Question Re: Combined Residency Programs

[jl lin]

OK, I placed this in the Non-Trads Forum, thinking that those such as Gonnif, Goro, Q, Dr. Midlife, Cabin, and Whoever else would be able to give direct feedback.

Also, if anyone feels that I'd get better feedback in the Combined Residency forum, then I'm good with moving it there.

Yes, this is more specific for osteopathic medicine, but I thought, in posting it over there, it might get lost from being seen by those with more overall insight.

The question:

Is it more difficult to obtain a combined residency spot if one is a graduate of an Osteopathic MS program as compared with being a graduate of an Allopathic MS program?

Reason I ask. . .

My concern is that I will have more opportunity to see more peds patients if IM/Peds versus FM? I'm thinking that in most places, a FM doc will maybe see 1/4th peds pts. Since I have worked in peds as well as adults as a RN, I find that I really enjoy the peds pts very much.

I appreciate any info/feedback on this. If solid, it may affect my direction moving forward from this point onward.

Thank you all so much.

jl

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[didymus]

Edit your title if possible. I don't think you're supposed to call out specific members in the thread titles.

 

[Goro]

Nope. I have a number of kids in the Class of 2015 going into combined programs via AOA. In a month I'll see how the ACGME match goes.
Note: we're dealing with a limited sample size. Most of my kids are keen for Primary Care.

Also, worry about getting into medical school before worry about residencies!

OK, I placed this in the Non-Trads Forum, thinking that those such as Gonnif, Goro, Q, Dr. Midlife, Cabin, and Whoever else would be able to give direct feedback.

Also, if anyone feels that I'd get better feedback in the Combined Residency forum, then I'm good with moving it there.

Yes, this is more specific for osteopathic medicine, but I thought, in posting it over there, it might get lost from being seen by those with more overall insight.

The question:

Is it more difficult to obtain a combined residency spot if one is a graduate of an Osteopathic MS program as compared with being a graduate of an Allopathic MS program?

Reason I ask. . .

My concern is that I will have more opportunity to see more peds patients if IM/Peds versus FM? I'm thinking that in most places, a FM doc will maybe see 1/4th peds pts. Since I have worked in peds as well as adults as a RN, I find that I really enjoy the peds pts very much.

I appreciate any info/feedback on this. If solid, it may affect my direction moving forward from this point onward.

Thank you all so much.

jl

 

[jl lin]

Edit your title if possible. I don't think you're supposed to call out specific members in the thread titles.

I am sorry. I see that I can edit my post, but not the title. Hmmm. I wasn't "calling-out" in the sense of causing trouble. I was looking for those that I felt might be able to give me the best answers to the question.

 

[jl lin]

Nope. I have a number of kids in the Class of 2015 going into combined programs via AOA. In a month I'll see how the ACGME match goes.
Note: we're dealing with a limited sample size. Most of my kids are keen for Primary Care.

Also, worry about getting into medical school before worry about residencies!

Yes. You are right. But as I stated in my original post, the answers will probably affect how I proceed here on out--strategically speaking.
Getting in is always the first issue--with the exception of how one plans of getting things completed and how that may affect getting into either kind of school.
As you may well know by now, I am no 20 year ole spring chicken.

Thank you so much for your quick reply. I am so appreciative of those who add constructively to questions at SDN.

 

[jl lin]

Residency competitiveness is not really my area of expertise but I will say you are getting neurotically worried about future hypothetical you cant change the situation about (ie you are already a DO student I assume). I will give a few general points.

1) Residency competitiveness, after board scores, is more affected by "networking" factors than a medical school admissions. Your letters from dean, audition rotations, etc, count for alot here. Those go beyond a direct comparison of graduate type (DO vs MD).

2) Much of residency selection focuses on small group dynamics. That is, how are you going to get along and work with a small group of people in an intense environment.

3) One negative about combined programs is the integration with other team members. This just happen to one nontrad I know. As only 1 of 2 people in the combine program, she was also on opposite services than the other person. She wasn't fully part of one program or the other and felt kind of an outsider to people in both. Residency is so isolating from the outside world in many ways and now your are even isolated from your fellow residents. She recently dropped one as it was too much.

Thank you for your reply Gonnif.
No. I am not a DO or MD student at this point.

Re: 3), that is sad. I don't know how much this matters, but I've worked with a lot of diverse groups of people as a RN over many years. But what you share is something to keep in mind.

I simply am at a critical point re: my next step, so to speak. I wanted to know if and/or possibly how to proceed. If I apply only or mostly to DO programs, I wanted to know if this would be a serious factor in possibly obtaining a combined residency spot--acknowledging of course that there are many other factors. If combined spots are more likely given to MD grads, then I would be inclined to move forward in a different way.

Thanks again.

 

[didymus]

I am sorry. I see that I can edit my post, but not the title. Hmmm. I wasn't "calling-out" in the sense of causing trouble. I was looking for those that I felt might be able to give me the best answers to the question.

No worries. I just didn't want your thread to not get the feedback you were needing if it violated a rule. I'm not even sure if that is an actual rule, I just seem to remember reading it somewhere at some point. Anyway, best of luck!

 

[QofQuimica]

Also, worry about getting into medical school before worry about residencies!

This.

jl lin, I'm not a fan of combined IM/peds residencies. Besides the opportunity cost of the extra time in training, in most cases, people wind up practicing one specialty or the other and not both. At some point, you have to get off the pot already and pick a specialty. FWIW, family med *is* a specialty. So if being a FP is what you want to do, then do FM. Especially because, as you said yourself, you ain't no spring chicken.

No worries. I just didn't want your thread to not get the feedback you were needing if it violated a rule. I'm not even sure if that is an actual rule, I just seem to remember reading it somewhere at some point. Anyway, best of luck!

