Application Process

The typical process for applying actually begins during the third year of medical school in December/January (about 8-9 months prior to the desired rotation dates). At this point, students should request for an Emergency Medicine audition rotation at either here at Naval Medical Center San Diego, or at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP) to have the best chance of getting a spot as they are typically awarded on a first come, first serve basis. More information on scheduling clerkships can be found at the HPSP/HCSP Medical Accessions page and the NMCSD Graduate Medical Education - Clerkships page. It is important to know that there are several forms to be completed and documents submitted to finalize a request for a clerkship, and should be finished in a timely manner.     

Interviews may be conducted during a scheduled clerkship through the Residency Program Administrator and the Academic Chief Residents, at the discretion of the Program Director, CDR Auten. If any student is unable to schedule an interview during the rotation, or are unable to schedule a clerkship, not to worry; interviews are typically scheduled between Mid-July and Mid-October, and can occur face-to-face, or via phone or Skype. Occasionally interviews will happen earlier if the rotator is in the ED earlier in the year. Each applicant will be interviewed by the Program Director, an Associate Program Director and a Chief Resident. The scheduling of interviews is the first major difference between the military match and the civilian match, as civilian programs do not start offering interviews until late November or early December.

The MODS application opens in early/mid-July of the fourth year of medical school and generally includes the same information that is entered into ERAS. Completion of this application is required of all HPSP, HSCP and USUHS students even if the student wants to attend a civilian residency program. Many of the same documents, such as SLOE's/LOR's, USMLE/COMLEX scores, etc., are required as well. These documents are typically uploaded by the student (in the case of scores), by letter writers, or by the school (for the Dean's Letter) before the application closes in September, but may be accepted up to the beginning of October. It is important to note that at this time, in the Navy, M4 students are applying for a PGY-1 position only. There will be a website and instructions emailed to you earlier in the year by either the HPSP/HSCP office or by USUHS depending upon the program/school from which you are applying.

The application closes in Mid-September and by this point students will also have included specialty and program rankings in their applications; the second major difference between the military and civilian matches, as program ranking through ERAS does not occur until February of the fourth year of medical school. Several years ago, NMCSD and NMCP established categorical EM internship programs, where before Emergency PGY-2's were drawn from TY, Surgery, IM or another specialty. With the establishment of an EM categorical year, Emergency Medicine can be selected as specialty of choice, and the student will then rank NMCSD, NMCP or civilian deferment (NADDS) by order of preference. This order may be amended by the student until about the third week of October. By this point all documents should be submitted, interviews conducted and the application in finalized.

The third major difference between the civilian and military matches is that during the month of November, the Program Directors of all specialties develop lists of candidate students they would like to have in their programs, and then meet at the end of the month or beginning of December, where the lists are given to the Joint Service Graduate Medical Education Selection Board (JSGMESB), which will consider applicants and decide into which program each will be placed. Military Program Directors will select all HPSP/HSCP/USUHS students even if the student wants a deferment to a civilian residency, which means that to train in Emergency Medicine, every student must speak with the EM Program Directors to make their intentions to defer known or the student will not be able train in Emergency Medicine anywhere as an intern. The results are released in Mid-December, typically via email stating the results are posted, after which students will log into MODS to find their results. Students who match into a Navy internship will be finished with the application process. Those selected for deferments will continue with the normal civilian match process and will find out their results in February for DO's or March for MDs.

The number of deferments offered by specialty changes every year depending on several factors including (but not limited to) funding, the number of spots in each program/specialty, the interest in that specialty, and the needs of the Navy. This means that the number of applicants allowed to defer will change wildly from year to year. Five students from the M4 class of 2016 were allowed to defer for Emergency Medicine, while the year before no deferments were awarded. Each applicant should apply to both military and civilian programs to be ready for a deferment even if a military internship/residency is the first choice.

At this time, the Navy still separates PGY-1 training from PGY-2 through PGY-4 residency completion, which means two things. First, that everyone accepted into Navy post graduate training must reapply for a PGY-2 spot through MODS (to complete residency training either immediately after internship, or after an operational tour as a GMO, FS, or DMO), or elect to finish their time commitment to the Navy during their operational tour after which he/she will apply to a civilian program through ERAS. Secondly, this separation means that there is a chance that every intern may not be selected for a PGY-2 spot during their intern year, and that intern will then do two to three years in an operational billet. The number of interns selected for a PGY-2 spot changes year to year as PGY-2 applications are competitive due to returning GMO's, FS's and DMO's, who have more experience and a wide array of deployments and specialized training. Some interns elect not to apply for a PGY-2 spot in order to pursue an operational tour earlier in their military careers, while others wish to simply pay back their commitment to the Navy with 4 years in the Fleet in order to pursue a civilian residency and medical career.