PURPOSE
Medical students pursuing military careers often encounter a fragmented
landscape marked by service-specific obligations, evolving Graduate Medical
Education (GME) policies, and inconsistent advising structures. Despite the
high stakes of the military match process, few centralized or generalizable
tools exist to assist students and faculty advisors alike. This gap can leave
trainees without clear guidance at pivotal moments in their training.
METHODS
We conducted a structured review of Army HPSP policies and pathways,
mapping out key training milestones from commissioning through residency.
Additionally, we surveyed Military Program Directors (PDs) to explore
selection criteria, deferment trends, and perceived advising gaps (n=14).
IRB#2023-357-NSU
RESULTS
The resulting timeline offers a visual representation of critical
decisions, obligations, and application benchmarks along the HPSP pathway.
Survey data revealed audition rotations, strong letters of recommendation,
and interpersonal fit were rated important attributes. Free-text responses
highlighted recurring concerns about insufficient or inconsistent advising,
and a lack of standardized, branch-specific resources across institutions.
CONCLUSION
Findings indicate a need for structured advising frameworks for military
medical education. Gaps in advising quality, especially around GME planning
and deferment processes, are apparent. We developed a visual prototype
timeline tailored to Army HPSP pathways and are working toward an
all-encompassing model to include all military branch pathways. This lays the
groundwork for a future interactive advising platform, MilTrack, which will
allow users to explore customized visual pathways by branch, specialty, and
program. MilTrack will aim to improve clarity, transparency, and preparedness
for military medical trainees by centralizing critical advising content in a
scalable, accessible format.