2020 GME: DO becomes a niche?

[petomed]

I recently attended an open-house at a DO school. I asked the 1st yr medical students "what's being done to prepare you for a competitive post-2020 GME application?" Student A said their school is more or less 'highly recommending' 1) the importance of taking USMLE and 2) engaging in research early. Student B said they assumed there would be bias in traditionally DO residencies that would favor the DO applicant, and one could expect the same from traditionally MD residencies.

Student A seems on point. All spots will be competed for come 2020. As such, taking the same tests as MD's is a no-brainer. A shame though, that the DO will have to fork over twice the money for licensing exams (COMPLEX + USMLE) during UGME, compared to their MD counterparts. Research shouldn't hurt either.

Student B shared my same initial thoughts. This path wouldn't be sustainable though right? GME program directors could only get away with favoritism for a few years or so, if any at all with folks looking over their shoulders. With the same test scores (USMLE) and same research experiences and caliber of recommendations, it would only be damaging to respective programs to employ favoritism based on DO/MD, year over year. Not sustainable in my opinion.

MD's simply can't take the COMPLEX without manipulative medicine training. So, everyone takes USMLE. What happens to DO? Will OMM classes be offered during GME for residencies where it would be useful? Does DO disappear in 10 yrs? Or become a niche?

I'm biased a bit towards DO, if at all. I like the extra bit about learning manipulative medicine, particularly how it ties systems together in a fashion that one does not become exposed to during MD. For this reason I hope DO never goes away, unless OMM remains available in UGME or GME.

Thoughts?

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[deleted645092]

OMT is being added to some residencies as an abbreviated course in order to give them “Osteopathic Recognition”, although nobody has really given a straight answer as to what this means other than “we’re DO friendly”.

As for the favoritism, at some places it will exist, and at others it won’t. We won’t get a definitive answer about MD/DO bias or “USMLE required” officially after 2020 because technically they have to accept COMLEX as an acceptable licensing exam for residencies. The problem is it’s pretty difficult to prove in a court of law that you were biased against because you’re a DO, since you would have to take literally everyone’s application from a particular residency and show that you were the “superior applicant”.

 

[petomed]

OMT is being added to some residencies as an abbreviated course in order to give them “Osteopathic Recognition”, although nobody has really given a straight answer as to what this means other than “we’re DO friendly”.

As for the favoritism, at some places it will exist, and at others it won’t. We won’t get a definitive answer about MD/DO bias or “USMLE required” officially after 2020 because technically they have to accept COMLEX as an acceptable licensing exam for residencies. The problem is it’s pretty difficult to prove in a court of law that you were biased against because you’re a DO, since you would have to take literally everyone’s application from a particular residency and show that you were the “superior applicant”.

The court of law, perhaps. A simple, well-designed observational study with p << 0.05 would likely suffice to convince the scientific community.

 

[Goro]

COMLEX, not COMPLEX

It will be easier to predict the results of the 2020 presidential election than to suss out what will be the effects of the merger. But from everything I've heard, students A and B sound quite reasonable in their assessments.

A shame though, that the DO will have to fork over twice the money for licensing exams
Consider this a tax on whatever it wasn that wrecked your app for MD schools.

Research will be needed for the uber-specialties; it's already needed now. But keep in mind that ~50% of DO grads go into Primary Care (higher for people at the oldest schools like KCOM and PCOM), so for FM or Peds, it's probably not going to matter all that much.

Osteopathy won't be going away anytime soon.

 

[Faha]

COMLEX, not COMPLEX

It will be easier to predict the results of the 2020 presidential election than to suss out what will be the effects of the merger. But from everything I've heard, students A and B sound quite reasonable in their assessments.

A shame though, that the DO will have to fork over twice the money for licensing exams
Consider this a tax on whatever it wasn that wrecked your app for MD schools.

Research will be needed for the uber-specialties; it's already needed now. But keep in mind that ~50% of DO grads go into Primary Care (higher for people at the oldest schools like KCOM and PCOM), so for FM or Peds, it's probably not going to matter all that much.

Osteopathy won't be going away anytime soon.

In this past year's match, 40% of Internal Medicine, 33% of Family Medicine and 20% of Pediatric positions were filled by US IMG and non US IMG. There will be plenty of primary care positions for DO graduates. It is the IMG applicants that will gradually be displaced as more DO's graduate.

 

[petomed]

COMLEX, not COMPLEX

It will be easier to predict the results of the 2020 presidential election than to suss out what will be the effects of the merger. But from everything I've heard, students A and B sound quite reasonable in their assessments.

A shame though, that the DO will have to fork over twice the money for licensing exams
Consider this a tax on whatever it wasn that wrecked your app for MD schools.

Research will be needed for the uber-specialties; it's already needed now. But keep in mind that ~50% of DO grads go into Primary Care (higher for people at the oldest schools like KCOM and PCOM), so for FM or Peds, it's probably not going to matter all that much.

Osteopathy won't be going away anytime soon.

"Wrecked", does this imply DO's are second rate MD's? Average acceptance stats don't lie, but I was really hoping this labeling doesn't continue after passing boards...

 

[Goro]

Does this imply DO's are second rate MD's?

No, just the cost of taking two licensing exams

 

[petomed]

No, just the cost of taking two licensing exams

Ah, a fair tax then.