Are there any significant disadvantages to going to a DO school?

[baratheonfire]

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[cliquesh]

Yep

 

[baratheonfire]

Yep

Dang. Like what?
Also what changed as a result of the merger?

 

[BluMist]

 

[lolnotacop]

Having to constantly answer this question is probably one of them.

But all kidding aside, it is considered harder to get into certain ACGME residencies.
Some schools do not have "good" clinical rotations.
Stigma against D.O. in public eye.

It also really depends on what you want to do, however. If you want to become a neuro/cardiac surgeon, it will be quite difficult. Doable, but difficult.
Primary care? No sweat.

You should also specify what you expect by disadvantages. As in, disadvantages in what, compared to what, etc.

edit: From my limited knowledge, it looks like these factors vary greatly on a school by school basis as well. I am by no means an expert, but I assume that this is not the case at M.D. programs.

 

[DNC127]

There were multiple D.O. schools (KCOM, KCUMB, RVU are the match lists I am referring to. Could be others schools as well.) last year that matched multiple students into Mayo Clinic (in fields like dermatology, pathology, and facial reconstructive plastic surgery), Stanford, Yale, UCSF, WashU and many M.D. Residencies. Moral to the story is that personal merit means more than the letters behind your name (in my opinion). However, that doesn't mean it isn't more difficult to get there than an M.D., but it can and has been done.

 

[SlugMD]

Mods, please do us all a favor and lock this before it turns into another MD vs DO thread.

Dang. Like what?
Also what changed as a result of the merger?

All AOA residency programs will have to be accredited by ACGME by 2020. Besides this, everything else is speculation on how DO's will be positively or negatively affected by it. There are many threads that discuss this.

 

[FutureD0C17]

Yeah, to start with, you have to take additional high pressure exams and learn OMM even if you aren't interested.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Dude you need to seriously stop asking the same questions in like 6 different threads. Mods close it down!!

 

[costales]

Every DO thread becomes an MD vs. DO thread or a similar reincarnation. See the results of my NASA-sponsored laboratory testing and research:

SDN Corollary 1: Every DO thread devolves into an MD vs. DO comparison.
SDN Corollary 2: Every MD vs. DO comparison instantly resembles Groundhog Day.

I'm working on the high incidence of low-stats posters wanting to know if going to DO school will cripple their chances at UCSF neurosurgery. (Answer: No, it's not worth sacrificing your current $30K/yr employment.)

 

[AlteredScale]

Dang. Like what?
Also what changed as a result of the merger?

As a DO, you CAN get into a FM/PM&R residecy program to Stanford, Yale, and Duke. HOWEVER, if you are considering IM or surgery (two specialities that have a very high rate of segway into academics) you will be locked out of most top tier programs. For IM this would includes places like MGH, Northwestern, UFlorida, UChicago (The actual categorical residency affiliate with Pritzker, not NorthShore), UCSD, UCLA (Ronald Reagan, Harbor is still likely), UCSF (UCSF-Fresno is doable), BMC, BWH, NYU, Icahn, Einstein Montefiore, Vanderbilt. For surgery, a good majority of ACGME programs that are part of academic med centers are locked out for DO's. I know KP/Arrowhead Regional in CA consistently accepts DO's into their Neurosurg but again, it's not a university medical center. For now this is the case.

Merger: DO's are still eligibe for ACGME fellowships (if AOA didn't agree we would have been barred out), AOA accredited programs must apply for ACGME accred or be shut down entirely. A good amount of DO programs will shut down but for the better. The result: A better standard for GME. Probably A bit more competition for certain surgical programs.

Since this thread has been posted time and time again. It'll be closed.