Any recommendations for matching prelim year for COMLEX only applicant?

[MindtheGlottis]

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As the title implicates, what is the best strategy for matching the best internship year for an osteopathic student with no USMLE going into PMR?

The issue is ranking any DO internship years takes me out for categoricals, and matching MD intern years is more difficult without USMLE, or at least would be worse than a program I match in the DO world.

I'm not interested in matching a DO PMR program as there are too many ACGME programs I like.

My stats are:
COMLEX 1- 485
COMLEX 2- 570
COMLEX PE- passed
3 PMR LORs
2 research experiences that went unpublished


My current thought is to-
1.) Scramble into an AOA residency as many go unmatched. Possibly interview at a few and hope they go unmatched till I match in March
2.) As I get interviews, to apply to the prelim year programs in that residency program. Maybe they would be more likely to want to interview and rank me?

It doesn't feel like a very solid plan. Any thoughts from others who've done this?

 

[j4pac]

If I were in your shoes...I would have the same exact plan.

 

[DMBandFan86]

I'm doing it right now as a DO going into PM&R. I would apply to both categorical and advanced PM&R positions. Also apply to a good number of prelim medicine programs and TY programs (at least 10-15). You should apply to these ASAP, or have already done so. Use some insight to see if the programs you are applying to accepts COMLEX or has taken DO's in the past. If the program has only taken 1 DO in 10 years than you may want to skip that program and apply elsewhere. If the program has a COMLEX cut off at 500 then don't apply.

Your step 1 score is below the average so that is going to hurt your application especially with TY / prelim programs. I would apply to all the categorical PMR programs that you would be interested in and maybe a few more. You may also want to consider applying to a few preliminary surgery programs as well (not sure on COMLEX score cut off numbers).

I wouldn't waste my money / time applying to DO transitional years. #1 you may be able to scramble afterwards, #2 not all ACGME PM&R programs are going to accept an AOA transitional year. You would need to verify with each program if they would accept this instead of TY / prelim medicine. Would be nothing worse than having to re-do intern year lol.

 

[MindtheGlottis]

Yeah I've already got all my PMR applications out, and I always check for DO friendliness and cut off scores. Sound advice though. Thank you.

The concern was that after looking through quite a few MD intern years, I couldn't find any COMLEX friendly ones. Guess I'll peruse more tonight. Any ones come to mind?

Luckily I'm not limited by location so the best program is the one I'll take. The question is - would an unmatched DO TY be better than a lower tier MD TY that accepts COMLEX?

 

[DMBandFan86]

Not sure, I don't think I had that much trouble trying to find programs to apply to. Didn't get interviews at most prelim programs that I applied to however. There are definitely a lot of programs that don't accept comlex and it may have gotten worse this year. I applied mostly in the midwest: Ohio, Penn and Michigan with some few outlying programs to programs where I had also applied to advanced PM&R programs like MCW, Penn State, etc. I mostly had success in Ohio (Columbus, Kettering and Akron) and also with the advanced PM&R programs that also had separate prelim medicine positions. I think I ended up with 1 or 2 last minute TY interviews that I couldn't go to as well.

As far as if it is better to get an unmatched AOA TY verses a "low tier" ACGME program, I would say go with the ACGME program. But in the end, you would of had to interview at any programs you end up ranking. If you interview anywhere and don't like the program I recommend to not rank the program. If it comes down to you choosing to rank an ACGME prelim that you didn't like at your interview versus trying to scramble afterwards into an AOA TY then you'd have to really think about that one. I'd still probably go with the ACGME program.

 

[Kissmyabjj]

If you are going to rank categorical PM&R programs, you will have to wait and scramble into a TRI. That is just how it is. There will be plenty of spots left after the MD match.

 

[MindtheGlottis]

If you are going to rank categorical PM&R programs, you will have to wait and scramble into a TRI. That is just how it is. There will be plenty of spots left after the MD match.

Ok I appreciate the feedback. It does feel risky so it's nice to have some reassurance that I'm doing the best with what I got.

 

[SpinALL]

I was under the impression you could no longer scramble into an AOA TRI, after matching ACGME advanced but not your intern year. Because you need an ACGME intern year now if I'm reading this correct:

"But for osteopathic medical students entering into specialties in ACGME advanced (as opposed to categorical) residencies with a preliminary internship year the impact is more significant. An AOA accredited traditional rotating internship (TRI) will no longer be accepted to fulfill the advanced residency requirement starting July 2014. So interns must have attended either an ACGME or RCPSC internship or repeat an internship in an ACGME accredited program to continue on to an ACGME residency."

Source: http://www.amsa.org/advocacy/action-committees/do-advisory-board/

 

[Kissmyabjj]

I was under the impression you could no longer scramble into an AOA TRI, after matching ACGME advanced but not your intern year. Because you need an ACGME intern year now if I'm reading this correct:

"But for osteopathic medical students entering into specialties in ACGME advanced (as opposed to categorical) residencies with a preliminary internship year the impact is more significant. An AOA accredited traditional rotating internship (TRI) will no longer be accepted to fulfill the advanced residency requirement starting July 2014. So interns must have attended either an ACGME or RCPSC internship or repeat an internship in an ACGME accredited program to continue on to an ACGME residency."

Source: http://www.amsa.org/advocacy/action-committees/do-advisory-board/

I also thought this was the case, but I have talked to a couple students rotating through our department, who said that you still could. I will talk to our program coordinator today.

 

[Pmrapplicant11]

I matched advanced last year. I applied to majority of categorical programs and in early October decided I wanted to apply to some advanced programs so I applied to about 20 TY and prelim medicine years at the same time. I am not a DO but I got zero interviews with step 1 > 235 and step 2> 255. Maybe it was because I applied late. Anyway I really loved a particular advanced program and ended up matching there. I found a SOAP spot the first cycle but it is in surgery which is very tough. I'm surviving and actually think I am getting a lot of great exposure I would not have on medicine but there are several downsides like working longer hours and not having a good foundation in medical management. Also I believe writing good notes might be a challenge next year. Anyway don't just assume you will match in SOAP. It was way more competitive than I thought and a lot of the positions go to very good candidates that were going for more competitive specialties. Not to say you can't match a SOAP spot because there are a ton of surgical spots open it was just more stressful and not what I anticipated doing.