Applying DO but not so much into Primary care though..

[fmpak93]

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I do understand the emphasis on patient centered care within the philosophy of osteopathic medicine. And I do understand DO also specialize in bunch of other specialties such as cardiology, radiology, neurology, etc.

But does it look errr kinda bad if I am filling out secondaries for DO schools and theyre asking about my desire for primary care when I am more interested in radiology and radiation oncology, and possibly medical research specialties?

Primary care is great, not something I'd dread(I think?). but I have different preference. Will it hurt my chances if say during an interview at a DO school and the dude asks me about what I want to specialize into and I make no mention of primary care(Ped, Emergency, family, internal)?

 

[DoctorKrieger]

You're a premed, do you really know what your preference is? Or just what it is this week?

Your field of interest will almost certainly change throughout med school. Whatever the case, be honest with your interviewer. They know interests will change throughout the process of med school as much as anyone and your answer likely won't have much, if any, bearing on acceptance.

 

[fmpak93]

You're a premed, do you really know what your preference is? Or just what it is this week?

Your field of interest will almost certainly change throughout med school. Whatever the case, be honest with your interviewer. They know interests will change throughout the process of med school as much as anyone and your answer likely won't have much, if any, bearing on acceptance.

I'm a physics major. Took a great interest in ion/ proton particle therapy. I wanna research more on it as a medical school student. So it's not a spontaneous preference. and you're right though, I'm sure I'll be a different person 4 years from now.

I guess it gets me a lil anxious because I don't have a DO letter, and now lot of em ask about primary care and I don't have great interest on that either so it feels like I'll get gunned in the app cycle for DO

 

[235009]

I know I'm not directly answering your question but I think your post needs a little reality check.

Radiology shouldn't be an issue as long as you're an average med student no matter where you go. You simply won't match rad onc as a DO. I know there was that one guy who did it or whatever but you almost certainly won't be able to replicate it. If you are so interested in research you're not going to find much of it at any DO school or at the community program most DO grads match at for residency.

 

[deleted480308]

you need a DO letter to improve your odds of going DO

I'm assuming you are going DO because your app isn't strong enough for MD (no judgement, I'm DO)...in which case you need to go ahead and let go of radiation oncology, it just doesn't happen for DO's. Every now and then one sneaks in, but you aren't likely to be them

you can totally be other specialties but just know some schools really do recruit harder for those that want to be primary and EM

 

[Mad Jack]

I know I'm not directly answering your question but I think your post needs a little reality check.

Radiology shouldn't be an issue as long as you're an average med student no matter where you go. You simply won't match rad onc as a DO. I know there was that one guy who did it or whatever but you almost certainly won't be able to replicate it. If you are so interested in research you're not going to find much of it at any DO school or at the community program most DO grads match at for residency.

MSUCOM, OUCOM, Rowan, TCOM, and PCOM have excellent research opportunities.

I love how you basically categorize every DO school as being the same podunk place that only matches their students to community residencies, has no research, and has horrible clinical rotations.

You are right about rad/onc though. That's a pretty damn hopeless endeavor. Rads is possible all the way up to the mid-tier university programs though- my school consistently matches at several of them, we've got a pretty good reputation in our area.

 

[cliquesh]

Yep, as everyone else has said, radiology is doable as a DO. Rad/onc might not be as bad as everyone thinks (4 DOs matched this year out of how many that actually applied? 20?), but it's still probably unrealistic. In my opinion, primary care is awful, but plenty of people would disagree. I think it will probably hurt you if you say you want radiology or bust. You are not going to find ion/proton therapy research at a DO school. You will have to research at a local MD school if you want to be involved with that, and not every MD schools is going to have that type of research.

 

[100111]

For a lot of rad onc, ophtho, ent, etc programs your application will get tossed straight into the trash can. Only way to match those is:

-have a 250+ and tons of relevant publications + stellar LOR's
AND
-be related to the P.D., hospital CEO, Chief of medicine, or a superstar physician at the hospital you're matching too.

If you plan on specializing as a D.O., either expect to do radiology/ortho/etc at an AOA program or anesthesiology at an allo program.

 

[cliquesh]

For a lot of rad onc, ophtho, ent, etc programs your application will get tossed straight into the trash can. Only way to match those is:

-have a 250+ and tons of relevant publications + stellar LOR's
AND
-be related to the P.D., hospital CEO, Chief of medicine, or a superstar physician at the hospital you're matching too.

If you plan on specializing as a D.O., either expect to do radiology/ortho/etc at an AOA program or anesthesiology at an allo program.

94 DOs matched acgme radiology last year, so I think acgme radiology is more than realistic. I had classmates match acgme community radiology with only slighly above average comlex scores.

 

[100111]

94 DOs matched acgme radiology last year, so I think acgme radiology is more than realistic. I had classmates match acgme community radiology with only slighly above average comlex scores.

ah, I see. thats good news since I'm in the DO boat with everybody else in this thread.

 

[Soviet Poland]

No you're not relegated to primary care with DO. But I'd advise being at least a little open-minded during the admissions process. It's hearsay, but from the physicians I have spoken with they indicated that admissions doesn't like it when a student is dead set on a specialty. There is a stigma associated with that student when someone is interested in, say, ENT. They may kind of "turn off" unless it's relevant to their specialty of interest. You're going to medical school, not radiology school.

