SUBJECT: Letter of Instruction (LOI) for the 2011 Army First Year Graduate Medical Education (FYGME) Program

The FYGME program is the gateway into Army medicine for the majority of Medical Corps officers. It is the next stage in your professional development. Our desire is to further each student’s professional development while meeting the needs of the Army and your cooperation with the FYGME application process is the best way to achieve these results. The information contained in this LOI is intended to guide you through the FYGME process.

  1. APPLICATION REQUIREMENT:
  2. Obligated Army Medical Students: All medical students who have service agreements secondary to participation in the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP), Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) or attendance at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) must apply for Army FYGME under the terms of their service agreement. Obligated medical students must accept the position that is offered.

NOTE: Off-cycle graduates – Any student who is scheduled to graduate from medical school in 2011 AND off-cycle (between the months of July – December 2011, is required to apply to this year’s (2010) FYGME Match. Any student scheduled to graduate off-cycle and in the year of 2012 (i.e. March 2012) will be required to apply to next year’s (2011) FYGME Match.

Failure to participate in the application and match process for Army FYGME is a violation of your service agreement and can result in loss of entitlements or other adverse action. Additionally, failure to comply with all application requirements, to include meeting the application deadline date of 15 October 2010, is a serious breach of your service agreement and will result in placement in an Army FYGME program with no regard to personal preferences or specialty goal.

  1. Civilian Medical Students: In addition to the Armed Forces medical students applying for Army FYGME, qualified civilian students are eligible to apply if they meet the following criteria:
  2. Are a US citizen.
  3. Are in the final year of medical school in the US or Puerto Rico accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or American Osteopathic Association.
  4. Have passed steps/levels 1 & 2 (CK and CS) of the USMLE or COMLEX exams.
  5. Agree to immediately withdraw from the civilian match or cease pursuit of civilian residency training upon acceptance of military GME and selection by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) accession board.
  6. Meet appointment and accession criteria for service as an active duty Medical Corps officer which includes passing a physical examination and obtaining a security clearance.
  7. Sign a service agreement upon accepting training.
  8. If selected and accepted to an Army FYGME program, accept a Captain’s Oath and participate in a commissioning ceremony for entry onto active duty in the Army Medical Corps.

Failure on the part of a civilian applicant to meet any of the above requirements will result in the withdrawal of his or her application/selection by the Army.

