All Things ACGME/AOA Merger

[bones]

You're one of the first persons on these forums that I've seen saying that the merger is good for DOs overall lol. It's good to not hear about the doom and gloom for once.

The merger is what it is. As it stands it puts DOs and MDs on equal footing, which I think is generally a good thing. Osteopathic Recognition means that you can identify which residencies actually have the option of learning osteopathic principles and integrating OMT into the specialty which is excellent for those of us that chose the DO route for this purpose.

The poorly run DO residencies are shutting down, and we've lost a few spots as a result- which may make match stressful for the tail end of DO classes. Most programs have transitioned to ACGME and are being held to a higher standard than they have been, which is great for the future of medical education in general and Osteopathic education in particular. AOA board cert now lets you be a program director for most ACGME programs- also a big positive. A single match also means competitive programs will get their best applicants now- splitting the match was bad for that.

On the whole I'd say it is positive,

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[hallowmann]

2014 AOA Spots NRMP/SF Match Total
GAS 30 177 207
EM 270 177 447
FM 880 395 1275
GS 139 44 184
IM 609 444 1053
NSG 16 3 19
NEURO 22 56 78
OBGYN 78 131 209
ORTHO 103 1 104
ENT 19 0 19
PEDS 70 290 360
PSYCH 50 154 204
RADS 34 94 128
OPHTHO 17 ~6(?) ~23? - SF match didn't differentiate between DOs and MDs prior to 2015, but the 2015-2016 numbers were single digits
PM&R 12 111 123
DERM 45 3 48


2019 AOA Spots NRMP/SF Match Total
GAS 4 347 351 (increase of like 70%)
EM 64 648 712 (increase of 59%)
FM 465 986 1451
GS 74 143 217 (increase of 18%)
IM 251 1202 1453
NSG 6 4 10 (-9) ***
NEURO 7 117 124 (increase of 59%)
OBGYN 14 234 248 (increase of 19%)
ORTHO 109 15 124 (increase of 19%, but most still in AOA)
ENT 8 13 21 (increase of 11%)
PEDS 5 502 507
PSYCH 17 332 349 (increase of 71%)
RADS 5 157 162 (increase of 27%)
OPHTHO 3 16 19 (-4?) ***
PM&R 4 173 177 (increase of 44%)
DERM 13 30 43 (-4) ***

OK, so updated with 2019 numbers compared to 2014. As you can see, most specialties have increased in absolute number of DOs going into them. That said, some areas have reduced absolute numbers, namely Derm, Ophtho, and Neurosurg, but these have been in the single digits. In addition, Ortho and maybe ENT are at risk because a good number of the spots had are still in the AOA match and may not survive the transition.

As you can see, a lot of specialties have actually shown a pretty clear increase in total number of DOs. This has happened in the setting of a 26% increase in total number of DO graduates between 2014 and 2019. Again, for specialties that haven't seen a >26% increase, this likely would have happened anyways regardless of the merger given significant expansion of DO schools without concomitant expansion of AOA specialty residencies.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

2014 AOA Spots NRMP/SF Match Total
GAS 30 177 207
EM 270 177 447
FM 880 395 1275
GS 139 44 184
IM 609 444 1053
NSG 16 3 19
NEURO 22 56 78
OBGYN 78 131 209
ORTHO 103 1 104
ENT 19 0 19
PEDS 70 290 360
PSYCH 50 154 204
RADS 34 94 128
OPHTHO 17 ~6(?) ~23? - SF match didn't differentiate between DOs and MDs prior to 2015, but the 2015-2016 numbers were single digits
PM&R 12 111 123
DERM 45 3 48


2019 AOA Spots NRMP/SF Match Total
GAS 4 347 351 (increase of like 70%)
EM 64 648 712 (increase of 59%)
FM 465 986 1451
GS 74 143 217 (increase of 18%)
IM 251 1202 1453
NSG 6 4 10 (-9) ***
NEURO 7 117 124 (increase of 59%)
OBGYN 14 234 248 (increase of 19%)
ORTHO 109 15 124 (increase of 19%, but most still in AOA)
ENT 8 13 21 (increase of 11%)
PEDS 5 502 507
PSYCH 17 332 349 (increase of 71%)
RADS 5 157 162 (increase of 27%)
OPHTHO 3 16 19 (-4?) ***
PM&R 4 173 177 (increase of 44%)
DERM 13 30 43 (-4) ***