No need to proudly wear your interest in radiology on your shoulder. Explain why you like medicine and let your performance in medical school do the talking once you're in. Answer the secondaries honestly, but obviously don't mention it isn't your life-long goal. I'm sure you're intelligent enough to come up with a rational reflection of why primary care is interesting to you. Doesn't mean you're tied down to specialize in it if you got in. Your current specialty of choice is irrelevant with this answer.

 

[NontradCA]

In Soviet Poland, specialty chooses you.

 

[fmpak93]

I know I'm not directly answering your question but I think your post needs a little reality check.

Radiology shouldn't be an issue as long as you're an average med student no matter where you go. You simply won't match rad onc as a DO. I know there was that one guy who did it or whatever but you almost certainly won't be able to replicate it. If you are so interested in research you're not going to find much of it at any DO school or at the community program most DO grads match at for residency.

I don't understand why research is limited in DO programs. Were the schools primarily made to foster primary care?

 

[fmpak93]

In Soviet Poland, specialty chooses you.

No you're not relegated to primary care with DO. But I'd advise being at least a little open-minded during the admissions process. It's hearsay, but from the physicians I have spoken with they indicated that admissions doesn't like it when a student is dead set on a specialty. There is a stigma associated with that student when someone is interested in, say, ENT. They may kind of "turn off" unless it's relevant to their specialty of interest. You're going to medical school, not radiology school.

No need to proudly wear your interest in radiology on your shoulder. Explain why you like medicine and let your performance in medical school do the talking once you're in. Answer the secondaries honestly, but obviously don't mention it isn't your life-long goal. I'm sure you're intelligent enough to come up with a rational reflection of why primary care is interesting to you. Doesn't mean you're tied down to specialize in it if you got in. Your current specialty of choice is irrelevant with this answer.

Good advice. 🙂 Yeah I guess I'm being just a lil anxious. Some secondaries I've done made us list our residency preferences just for general knowledge I guess.

 

[fmpak93]

you need a DO letter to improve your odds of going DO

I'm assuming you are going DO because your app isn't strong enough for MD (no judgement, I'm DO)...in which case you need to go ahead and let go of radiation oncology, it just doesn't happen for DO's. Every now and then one sneaks in, but you aren't likely to be them

you can totally be other specialties but just know some schools really do recruit harder for those that want to be primary and EM

Sitting on 30/3.5 haha not a stellar DO applicant nor an average MD applicant. Maybe I should say I wanna do primary care and then switch gears once they accept me mwuahahahahha >😀

 

[235009]

I don't understand why research is limited in DO programs. Were the schools primarily made to foster primary care?

Lack of univ affiliation at many schools, lack of grants/funding, few if any research faculty, fragmented clinical faculty network due to lack of univ hospital, many teaching attendings not academics

 

[GUH]

I do understand the emphasis on patient centered care within the philosophy of osteopathic medicine. And I do understand DO also specialize in bunch of other specialties such as cardiology, radiology, neurology, etc.

But does it look errr kinda bad if I am filling out secondaries for DO schools and theyre asking about my desire for primary care when I am more interested in radiology and radiation oncology, and possibly medical research specialties?

Primary care is great, not something I'd dread(I think?). but I have different preference. Will it hurt my chances if say during an interview at a DO school and the dude asks me about what I want to specialize into and I make no mention of primary care(Ped, Emergency, family, internal)?

I was never asked during my DO interviews which specialty I was interested in.

 

[ortnakas]

I was never asked during my DO interviews which specialty I was interested in.

I was asked some iteration of "where do you see yourself in 5/10 years" at all 3 of mine.

Be honest, but conscious of where you're applying and what their mission is. All schools are open to students pursuing specialties, but if their mission is rural primary care, for example, you probably want to be legitimately open to that as well (for the interview, and if you end up there!).

 

[SurgeDO]

i am in the running for a competitive specialty. never wanted to have anything to do with primary care. there are a lot of advantages DO schools offer for those seeking competitive specialties--believe it or not.

not to mention one of the world's leading radoncs is a DO.

 

[WastedTime]

i am in the running for a competitive specialty. never wanted to have anything to do with primary care. there are a lot of advantages DO schools offer for those seeking competitive specialties--believe it or not.

not to mention one of the world's leading radoncs is a DO.

curious to know what they are

 

[keels99]

I do understand the emphasis on patient centered care within the philosophy of osteopathic medicine. And I do understand DO also specialize in bunch of other specialties such as cardiology, radiology, neurology, etc.

But does it look errr kinda bad if I am filling out secondaries for DO schools and theyre asking about my desire for primary care when I am more interested in radiology and radiation oncology, and possibly medical research specialties?

Primary care is great, not something I'd dread(I think?). but I have different preference. Will it hurt my chances if say during an interview at a DO school and the dude asks me about what I want to specialize into and I make no mention of primary care(Ped, Emergency, family, internal)?

I would avoid saying you want to specialize in something like that during an interview. I said emergency medicine (which I was told would be a no-no) but SOMA is actually pretty big on emergency medicine and has a lot of people go into EM after graduating. I can't imagine saying radiation oncology would go as well, personally.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

curious to know what they are

same