  1. TRAINING PROGRAMS: Army FYGME includes both categorical and transitional year programs. A categorical FYGME program is considered the first year of training in the specialty and counts toward board certification. The transitional year is a year of preliminary training required for specialties that do not have categorical PGY-1 (i.e. anesthesiology or radiology (diag)). All FYGME programs in the Army are depicted on the Training Locations Grid found on this website. Additionally, there is a Fact Sheet (located under the ‘General Info’ tab of this website) that provides a description and pertinent application information for each of these FYGME training specialties.
  2. APPLICATION PROCESS: This is a two-step process that consists of submitting a) an application for Army FYGME programs using the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS) as well as b) completing all supplementary Army FGYME application requirements through this website. The processes for each are as follows:
  3. ERAS Application:
  4. Purpose - MyERAS contains work areas for completing the basic application and personal statement, selecting desired training programs, and assigning supporting documents all of which are pertinent for scoring your Army FYGME application.
  5. Access - Your ERAS application is submitted through a web-based application called MyERAS accessible via You must register with MyERAS using a token that is obtained from your medical school’s student affairs office; you should contact the appropriate person in that office if you have any questions about using ERAS.
  6. Program Designation - You must submit your ERAS application to all Army FYGME programs that offer training in your specialty goal (consistent with your Army FYGME Preference Priority Form). The ‘Army ERAS Program ID’ worksheet, found under the ‘General Info’ tab of this website, should be used to ensure that you have assigned the appropriate Army specialty programs to your ERAS application.
  7. If there are not five Army programs associated with your specialty goal, then you must submit a transitional program choice before any other additional choices.
  8. HPSP and ROTC students may also list some civilian programs in case there is a need to train in the selected specialty that exceeds Army’s training capacity.
  9. If desiring VA-DoD training consideration, you must rank a pre-designated, participating VA-affiliated civilian training program as one of your civilian programs (see paragraph 7).
  10. A copy of your application will automatically be forwarded to the Army Graduate Medical Education (GME) office for our records.
  11. Supporting Document Submission – All supporting documents must be submitted to your medical school’s student affairs office. Once you have completed and paid for your MyERAS application, your medical school’s student affairs office will be notified that you have used your token and that you have applied to residency programs. That office will then attach your required documents and transmit your completed application to the ERAS post office for transmission to the programs you have designated.
  12. Medical Licensure Examination: Army policy mandates that all students take Steps 1, 2 CK and 2 CS of the USMLE or Levels 1, 2-CE, and 2-PE of the COMLEX. Unless a written exception to policy has been granted, all HPSP and ROTC students must provide the results of Step 2 CK or Level 2-CE to the Army Student Management office by 15 October 2010. Exceptions are only granted to those individuals whose curriculum does not allow completion of core subjects prior to the deadline. The results of Steps 1, 2 CK and 2 CS from USUHS students are submitted from their student affairs office directly to the Army Graduate Medical Education office. Civilian physicians must also meet this requirement and must submit copies of their Step 1, 2 CK and 2 CS or Level 1, Level 2-CE and Level 2-PE as part of the FYGME application process. All students must also electronically attach Step 1 and 2 CK or Level 1 and Level 2-CE scores to their MyERAS application. Step 2 CS or Level 2-PE must be taken by 15 December 2010 with results provided by 15 February 2011.
    Failure to comply with this requirement by 15 October 2010 will result in a suspension of entitlements as well as a modification to the match that you receive (you will be considered for only Army programs). After the FYGME Match results are released, if you still have not taken or provided passing scores to the Student Management Office your orders to the selected location will be placed in HOLD status until passing results are received. If you attend a school that allows graduation without passing the exams you will be given up to 90 days after graduation to provide documentation substantiating passage. If you attend a school that requires passage in order to graduate, individuals in HPSP will be placed on Leave of Absence (LOA) for up to 90 days from their originally scheduled graduation date. In all cases failure to provide documentation of passage within the time prescribed results in ineligibility for accession into the Medical Corps and call to Active Duty in another military capacity, or separation from military service with recoupment under the terms of the service agreement, as appropriate.
  13. Letters of Recommendation/Active Duty for Training (ADT) Evaluations: These documents must be attached to your MyERAS application by your medical school’s student affairs office. ERAS authorizes you to submit a maximum of four letters. You must ensure that they are received by that office in time to be attached to your application by 15 October 2010. This will ensure that they are considered by the programs ranking your application.
    Letters of recommendation from Army physicians can increase your competitiveness for Army programs. Additionally, for HPSP and applicable ROTC students, performance of an ADT at your preferred residency training site may significantly improve your chances of matching with that program. Students are encouraged to arrange the ADT rotations to be completed prior to 1 November 2010. Evaluations from your ADT performance may be treated as a single supporting document and scanned for inclusion at your Student Affairs office. You may either deliver the evaluations yourself, if available when you complete your ADT, or provide your Student Affairs Office mailing address to your ADT site student coordinator and request that they be forwarded.
  14. Personal Statement: Statements submitted in ERAS must be your own composition; plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students who submit plagiarized personal statements (such as from internet websites) will face serious repercussions and must expect this to be taken into consideration when the match is conducted.
  15. Deadline - The deadline date for receipt of MyERAS Army program applications is 15 October 2010, (except for the Dean’s Letter which will be submitted by your medical school’s student affairs office on or around 1 November 2010). Please work with your medical school’s student affairs office to ensure they have sufficient time to meet this deadline. You should verify that your application was transmitted successfully to ensure that programs have the documents needed to review your application.
  16. ERAS Fees - This system will allow you to submit your application to a maximum of 10 Army programs for the basic fee ($75). Additional application fees will be charged if applying to more than 10 Army programs or to civilian programs. The NBME fee for transmitting USMLE/NBME transcripts for applicants to programs is $70, regardless of the number of transcripts requested. Osteopathic applicants may request an unlimited number of COMLEX transcripts to be sent via ERAS for $70 as well.
  17. Reimburseable Expenses
  18. HPSP students: you may claim reimbursement for the basic ERAS fee as well as the fee for reporting United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)/ Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensure Examination (COMLEX) scores by submitting a cost data worksheet that is provided on the HPSP section of this website.
  19. USUHS students: coordinate directly with your student affairs office for reimbursement of ERAS and licensure score fees.
  20. Army ROTC and civilian physicians: are not entitled to ERAS or licensure score reimbursement.
  21. Army FYGME Website Requirements:
  22. Purpose - The FYGME portion of the Army medical education website is used to submit the required, Army specific application documents (preference priority form, deferment information form, pre-accession form) critical to conducting the Match.
  23. Access - Your Army FYGME application documents are submitted through this website ( You must logon to the FYGME portion of the website using your assigned logon ID and self created password.
  24. Required Documents -
  25. Rank Order List: The Army FYGME Preference Priority List is utilized to designate your specialty goal and rank your programs for the Army match process. Your specialty goal must be consistent with the programs that you rank. You are required to rank all advertised Army training locations associated with your specialty goal for the FYGME match; these must be the same Army programs designated in MyERAS. Any application not listing all programs in the specialty area and at least 1 transitional program (if appropriate) will be considered incomplete and will be returned to the applicant for completion.

