Interesting that an intern actually has the level of authority to make a med student feel miserable. But nontheless, this was the sort of thing I expected and think one needs to be prepared to face. I definitely wouldn't expect frequent discrimination, but pockets here and there seem likely to be encountered. Really glad you pushed through that - and see? Now you're an inspiration.
Also wanted to ask you about the ACGME/AOA combination. How does this affect things? Will there be any clear way to distinguish between DO friendly/unfriendly programs? Could one simply go off the old AOA list to determine which programs are most accepting of DOs? Or do you think there could be a shift due to more MD representation in the applicant pool for pre-AOA programs?
I don't think I'm being overly optimistic in saying that I think the residency merger is going to be a net positive for DO students. Right now we have two accrediting bodies for GME in the USA. The ACGME (MD), and the AOA (DO).
If you strip it down to its most basic, the ACGME exists to accredit and QC residency training for USMD's and USMD's only. It's fortunate for us DO applicants that the ACGME programs let us apply and participate in their training, but there's no requirement that individual programs are open to us. Because of this there are a number of ACGME programs right now with formal "no DO" policy; they are few, but they exist.
Now on the other hand, the AOA does not allow USMD's to apply for AOA residencies. This is because the residencies reportedly require proficiency in OMM to complete (though in many cases that's not really true). Knowing this, it's clear to see that U.S. dO's have had it pretty good with respect to GME options these past few decades.
In the next few years, the ACGME will incorporate the AOA residency programs, and there will be no more AOA residencies. (From here on, I'm dipping purely into my personal opinion and speculation)
What many of my fellow DO student colleagues fear is that once the AOA residency accreditation system goes away the DO's will lose their safe haven of residencies that they don't have to compete with MD's for and will suddenly have a much harder time matching. Now I don't expect things to necessarily get easier, but I fully expect more ACGME programs to become even more DO friendly.
Think about it: at that point the ACGME will no longer be able to accredit GME for USMD's and USMD's only; they will be our accrediting body as well. It will be their responsibility to represent DO's as well as MD's at the GME level. This can't happen while they allow programs to have formal "no DO" policies.
In my opinion, what you as future DO students should fear above all else is the expansion of DO schools without the expansion of GME. Tons of new DO schools are opening, but they aren't opening residencies to accommodate these new students. Right now there are enough extra residencies out there (we still have a significant number of foreign grads matching every year), but this can and will change if the GME system doesn't expand some soon. You guys could be left without a residency training program after graduation because there might not be enough spots for everyone. I have no idea when that will happen, it's been predicted for a while now, but it will happen eventually if we don't get more residencies opening.