DO fmg residency matching

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May the Gods of SDN forgive me for mentioning DO, FMG, and residency again in a sentence, but...

I have heard time and time again that DO's are given preference over FMG generally in securing residencies. I usually hear this in the form "DO/MD graduates pick their spots, then remaining spots are filled by FMG."

Is this timeline actually accurate? Like is there some official rule somewhere that FMG cannot apply until all osteopathic and allopathic graduates have applied? Or is the quoted sentence in the previous paragraph more just as a reference to the fact that DO/MD are "favored" generally in admissions even though everyone applies simultaneously.

Thanks for the response. I sincerely tried to find this evidence in previous threads but came up short. I'm a "low" (3.4 sci/cum) California applicant that doesn't want to waste another year, so my carribean vs do decision is lurking....

For the NRMP match, everyone applies, interviews and finds out their matches at the same time. What the statement you're quoting generally means is that American MD graduates have the easiest road to getting their desired residencies, then DOs and finally IMG/FMGs.

DO and FMGs can prematch which gives them some advantage if they're competitive. The programs around here, even FM and Peds, give preference to DOs and MDs over FMGs.

Originally Posted by Roguelyn

DO and FMGs can prematch which gives them some advantage if they're competitive. The programs around here, even FM and Peds, give preference to DOs and MDs over FMGs.

Could prematch. That ended this year.

.

Originally Posted by reburbia

May the Gods of SDN forgive me for mentioning DO, FMG, and residency again in a sentence, but...

I have heard time and time again that DO's are given preference over FMG generally in securing residencies. I usually hear this in the form "DO/MD graduates pick their spots, then remaining spots are filled by FMG."

Is this timeline actually accurate? Like is there some official rule somewhere that FMG cannot apply until all osteopathic and allopathic graduates have applied? Or is the quoted sentence in the previous paragraph more just as a reference to the fact that DO/MD are "favored" generally in admissions even though everyone applies simultaneously.]

It is likely that you misunderstood what people were saying AND that they were wrong, or at least, misinformed themselves.

There is a single allopathic match (for AMGs, IMGs and DOs...the DOs also have their own match...see below) with a single timeline for everybody. What people were probably talking about is that AMG applicants are favored at almost all programs, followed by DOs who are roughly equal to foreign citizen graduates of top foreign medical school (I'm talking about places like Aga Khan, Cambridge, UNSW, UCL, etc), followed by the Carib kids. It's not that AMGs get to pick their spots, but they generally get interviews at "better" programs than the other groups (exceptions to the rule are legion but they don't disprove the rule).

To make this example more concrete (but still completely made up), imagine 3 applicants to IM programs in the NRMP match. All 3 of them have 242 on Step 1, 251 on Step 2, Top 10% of their class, stellar LORS and each one has 2 first author pubs in decent journals from the cards research they got involved with early on during their 3rd year. Applicant A is an AMG from a mid-tier school, B is a DO and C is a Carib applicant. They all apply to the same 20 programs...10 "top tier" programs and 10 "mid tier" ones. A will probably get interviews at most/all of those places. B will get interviews at a few of the top tier places (2-4...lots of "elite" programs still have an anti-DO bias) and most/all of the mid-tier places (let's say 12 interviews). C will feel pretty good if s/he gets half a dozen interviews from the mid-tier places and a total stud if even one of the top tier places offers an interview. That's just the way things are.

Thanks for the response. I sincerely tried to find this evidence in previous threads but came up short. I'm a "low" (3.4 sci/cum) California applicant that doesn't want to waste another year, so my carribean vs do decision is lurking....

This is a no-brainer...DO hands down. The NRMP match is getting more competitive each year with a stagnant # of spots and rising #s of grads from US MD schools. Guess who gets squeezed out first/most? IMGs followed by DOs. The anti-DO bias has dramatically decreased at many (but not all) residency programs, especially for grads of the more established schools like PCOM, CCOM, NYCOM, KCOM, Touro, LECOM and UNECOM (newer schools like RVUCOM...seriously, who named that place?... and satellite campuses like Touro and LECOM keep sprouting are still a bit problematic for some programs). The anti-USIMG bias however continues to grow as the number of offshore schools continues to grow.

As another concrete example (this time from the real world), my mid-tier (but geographically very desirable) IM residency program routinely takes 10-15% DOs in each class, primarily from the older schools but Touro and Western have started popping up in the past few years. My class had 4 (of 33 interns), from PCOM, CCOM and NYCOM. They have never, in the entire documented history of the program, taken a Carib IMG.