- For specialty goals with fewer than five Army programs, you must rank a minimum of five Army programs; your first rankings should agree with your specialty goal and the balance of your list should be made up of at least one transitional program and then programs that can be considered as preliminary training such as the transitional year. You may list more than five programs.

- For specialty goals with more than five Army programs (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopaedics, Urology), you must rank all available locations offered for your specialty goal.

In order to maximize your chances for selection in competitive specialties, it is recommended that you present a strong, complete application to all Army FYGME options for the specialty. Additional programs listed in excess of five may be used to place you in a program if a position is available and the need exists.

Consider your rankings carefully and if you have any questions please get in touch with the Army GME office (FYGME section) for assistance (see paragraph 11). We will attempt to review all rankings to ensure that they are consistent with your specialty goal. We will contact you to resolve incongruities. Our goal is to match each student in the program of their choice and we assume your rankings accurately reflect your true desires.

Your rankings are confidential. The Army GME office does not tell program directors how a student ranked their program. The only information a program director has is that the student ranked the program as one of their choices for the Match. If program directors ask students as part of the interview process about their rankings, students are not to divulge this information. Furthermore, there should be no provision of any documents other than a curriculum vitae by applicants to program directors(board scores, grades, transcripts, etc should be neither asked for nor volunteered). Any requests for such should be reported to the GME office.

  1. Civilian Deferments – (FYGME Deferment Information Form): All Army obligated students are required to apply to the Army for FYGME. Students may not request a civilian deferment in lieu of applying to Army programs nor list civilian deferred as one of their choices. There are 326 projected students in the graduating class of 2011 with 325 projected FYGME positions: therefore a maximum of 100% of students will be matched to Army training programs. Deferment authorizations are restricted by graduating class size and specialty mix. The closer the class size is to the number of positions that are available for training, the less likely deferments can be considered. Students not matching in their specialty choice will most likely be placed in a transitional program or have the option to compete for unfilled vacancies in Army programs after the match. Chances for civilian deferment will be few, if any.

- HPSP and ROTC students: You must have an alternative option for training in the event that you are not selected for Army FYGME and the Army’s needs for training in your specialty of choice exceed the training capacity of Army programs. Such a possibility will be very remote. You must then register for the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Program and must only apply to civilian specialty programs that are consistent with your Army specialty goal.

If selected for Army FYGME, you must withdraw from the NRMP/AOA or any other match arrangement. If not selected for Army training and the Army’s needs for training in your specialty of choice exceed the training capacity of Army programs, you will be granted a deferral from entry onto active duty for at least one year to complete a transitional internship or longer to perform residency training in a civilian program if it meets the needs of the Army. The residency deferment will be only in the specialty that is detailed as your specialty goal on your Army FYGME Preference Priority Form.

It should be understood that the training length granted for any civilian deferment will be for the minimum time required for board eligibility in the specialty. No deferments will be granted for combined residency, residency/fellowship programs or dual certification residency programs (i.e. general surgery/plastic surgery). Students who are granted a deferment must comply with all the rules and requirements of the NRMP/AOA or other match in which they participate.

HPSP and ROTC students who feel they have special personal circumstances that support a need for deferment may send a separate letter either by e-mail (see paragraph 11) or fax to (703) 681-8044 to the Army GME office. The request must be specific. Submission of a letter in no way guarantees that a deferment will be granted but it will serve to apprise the board of your desires. Submission of a letter is the only way to request deferment consideration. This letter must be received in the Army GME office no later than 15 October 2010 and will only be utilized by the personnel in the Army GME office.