Osteopathic pet peeve...

stonewall22 · Sep 22, 2008

So few residencies in the western USA! DO is my top choice, not even applying allopathic, but I'm from the western US and would love to do my residency there, but there are far fewer options. Granted I know this is the case in allopathic medicine too, but it's even more pronounced in the osteopathic world where there are fewer residencies. I've heard that RVUCOM is developing some new residencies...I hope so because I want to be close to home!

EricH · Sep 22, 2008

Western is also developing new residencies. I once shadowed Dr. Connett, an associate dean at Western who told me that his job was to develop new DO residencies.

Limvostov · Sep 22, 2008

I'm with ya bud. I really don't like much about any of the other states when compared to Cali, Oregon, and Washington. They really don't do it for me. Its really the humidity that kills it for me... and the insanely cold winters and hot summers. The west coast is just so much more tolerable when it comes to weather, and the bugs here are not all out to get me. The bugs in the southeast are nasty...hence I didn't apply to any southeast states becasue I like to eat ouside without being bit.

stonewall22 · Sep 22, 2008

Limvostov said:
I'm with ya bud. I really don't like much about any of the other states when compared to Cali, Oregon, and Washington. They really don't do it for me. Its really the humidity that kills it for me... and the insanely cold winters and hot summers. The west coast is just so much more tolerable when it comes to weather, and the bugs here are not all out to get me. The bugs in the southeast are nasty...hence I didn't apply to any southeast states becasue I like to eat ouside without being bit.

Shoot, I'll take anything from the Rocky Mountains West...as long as I can mountains and no humidity!

MossPoh · Sep 30, 2008

Limvostov said:
I'm with ya bud. I really don't like much about any of the other states when compared to Cali, Oregon, and Washington. They really don't do it for me. Its really the humidity that kills it for me... and the insanely cold winters and hot summers. The west coast is just so much more tolerable when it comes to weather, and the bugs here are not all out to get me. The bugs in the southeast are nasty...hence I didn't apply to any southeast states becasue I like to eat ouside without being bit.

You act like you're going to be practicing medicine outside during your residency.

You'll be lucky for freedom outside the hospital. The bugs aren't bad, just depends where you are and the season. Starting in about half a month till nearly May the bugs are almost non existent around here with comfortable and dry weather. December where I am is essentially the late summer in the Bay area. Few crazy days, but nothing too extreme.

stonewall22 · Oct 1, 2008

MossPoh said:
You act like you're going to be practicing medicine outside during your residency. You'll be lucky for freedom outside the hospital. The bugs aren't bad, just depends where you are and the season. Starting in about half a month till nearly May the bugs are almost non existent around here with comfortable and dry weather. December where I am is essentially the late summer in the Bay area. Few crazy days, but nothing too extreme.

That's great, unless your family is >2000 miles away.

Chocolate Bear · Oct 1, 2008

I'm curious, is this where you are looking for residency spots?

I searched the following "West of the Rockies" states for residencies and found this many per state:

AZ--6
CA--24
CO--0
ID--0
MT--0
NV--5
NM--1
OR--6
UT--0
WA--1
WY--1

Seems pretty scarce. At least a nice range of specialties is covered, but many only had one program in the region and many were primary care. Anyone else have conflicting or additional data?

stonewall22 · Oct 1, 2008

Same place I looked. If I end up wanting primary care not an issue, between osteopathic and allopathic residencies not an issue, however, if I want to do a more competitive residency it'll be tough.

JaggerPlate · Oct 1, 2008

stonewall22 said:
Same place I looked. If I end up wanting primary care not an issue, between osteopathic and allopathic residencies not an issue, however, if I want to do a more competitive residency it'll be tough.

That depends. What field???

stonewall22 · Oct 2, 2008

JaggerPlate said:
That depends. What field???

Who knows? That's what I mean, if I do pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, there are probably enough spots between osteo/allo to get something. However, if I want ortho or surg, it'll be quite a bit harder. Maybe for something middle of the road like ob/gyn it might even still be difficult. As far as which field exactly...I don't know. While I have some ideas (ortho, ob/gyn, peds...) I'm going in with a completely open mind to enjoying and choosing an area based on my experiences in rotations.

The students at RVU claim that RVU is creating numerous new residencies in both primary care and other fields. Maybe that'll ease things up a bit, even so, there'll still be a huge imbalance.

JaggerPlate · Oct 2, 2008

stonewall22 said:
Who knows? That's what I mean, if I do pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, there are probably enough spots between osteo/allo to get something. However, if I want ortho or surg, it'll be quite a bit harder. Maybe for something middle of the road like ob/gyn it might even still be difficult. As far as which field exactly...I don't know. While I have some ideas (ortho, ob/gyn, peds...) I'm going in with a completely open mind to enjoying and choosing an area based on my experiences in rotations.

The students at RVU claim that RVU is creating numerous new residencies in both primary care and other fields. Maybe that'll ease things up a bit, even so, there'll still be a huge imbalance.

I don't know if I would count on more residencies any time soon, but remember to keep in mind that competitive residencies are difficult to obtain because the student applying are competitive. It's difficult to land ortho for an MD or DO because a lot of people want it. Just because you have an MD behind your name does NOT mean you will land ortho. It's about working hard and making yourself the best candidate for the position. Is it harder to match ortho MD as a DO??? Yup. Can it be done??? Yup. I understand keeping your options open, but you can do a residency in the Western US as a DO.

EricH · Oct 2, 2008

JaggerPlate said:
I don't know if I would count on more residencies any time soon, but remember to keep in mind that competitive residencies are difficult to obtain because the student applying are competitive. It's difficult to land ortho for an MD or DO because a lot of people want it. Just because you have an MD behind your name does NOT mean you will land ortho. It's about working hard and making yourself the best candidate for the position. Is it harder to match ortho MD as a DO??? Yup. Can it be done??? Yup. I understand keeping your options open, but you can do a residency in the Western US as a DO.

I met a 4th year at Western that had matched into Ortho. Surg. in So Cal. He said it was all about board scores.

stonewall22 · Oct 2, 2008

JaggerPlate said:
I don't know if I would count on more residencies any time soon, but remember to keep in mind that competitive residencies are difficult to obtain because the student applying are competitive. It's difficult to land ortho for an MD or DO because a lot of people want it. Just because you have an MD behind your name does NOT mean you will land ortho. It's about working hard and making yourself the best candidate for the position. Is it harder to match ortho MD as a DO??? Yup. Can it be done??? Yup. I understand keeping your options open, but you can do a residency in the Western US as a DO.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Everything I was stating was matching in the West. In speaking of the more competitive residencies I was pointing out that there is a lack of DO residencies in many of these areas in the West.

primadonna22274 · Oct 3, 2008

So true. The 6 programs in Oregon are all brand-new at Good Sam Corvallis. This is a nice hospital; I worked with an IM doc in Corvallis years ago and did my IM rotation in PA school there in '99. I still can't imagine you'll see the breadth of pathology you would see in a place like Portland or a little farther south like Medford/K. Falls...there is just too much affluence in Corvallis.

There used to be very good programs at Eastmoreland Hospital in Portland but that hospital was shut down almost 10 years ago. Too bad.

Osteopathic pet peeve...

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