3rd year OMS who needs help!!

[babydocjelly]

I am a third year osteopathic med student who really wants to go into ob/gyn, but I'm having a tough time deciding where I should do my elective rotations. I have several questions/things i need advice on: 1. what is the best way to "research" programs to essentially narrow it down, 2. is it crucial to do an elective rotation at the programs you're most interested in, 3. if "yes" to number 2, when is the best time to do an elective rotation (i've heard so many different things on this...) and 4. does anyone know much about good DO ob/gyn programs - more specifically, anyone know much about PCOM or Wycoff in Brooklyn, NY

Sorry for sooo many questions at once but I feel that I really need some advice here. I'm having a tough time with figuring it all out!!

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[SM-UCLA tech]

i think audition rotations are great if you work your butt off and are able to make a good impression. that being said....i'm not sure it's such a great thing for everyone.

my opinion on when to do those would be anywhere from august through october ideally. december might not be horrible if that's what works in your schedule.

as far as DO residencies......i don't know anything about them, except the one here at CCOM is not good at all.

and as far as researching programs........that's a little more difficult. word of mouth is a common way, but a lot of people on one coast won't know a lot about the programs on the other side of the country. there is scutwork.com or something like that, but that site you have to take with a grain of salt just like this site. it's postings come from individuals who may or may not have had a good experience for whatever reasons. i mostly applied to university programs....and if you are so inclined, you can look at the top textbooks in ob/gyn and see where the authors are coming from. a lot of times they are at well established and reputable programs. but beware, just because a program has a big university name, does not mean it's a great program, or a great program for you.

good luck to you

 

[sia_simba]

Hello babydocjelly,

I am not too familar with PCOM ob/gyn program but I am familar with Wycoff ob/gyn program. It is a fairly good program. All the residents are DOs and very friendly. =) You get a lot of hands on and guidance if you show eagearness to learn. Dr.Friedman teaches for about 1-2hrs every week.. he is the guy who designed the friedman curve and other sort from harvard or something... smart man.

The great thing about Wyckoff is that you will get A LOT of experiences. When I was there as a student, on average, I would have to say 2 c-sections a day, and about 5-8 hysterectomies a week. I know what you're thinking... those numbers are nothing compaired to big university programs. But remember that Wcykoff is a medium sized hospital about 350beds. As a student there, I actually got to do a lot of procedures. Half the time in the OR, they had to use surgical residents because there were too many cases and not enough residents.

There is a full midwives and PA staff along with the attendings and residents. When I was there, the call schedule was equivalent to a Q4 schedule, so thats not that bad. Morning round/report starts at 8am and end anywhere from 8:45-9am. So the residents usually show up about 7am to do their pre-round and they leave about 4:30-5pm.

There are about 20 medical students in the ob/gyn department split between the ob/gyn clinic, L&D, and OR. So you will have a lot of help there by the students (some students are lazy though. =)!)

The attendings are very nice and cool to chill with. One is a hard a$$ but he was taught that way, nothing else bad about him just that he wants you to know ob/gyn very well... is that a bad thing though?

The salary is pretty good. You get paid about $51k for the first year and increases about $3,000 per year. The neighborhood is NOT as bad as people claim, but parking is annoying... you will have to pay $98 a month for private parking. The food is CHEAP around the area. If you speak spanish... its a plus. The nusring staff are very nice and comfortable to work with. Humor is not a distant personality trait there.

I hope that answers most of your questions. If you have any specific, feel free to ask.

oh BTW... grandrounds every thursday following tumorboard =) It is currently a DO program, but I have heard rumors about it becoming an AMA program in the years to come. Also... across the street from Wyckoff is a good size womens health clinic. RARELY any private patients!!!

 

[jkb]

I am an osteopathic student who matched into an allopathic program (of course I don't know where yet!). One of the things I researched about programs was if they had past DOs. I found that if they did, I got an interview. If they didn't, I did not get offered an interview and should have probably not wasted my time applying. As far as osteopathic OB programs, I had a really hard time researching those, which is part of the reason I did not apply to any. They do not have a good database like FRIEDA. I don't think that a rotation at your top program is a must. I did not rotate at any of the places on my rank list. The places I did rotate at, I hated and didn't apply to them. Hope that helps a little!

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

just a quick note about the above post.... i'm a DO student also that only applied allopathic....but i did receive interviews at places that have not had a DO before, so don't let that make you feel that you can't apply to a place because of that.

and speaking of which....the match results are just hours away!!!

 

[babydocjelly]

Thanks for the advice you all! It really does help - especially what sia_simba said about Wycoff. I have been really thinking about Wycoff for some time now. Mostly because my fiance is wanting to go to grad school, and we've been looking at moving to either Phily, NYC, or the Bay area (CA). (Those are 3 cities/areas that would make us both happy). I'm wondering however, if the bay area is going to be difficult - especially since there aren't any AOA approved residencies there. I'm not sure how "DO friendly" the hospitals are there. I would also say that ideally, I would like to end up at a residency that encourages OMT. I really do want to practice "holistic ob/gyn" if possible.

 

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