About time! I hope this means the death of the comlex
Why is this such good news? Specifically, what benefit does this have for DO students? I see everyone extremely excited about this but do not really understand why to be completely honest. Its not like the COMLEX has been eliminated or anything. Other than the "step in the right direction and less bias" argument, what immediate positive impact does this have? This is a serious question. Thanks.
Why is this such good news? Specifically, what benefit does this have for DO students? I see everyone extremely excited about this but do not really understand why to be completely honest. Its not like the COMLEX has been eliminated or anything. Other than the "step in the right direction and less bias" argument, what immediate positive impact does this have? This is a serious question. Thanks.
Fearing competition? Forget that. Bring it! Increased competition is a good thing IMO and I would think for many others as well.What people fail to realize is that this will not affect how MD programs view DO applicants. This simply maintains the status quo, except, now MDs will be allowed into traditionally DO residencies. If you thought that matching into a DO specialty like ortho, rads, or urology was tough now, just wait until this is fully implemented. There's really nothing to get overly excited about. The most interesting part about this whole thing is going to be waiting to see how many DO residencies will be able to meet ACGME standards for accreditation.
I'm curious about when the unified match is going to start.
In another thread it was said it will take effect in July 2015.
Did it say take effect or begin transition? I believe it was the latter, which means who knows? The sooner the better though.In another thread it was said it will take effect in July 2015.
Did it say take effect or begin transition? I believe it was the latter, which means who knows? The sooner the better though.
Wouldn't this open the gates for AOA competitive specialties to MD and Caribbean students?
I don't understand why one would choose to go to an Allopathic residency after committing 4 years to learning Osteopathic techniques.
Exact from the e-mail:
"From July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020, AOA-accredited training programs will transition to ACGME recognition and accreditation."
Yeah, that's some loose language there. "Transition" leaves the door open for a unified match date.
At least we can say we can from the "old days?"Right, we may not really see much of anything until we are actually done with our residences.
I could see DO program PDs being biased towards MD applicants, but with so many more MDs than DOs, small fields like ENT, derm, ortho would probably be overwhelmed with MD applicants. Plus, if IMGs/FMGs start applying too, a lot of the unfilled FM/IM programs in bfe would suddenly start filling up, making everything more competitive.Yeah, but my theory is that MD students that were competitive for MD residencies will want to still go MD. The ones that weren't competitive will decide to also apply DO. I think we see a lot of DO students who apply for these competitive specialties with insane board scores who will now have more a level playing field. Instead of people saying "Oh, you need a 260+ for ACGME derm", it may be more in line with MD averages like a 240. Also, a DO applying to a DO residency may be more appealing than an MD trying to get in. Actually, there may even be reverse bias towards MDs. However, for fields that are traditionally DO friendly, I don't think it will change much. That's what my guess is.
Don't know where IMGs/FMGs fit into this. Any info?
I could see DO program PDs being biased towards MD applicants, but with so many more MDs than DOs, small fields like ENT, derm, ortho would probably be overwhelmed with MD applicants. Plus, if IMGs/FMGs start applying too, a lot of the unfilled FM/IM programs in bfe would suddenly start filling up, making everything more competitive.
Whoops I meant against, not towards.Why would DO PDs suddenly be more biased to taking MDs in their program?
Whoops I meant against, not towards.
http://www.osteopathic.org/inside-aoa/Pages/ACGME-single-accreditation-system.aspx said:
- DOs and MDs would have access to all training programs. There will be prerequisite competencies and a recommended program of training for MD graduates who apply for entry into osteopathic-focused programs.
Fearing competition? Forget that. Bring it! Increased competition is a good thing IMO and I would think for many others as well.
I don't understand why one would choose to go to an Allopathic residency after committing 4 years to learning Osteopathic techniques.
Understandably there are some residency programs that aren't available as DO residencies. For this reason I could understand it. But other than that, why would somebody choose to discontinue their osteopathic training??
I also agree with what Dharma said. It looks to me like the ACGME is going to swallow the AOA.
I think that this is a great step as far as putting us on a level playing field. But personally I feel that we already were on a level playing field. Do we really need the MD's to tell us its official?
Also along with what Scummie said, the fact that DO students have to blow the MD competition out of the water in order to be considered competitive is outrageous. Without considering anything other than board scores, why would an MD student be better qualified than a DO student if both students have the exact same board scores?
Any why would we want to do away with the COMLEX? if anything I would think that we would do away with the USMLE. The COMLEX has all of the osteopathic questions. If you want to go to a DO residency, there is no way of getting out of this.
Personally, I feel that the bottom line is that we should be proud to be Osteopathic medical students. We shouldn't have to convince our allopathic counterparts that we are on the same level. Attempting to do so is only legitimizing their bias.
Right, I wouldn't expect DO programs being filled with 80%+ MDs. But in small fields like ENT with only like 30 spots, having a bunch of MD applicants using DO programs as backups could easily double the amount of applicants to each program. Even with 20% of spots filled by MDs means that many fewer for DOs.Okay, makes more sense!
I mean, why would osteopathic residencies, who are supposed to be trying to maintain their osteopathic-ness suddenly be filled with 80%+ filled MDs? That looks terrible on the PDs part. Then you get into the messy licensing debate.
For some reason I think lots of MD students will apply to the "Osteopathic" residencies. I think for a lot of people the only stigma between MD and DO is the two letters, and if they already have their MD they won't care where they get their residency training as long as it's in their specialty.I feel like this is great news. Now I'm just hoping they get a single match together for the class of 2016, but that might be a bit greedy.
As far as MD's getting into DO residencies... there is still going to be Osteopathic methods and teaching in those residencies, and a lot of MD students may shy away because of those prerequisites and/or additional competencies they need to be able to meet.
Right, I wouldn't expect DO programs being filled with 80%+ MDs. But in small fields like ENT with only like 30 spots, having a bunch of MD applicants using DO programs as backups could easily double the amount of applicants to each program. Even with 20% of spots filled by MDs means that many fewer for DOs.
Just a thought.
For some reason I think lots of MD students will apply to the "Osteopathic" residencies. I think for a lot of people the only stigma between MD and DO is the two letters, and if they already have their MD they won't care where they get their residency training as long as it's in their specialty.
Example: AOA EM, definitely growing in competitiveness. There are about 4-5 spots in most DO programs. Even if 1 MD takes up one of those spots, that's about 20% of the incoming class. For every MD that takes a DO spot, shouldn't there be a DO that takes the correlating MD spot? Or matches into another specialty? Even though MD applicants may use DO programs as back ups, I think most programs would easily see through that. The merger helps to legitimize DOs instead of being viewed as glorified chiropractors.
I can easily see them taking more the more qualified MDs over less qualified DOs.