i was accepted to both a do school and an md school but im not 100% sure of where to go.. does anyone know about the real disadvantages for residency placing of do candidates?
i checked out the match list of the do school from last year.. no one was placed into any surgical residencies although there were a bunch of internship and transitional ones
there is an overwhelming consensus that DO=MD and the education you will receive truly won't vary much besides OMM. however, that being said, there is still a negative stigma among some high ranking MDs (how many, i have no clue) that somehow DOs aren't as qualified, especially for matching at an MD residency. this opinion will clearly put you at a disadvantage. whether you think as a DO you are less qualified doens't matter. also as a DO to applying to a competeive MD residency i think the general consensus is that you must take and do well on the USMLE.
obviously you can always go to a DO residency, but i'm assuming you were asking about MD b/c you referred to the disadvantage for residency placing as a DO....which wouldn't make sense if talkking about DOs applying to DO residencies. obviously there will be no disadvantage there.
here is an example of the negative stigma i hear about from high ranking MDs. its an email from the chief of sports medicne and orthopedic surgery residency director at an MD residency. i asked him if there really was a disadvantage for DOs applying to MD residencies. obviously this is one person and it may vary from residency to residency, but its still insight into what it is like in the minds of some of the people that will be deciding whether or not they want you at their residency program
"Interesting that you ask the question about DO vs MD degree for ortho,
because just this past weekend we did our interviews for the four
resident positions at USF (we had about 500 applications). I think it
is substantially more difficult to get into an ortho residency with a DO
degree (though it is possible: we interviewed a couple of DOs).
My concern with DO training is that the last two years are inconsistent
within and between schools, compared to MD training which is much more
uniform. So residency programs don't really know what they are getting,
and therefore there's a bias against the DO graduates. DO graduates
also don't take the same board tests, which programs use as a key
metric. Without those exams, it makes things much tougher to get an
interview.
As far as the application of OMM to orthopaedic surgery care: this is
not really important at all. What you learn as a resident is far more
important that the things learned in med school or osteopath school. I
think OMM is more relevant to those who choose primary care, and if that
is your goal then I don't have any good advice to provide. I think
primary care docs would be in a better position to tell you."
this is not the final word and i'm sure people will say "not every person feels that way." and thats something you will have to judge for yourself b/c no one really knows how many people do and don't feel that way. but what you
do know w/o a doubt is that if you go to an MD program, you won't be at a disadvantage applying to an MD residency. the same can not be said coming from a DO school applying to an MD residency. also note that email was focused specifically on ortho residencies and not other specialites so you may wanna check that out as well. i doubt its the same applying for something like family practice.