In the civilian world, internship and residency are contiguous. Medical students accepted for an internal medicine position complete an internship followed by two more years of uninterrupted training. In the military graduate medical education system, interns must apply for post-graduate year 2 (PGY2) positions. Interns not picked up for residency positions are utilized as "general medical officers". What % of Navy medicine interns are sent out as GMOs?
Buried in an article from the October 2006 edition of U.S. Medicine are some numbers quoted by Cdr. Mike Bridges from the Navy Recruiting Command:
"There is a negative perception of the [Navy] general medical officer tour. General medical officer tours [in the Navy] are when people graduate from medical school and do their internships. The Navy usually utilizes about 60 to 70 per cent of people right out of medical school and internship to go to operational tours aboard ships with the Marines, whereas the other Services tend to send everybody right into residency. The Navy is slowly addressing the negative perception of the general medical officer tour," Cdr. Bridges said.
Comment: The next generation of potential USUHS and HPSP students want to serve but they aren't interested in this outdated model of graduate medical education. Replacing preliminary year spots with complete residency positions will improve morale, retention and recruiting for the MHS. Replacing billets for non-residency trained GMOs with board eligible ones will improve the quality of medical care for service members and their families.
