Well, here's the deal.
I did an osteopathic internship, and now am completing my family practice residency at a large allopathic institution. There was no problem with that, especially because I transferred into the ACGME program as a second year (PGY-II).
The osteopathic internship fulfills the ABFP requirements for the first year of FP residency -- so it worked-out perfectly for me (no lost time).
Now, regarding funding. There have been some recent changes in funding for residents. It used to be that you could do as many residencies as you desired, and Medicare would pay for it. But now, your training institution will only receive funding for you to complete your residency in the appropriate time-frame. (i.e. three years of funding for family practice residents). If you go beyond that, the institution will get 1/2 pay or no pay at all (depending on the situation).
Let's say you transfer into an EM program after a year of an osteopathic internship, but have to repeat the first year, you'll go beyond the 3 year funding limit.
So, for osteopathic interns, you'll want to look for a program where you can enter as a second year resident. Now, supposedly there will be an exemption for osteopathic internship year, but I don't know what the status of this is currently.
These changes were made because Medicare is tired of picking-up the bill for residents that can't decide what type of specialty they want to do. They are no longer going to pay for residents that finish one specialty and then enter another (say going from FP to EM to Radiology).
If someone has newer information, please correct me if I'm wrong. Also, if anyone finds the actual current legislation regarding this issue, please post it here.
[This message has been edited by Lee A Burnett (edited September 21, 1999).]