Now...here's the real clincher in the DO/Carib decision. DOs have their own match! And there are a reasonable number of spots in that match that go unfilled each year, primarily because most DOs go into the NRMP match. So if you go DO, you have the opportunity to do both the DO and MD matches. If you go offshore, you're stuck with the NRMP match. If you're a stellar student and want to go to a solid university residency program as a DO, you'll probably have that chance. If you're a crap student and just barely pass your boards as a DO...there are plenty of DO spots out there for you to have a decent crack at.

TL;DR - DO...no doubt about it.

Originally Posted by gutonc

It is likely that you misunderstood what people were saying AND that they were wrong, or at least, misinformed themselves.

There is a single allopathic match (for AMGs, IMGs and DOs...the DOs also have their own match...see below) with a single timeline for everybody. What people were probably talking about is that AMG applicants are favored at almost all programs, followed by DOs who are roughly equal to foreign citizen graduates of top foreign medical school (I'm talking about places like Aga Khan, Cambridge, UNSW, UCL, etc), followed by the Carib kids. It's not that AMGs get to pick their spots, but they generally get interviews at "better" programs than the other groups (exceptions to the rule are legion but they don't disprove the rule).

To make this example more concrete (but still completely made up), imagine 3 applicants to IM programs in the NRMP match. All 3 of them have 242 on Step 1, 251 on Step 2, Top 10% of their class, stellar LORS and each one has 2 first author pubs in decent journals from the cards research they got involved with early on during their 3rd year. Applicant A is an AMG from a mid-tier school, B is a DO and C is a Carib applicant. They all apply to the same 20 programs...10 "top tier" programs and 10 "mid tier" ones. A will probably get interviews at most/all of those places. B will get interviews at a few of the top tier places (2-4...lots of "elite" programs still have an anti-DO bias) and most/all of the mid-tier places (let's say 12 interviews). C will feel pretty good if s/he gets half a dozen interviews from the mid-tier places and a total stud if even one of the top tier places offers an interview. That's just the way things are.



This is a no-brainer...DO hands down. The NRMP match is getting more competitive each year with a stagnant # of spots and rising #s of grads from US MD schools. Guess who gets squeezed out first/most? IMGs followed by DOs. The anti-DO bias has dramatically decreased at many (but not all) residency programs, especially for grads of the more established schools like PCOM, CCOM, NYCOM, KCOM, Touro, LECOM and UNECOM (newer schools like RVUCOM...seriously, who named that place?... and satellite campuses like Touro and LECOM keep sprouting are still a bit problematic for some programs). The anti-USIMG bias however continues to grow as the number of offshore schools continues to grow.

As another concrete example (this time from the real world), my mid-tier (but geographically very desirable) IM residency program routinely takes 10-15% DOs in each class, primarily from the older schools but Touro and Western have started popping up in the past few years. My class had 4 (of 33 interns), from PCOM, CCOM and NYCOM. They have never, in the entire documented history of the program, taken a Carib IMG.

Now...here's the real clincher in the DO/Carib decision. DOs have their own match! And there are a reasonable number of spots in that match that go unfilled each year, primarily because most DOs go into the NRMP match. So if you go DO, you have the opportunity to do both the DO and MD matches. If you go offshore, you're stuck with the NRMP match. If you're a stellar student and want to go to a solid university residency program as a DO, you'll probably have that chance. If you're a crap student and just barely pass your boards as a DO...there are plenty of DO spots out there for you to have a decent crack at.

TL;DR - DO...no doubt about it.

I agree with gutonc about the above realities............Being a US img during this residency season was tough. I applied for general surgery and was fortunate to get a good number of interviews and match at my 1st choice. However, I had to go above and beyond the AMGs in the applicant pool. Because I was in the top 1% in my class in med school, scored well on both STEPS, had a Masters degree, and was 1st author on a recently published paper.........I was offered these various interviews.

I took the Carib route instead of the DO route b/c I want to do work overseas in addition to practicing w/n the U.S. ........and wanted to assure myself an MD degree where it would be recognized pretty much anywhere outside of the U.S.

Though in the eyes of a number of U.S residency committees Carib grads are not considered "on par"...........I must say that the school I came from prepared me well for the competition out there. A number of residents and attendings during my clinical rotations were quite amazed at the caliber of my performance as well as that of my classmates. Thus, the competition is tough when applying for various residency positions..........but keep in mind these schools do prepare their students well......and a fair number of students get through successfully.............but be prepared for the realities of the misperceptions that are present within a number of admissions committees, residents, and medical students.