I suppose technically this is "against the rules" since one ought not call out specific members, but it's easy enough to fix.

 

[CCEMTP]

I love my DO student friends and think their training is just as good (if not better in some ways) than mine at an MD school. The days of DO's being pretty much barred from certain specialties are long gone. But with that said, if you change your mind in med school (most people do) and want to do something more specialized, those two DO letters will reduce your options a little bit. It's not fair but it's true that DO is something some residencies screen out in their applications. (This is for EM, but I would assume this is probably true in other competitive specialties. See figure 5. http://www.emresident.org/emergency-medicine-match/)

But for primary care I wouldn't worry as much about it. I can't speak much for the combined residency programs, I think others have handled that pretty well. I will add that there is always the opportunity for fellowships after residency so I wouldn't get too hung up on the combined thing.

My best advice to you is to apply to every school you would realistically go to, think you can get into, and can afford to apply to. Check them out on interview day and choose the school that you feel like fits you the best (cost, location, atmosphere, etc), regardless of if it's DO or MD. Once you get in you will have a lot more resources available to you (like interest groups) to help you make your residency decisions.

Best of luck to you, I hope that helps.

 

[jl lin]

This.

jl lin, I'm not a fan of combined IM/peds residencies. Besides the opportunity cost of the extra time in training, in most cases, people wind up practicing one specialty or the other and not both. At some point, you have to get off the pot already and pick a specialty. FWIW, family med *is* a specialty. So if being a FP is what you want to do, then do FM. Especially because, as you said yourself, you ain't no spring chicken.


I suppose technically this is "against the rules" since one ought not call out specific members, but it's easy enough to fix.

Yes. Thanks. We shall see. I truly enjoy both peds and adults. There was a day when a GP was just that, and they cared for diverse groups of people w/o all the nonsense.

Q, thanks for fixing the title.

 

[jl lin]

I love my DO student friends and think their training is just as good (if not better in some ways) than mine at an MD school. The days of DO's being pretty much barred from certain specialties are long gone. But with that said, if you change your mind in med school (most people do) and want to do something more specialized, those two DO letters will reduce your options a little bit. It's not fair but it's true that DO is something some residencies screen out in their applications. (This is for EM, but I would assume this is probably true in other competitive specialties. See figure 5. http://www.emresident.org/emergency-medicine-match/)

But for primary care I wouldn't worry as much about it. I can't speak much for the combined residency programs, I think others have handled that pretty well. I will add that there is always the opportunity for fellowships after residency so I wouldn't get too hung up on the combined thing.

My best advice to you is to apply to every school you would realistically go to, think you can get into, and can afford to apply to. Check them out on interview day and choose the school that you feel like fits you the best (cost, location, atmosphere, etc), regardless of if it's DO or MD. Once you get in you will have a lot more resources available to you (like interest groups) to help you make your residency decisions.

Best of luck to you, I hope that helps.

Nice reply. Thanks CCEMTP.

 

[QofQuimica]

Yes. Thanks. We shall see. I truly enjoy both peds and adults. There was a day when a GP was just that, and they cared for diverse groups of people w/o all the nonsense.

I know. My dad was an old-time GP. Didn't have to do a residency at all back in those days, if you can imagine. He did a year of internship, then opened an office with one of his classmates and started practicing. They did everything: house calls, delivered infants, minor surgeries, hospital rounds, had people paying them with eggs and vegetables. That world is gone forever.

 

[jl lin]

I know. My dad was an old-time GP. Didn't have to do a residency at all back in those days, if you can imagine. He did a year of internship, then opened an office with one of his classmates and started practicing. They did everything: house calls, delivered infants, minor surgeries, hospital rounds, had people paying them with eggs and vegetables. That world is gone forever.

I so loved my GP growing up. It was rare when people were referred to specialists...usually sending them to some big city. The man was smart, tireless, and probably one of the most compassionate docs I have ever known. My mom still tells the story of how he amazingly delivered my brother, a transverse presentation of all things. It ended up being a very bloody delivery. Mom named her last child after him. He was truly awesome.

 

[TheTao]

They did everything: house calls, delivered infants, minor surgeries, hospital rounds, had people paying them with eggs and vegetables. That world is gone forever.

I'm not so sure this model of medicine is gone forever especially in rural communities. I've of a few in southern states like Mississippi and Texas.

So what's to stop a Doc from partaking in the barter system other than the desire to make guaranteed money?

One day REAL SOON, I hope Docs figure out that without them, health insurance companies and hospitals have NO source of income.

Signed, a person who like the IM/Peds idea too.

 

[jl lin]

I'm not so sure this model of medicine is gone forever especially in rural communities. I've of a few in southern states like Mississippi and Texas.

So what's to stop a Doc from partaking in the barter system other than the desire to make guaranteed money?

One day REAL SOON, I hope Docs figure out that without them, health insurance companies and hospitals have NO source of income.

Signed, a person who like the IM/Peds idea too.

Yea, my biggest thing is a having a high enough regular percentage of pediatric cases. I could probably live w/o the OB. I mean, I immensely respect that role--probably more than most on SDN; but it's a lot of extra stuff w/ a fair enough association of high-risk factors. People can say what they want; but I believe that's a big factor that keeps people from OB----that and having to continue to take call--like forever. Truth be told, I think it's a tough specialty for so many reasons. People blow it off for other reasons; but really, a good OB/GYN has to know a HECK of a lot, be highly skilled in a heck of a lot, have the right kind of demeanor and level of patience--especially for women with varying hormone levels and a fair amounts of fear, anxiety, and feelings of vulnerability for themselves and their unborn. Not everyone has the special combination. That's why when a woman finds a really good OB/GYN that she clicks with, she hold on to him/her. Women generally don't seem to move around from one OB/GYN to another.