-15, Room 15151

8955 Wood Road

Bethesda, MD 20889-5628

 

Students applying for CIVILIAN DEFERMENT must additionally submit all supporting documents to ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) at https://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/eras/. Students should follow guidance from their medical school regarding activation of their ERAS application.

 

EVERY student is required to submit an application in ERAS even if they are not applying for a civilian program.
 

Remember, it is important that you refer to the BUMEDNOTE 1524 (Please add the attached BUMEDNOTE 1524​ here) issued in June 2018 for confirmation of the above information, dates and guidance. The information in the BUMEDNOTE 1524 supersedes all other information on this site and is the definitive guidance on JGMESB application information and procedures.

 

PGY-1 Selection