Double 99's and still no prelim spot!!!

[olliemctuffy]

The DO unmatch rate is about 30% for the last 5 years. Not all DO's get spots in the allopathic match. Having reviewed a large number of DO applications, I can tell you that DO Dean's letters are often difficult to interpret, training is variable between schools, and letters of refefrence are hard to evaluate. I tend to weight COMLEX/USMLE scores heavily (since these are at least standardized and I can interpret them). Hence, getting a spot as a DO depends heavily on your performance during medical school.

I agree that there is a large amount of variability between osteopathic medical schools. Some are established, affiliated with Universities and have a record of turning out high quality docs. Others are new branch campuses with nothing for PD's to work with. 1 DO program does not = another, more so than in the allo world. Sure, Harvard is better than xyz, but they all are established and well known.
The deans letter problem should certainly be correctable. I can't understand how LORs are hard to eval, I know students from my school (UNECOM) rotate at the same hospitals as Columbia, Tufts, UMass, UVM and Dartmouth students, thus receiving LORs from the same physicians (MDs and DOs). Maybe other DO programs are different. Boards are boards and I think the last point is very salient. It's not about the school or the letters behind your name, it's about the individual. Do well in classes, on rotations and on the boards, do some extracurriculars, rock your audition rotations and you will match. It's about putting in the effort and proving yourself.
Good luck to everyone scrambling!

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[riopsedm]

hey all, i know my case probably isnt so unique this year, but i'm a US MD grad (graduated last year, spent a few months volunteering abroad) and still scrambling for ANYTHING available.

as of right now, i'm completely at a loss as to what to do. my boards were all passed the first time around (and i did fairly decently), i reviewed all my supporting documents to see if there was anything objectionable...applied anywhere i could...

any ideas at this point?

 

[DO_2007]

I agree that there is a large amount of variability between osteopathic medical schools. Some are established, affiliated with Universities and have a record of turning out high quality docs. Others are new branch campuses with nothing for PD's to work with. 1 DO program does not = another, more so than in the allo world. Sure, Harvard is better than xyz, but they all are established and well known.
The deans letter problem should certainly be correctable. I can't understand how LORs are hard to eval, I know students from my school (UNECOM) rotate at the same hospitals as Columbia, Tufts, UMass, UVM and Dartmouth students, thus receiving LORs from the same physicians (MDs and DOs). Maybe other DO programs are different. Boards are boards and I think the last point is very salient. It's not about the school or the letters behind your name, it's about the individual. Do well in classes, on rotations and on the boards, do some extracurriculars, rock your audition rotations and you will match. It's about putting in the effort and proving yourself.
Good luck to everyone scrambling!

Very well said

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Just wondering...what specifically about the LORs makes them more difficult to interpret than Allopathic letters?

Sorry, it was a vague comment. First of all, most LOR's are useless anyway. Most of them state that the student is in the top 5% of all students the letter writer has ever worked with, etc.

In general, most DO programs tend to be more outpatient and community hospital oriented. Many of the LOR's I have seen are from docs in private practice, who work with few students, and hence it's had to have any sense of how well the student did. Also, it's difficult to assess how similar the medicine rotation was compared to what would be expected in an IM residency (i.e. some rotations have no overnight call, stduents don't write orders, etc).

Allopathic residencies tend to include a department letter as one of the LOR's. This is often a "mini-Dean's" letter -- describes the student's performance on Medicine in comparison to other students and give a sense of strengths and weaknesses. I have yet to see a DO student have a letter like this.

I agree that there is a large amount of variability between osteopathic medical schools. Some are established, affiliated with Universities and have a record of turning out high quality docs. Others are new branch campuses with nothing for PD's to work with. 1 DO program does not = another, more so than in the allo world. Sure, Harvard is better than xyz, but they all are established and well known.
The deans letter problem should certainly be correctable. I can't understand how LORs are hard to eval, I know students from my school (UNECOM) rotate at the same hospitals as Columbia, Tufts, UMass, UVM and Dartmouth students, thus receiving LORs from the same physicians (MDs and DOs). Maybe other DO programs are different. Boards are boards and I think the last point is very salient. It's not about the school or the letters behind your name, it's about the individual. Do well in classes, on rotations and on the boards, do some extracurriculars, rock your audition rotations and you will match. It's about putting in the effort and proving yourself.
Good luck to everyone scrambling!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[driedcaribou]

In my class off 250, the vast majority are aussie but of the north americans I only know of myself, a canadian that matched into Toronto rads today, and a friend who is dual US/Aus resident that matched into IM. Everyone else stayed in AUS.... easily. Sorry to burst bubbles but AUS is unlikely to be at blame here.

Wow- a Canadian IMG matching into Radiology?
That's amazing... how did they do it?