OK, so updated with 2019 numbers compared to 2014. As you can see, most specialties have increased in absolute number of DOs going into them. That said, some areas have reduced absolute numbers, namely Derm, Ophtho, and Neurosurg, but these have been in the single digits. In addition, Ortho and maybe ENT are at risk because a good number of the spots had are still in the AOA match and may not survive the transition.

As you can see, a lot of specialties have actually shown a pretty clear increase in total number of DOs. This has happened in the setting of a 26% increase in total number of DO graduates between 2014 and 2019. Again, for specialties that haven't seen a >26% increase, this likely would have happened anyways regardless of the merger given significant expansion of DO schools without concomitant expansion of AOA specialty residencies.

Yep, and if more ortho programs make it, a number of them are being reviewed soon, then I think we can unequivocally say the sky did, in fact, not fall. There is at least one more ENT program that will probably get it, as I have some insider info on the program.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

2014 AOA Spots NRMP/SF Match Total
GAS 30 177 207
EM 270 177 447
FM 880 395 1275
GS 139 44 184
IM 609 444 1053
NSG 16 3 19
NEURO 22 56 78
OBGYN 78 131 209
ORTHO 103 1 104
ENT 19 0 19
PEDS 70 290 360
PSYCH 50 154 204
RADS 34 94 128
OPHTHO 17 ~6(?) ~23? - SF match didn't differentiate between DOs and MDs prior to 2015, but the 2015-2016 numbers were single digits
PM&R 12 111 123
DERM 45 3 48


2019 AOA Spots NRMP/SF Match Total
GAS 4 347 351 (increase of like 70%)
EM 64 648 712 (increase of 59%)
FM 465 986 1451
GS 74 143 217 (increase of 18%)
IM 251 1202 1453
NSG 6 4 10 (-9) ***
NEURO 7 117 124 (increase of 59%)
OBGYN 14 234 248 (increase of 19%)
ORTHO 109 15 124 (increase of 19%, but most still in AOA)
ENT 8 13 21 (increase of 11%)
PEDS 5 502 507
PSYCH 17 332 349 (increase of 71%)
RADS 5 157 162 (increase of 27%)
OPHTHO 3 16 19 (-4?) ***
PM&R 4 173 177 (increase of 44%)
DERM 13 30 43 (-4) ***

OK, so updated with 2019 numbers compared to 2014. As you can see, most specialties have increased in absolute number of DOs going into them. That said, some areas have reduced absolute numbers, namely Derm, Ophtho, and Neurosurg, but these have been in the single digits. In addition, Ortho and maybe ENT are at risk because a good number of the spots had are still in the AOA match and may not survive the transition.

As you can see, a lot of specialties have actually shown a pretty clear increase in total number of DOs. This has happened in the setting of a 26% increase in total number of DO graduates between 2014 and 2019. Again, for specialties that haven't seen a >26% increase, this likely would have happened anyways regardless of the merger given significant expansion of DO schools without concomitant expansion of AOA specialty residencies.

Derm is actually 33(3 DO's matched as PGY1 and 30 DO's as a PGY2)+13(OGME 1 match)+18(OGME 2 match)= 64.
Sources:

https://mk0nrmp3oyqui6wqfm.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NRMP-Results-and-Data-2019_04112019_final.pdf

2019 Summary by Program Type

natmatch.com

 

[Solodyn]

Maybe we should unpin this right now? It is pretty much old news and a zombie thread

 

[Neopolymath]

only updates would be about resolution 42 and random licensing artifacts

 

[gamerEMdoc]

It's still a thing for PA sadly. Though its incredibly easy to meet the requirements for a waiver, basically the resident just has to do like a 10-15 min lecture on something osteopathy related.