How to Manage Your PRD and Not Get Stuck with a Hotfill

Joel Schofer's Career Planning Podcast

(This is a re-post of one of my first blog posts. Since it was back in the beginning when the blog didn’t get much traffic, I wanted to repost it because I think it is one of the most important posts on the site:)

There are many important dates in your Navy career. One of the most important and neglected dates, though, is your projected rotation date or PRD. Your PRD is the month and year that your current orders will expire and you are scheduled to rotate to a new command. If you don’t manage your PRD and pay close attention to it, you can find yourself with few career options and in a situation you never thought you’d be in. With that in mind, here are my tips for managing your PRD.

First, know when it is because many physicians don’t know their PRD. If you are in this crowd, the easiest way to find your PRD is to login to BUPERS On-Line and look at block 14 of your Officer Data Card:

https://www.bol.navy.mil/

The other way to find your PRD is to contact your detailer because they can look it up in the detailing system. Many physicians don’t know their detailer, so here is a link to a page with “Contact Us” in the middle. That link will take you to your detailer’s contact info, but note that it is CAC protected:

http://www.npc.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/Detailing/rlstaffcorps/medical/Pages/default.aspx

Once you know your PRD, the easiest way to manage it is with whatever calendar you use (an app, web calendar like Google Calendar, Outlook, a date book, etc.). Place reminders in your calendar to correspond with these time frames:

13-18 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR PRD – This is when you should start thinking about your next career move. Although the normal time period to request an extension (find a template here) at your current command is 9-12 months before your PRD, many physicians request an extension during this time period if they are sure they want to extend. This is also a great time to talk to the operational detailer about operational billets you might have interest in or the senior detailer about what I’ll call “alternative billets” like those at DHA/BUMED, BUPERS, global health engagement billets, NAVMEDWEST, NAVMEDEAST, etc. If you act on your PRD in this timeframe, you’ll be well ahead of the game.

9-12 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR PRD – This is the traditional detailing window where you contact your detailer and specialty leader to negotiate your next career move. This is when physicians normally submit an extension request as well as explore potential billets for their next set of orders. The one caveat is that the availability of billets is often contingent on the results of the Graduate Medical Education Selection Board or GMESB. Since these results are not finalized until January, people with summer PRDs will find that they may have to wait beyond this time period to find out what billets are available and get orders.

6-8 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR PRD – This is when the list of billets that are actually available will solidify and most physicians will get orders. If you want to extend at your current command and you haven’t submitted an extension request yet, you should do that ASAP.

1-5 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR PRD – Many physicians will get into this period without orders. If it is because you were waiting on the results of the GMESB, you are probably fine. If you are in this period for another reason, you should get nervous. The truth is that unanticipated things always happen. Commanding Officers don’t endorse extension requests. Unanticipated openings cause a detailer and specialty leader to have a “hotfill” billet. When things like this happen, a detailer goes looking for officers close to their PRD to fill the need. If you are in this window without orders, you are low lying fruit for filling these needs. And just so you know, most of these “hotfills” are not in Rota or San Diego.

AT YOUR PRD OR BEYOND – Physicians let their PRDs pass all the time. Sometimes it is because they submit an extension request that never gets approved because it gets lost somewhere in the process. Other times they don’t know when their PRD is. Realistically, there is often no consequence if your PRD “expires,” although some commands will pick up on this fact and get your attention by threatening to take away your computer access. The biggest threat, though, is the aforementioned “hotfills” that inevitably show up. If your PRD is expired, you are going to rise to the top of the list when the detailer goes looking for people to fill that need. Have fun wherever that “hotfill” is.

THE BOTTOM LINE – Know when your PRD is and manage it according to the above timeline. This will give you the maximum chance of getting what you want and reduce the chance that you are selected for a “hotfill” you don’t want.

https://mccareer.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/episode-16-managing-your-prd.mp3