Best Way to Approach Residency Search

[HuskyPride149]

Hi Everyone, OMS-III here. Pretty soon, I'll be starting to apply for VSAS and ERAS and I was wondering if there are any good sites that have information on residencies or connect you with people in those residencies so I know which ones are competitive and which are good or not.
Other than FREIDA which is basically geographical and specialty based, idk where to start or where I stand with my board scores to be competitive. Any information will be helpful. Thanks!

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[Noisewater-TDX]

EMRA for ER residencies and associated fellowships.

 

[sab3156]

Hi Everyone, OMS-III here. Pretty soon, I'll be starting to apply for VSAS and ERAS and I was wondering if there are any good sites that have information on residencies or connect you with people in those residencies so I know which ones are competitive and which are good or not.
Other than FREIDA which is basically geographical and specialty based, idk where to start or where I stand with my board scores to be competitive. Any information will be helpful. Thanks!

You're going to have a lot of trouble finding information that will be relevant to you, as a DO student, especially if you're interested in a competitive field. You should ask in the specific residency sub-forum on this site for more information.

 

[HuskyPride149]

Thank you! Appreciate the advice, I will!

 

[DrDude2004]

Hi Everyone, OMS-III here. Pretty soon, I'll be starting to apply for VSAS and ERAS and I was wondering if there are any good sites that have information on residencies or connect you with people in those residencies so I know which ones are competitive and which are good or not.
Other than FREIDA which is basically geographical and specialty based, idk where to start or where I stand with my board scores to be competitive. Any information will be helpful. Thanks!

The way I did it - started by researching programs in my target location and working circumstantially out from there

 

[jrlob91]

FREIDA is the best resource, will show you the average usmle and comlex for all residents, and will also tell you percentage of DO/MD/IMG. At this point you really should have some idea of specialty, so log in to FREIDA and go systematically through each one.

 

[HuskyPride149]

What are some criteria's people have or use in choosing where to apply aside from geographical location. I currently dont even know the benefits or difference between community hospital or academic hospital or university affiliated institutions and so on so forth.

 

[DO2015CA]

Specialty, location, If FM then opposed vs unopposed, rotation curriculum (#inpt vs #outpt months), etc

 

[Espressso]

Can you access FRIEDA while in preclinical years?

 

[hallowmann]

The whole process is very specialty specific. If its a specialty with a lot of programs (i.e. >100), I would narrow down by the region(s) where you want to end up. If that narrows things down too much, you can expand the regions a bit. I would also check out the specialty specific forum.

Next step would be deciding what type of training you want. There are pros and cons to every different type of program. If we're talking real specialties, its almost always better being at a University of at least university affiliated program, but there are exceptions. With regards to something like FM, it depends on the type of exposure you want (e.g. full-spectrum, jack of all trades delivering all night and in the OR vs. OP only, no OB, and everything in in-between).

Its a very self-directed process, you basically have to do a lot of legwork and figure out what you want in a program.

After that, then you have to start looking into specific programs on FREIDA and their program specific websites. I got to be honest, I looked at 100-150 programs, and whittled it down from there to get a solid list with a variety of programs with a variety of competitiveness so that I knew I had at least some that would almost guarantee an interview as well as plenty of reaches.

Can you access FRIEDA while in preclinical years?

You just need an AMA account to get access to FREIDA, so yes.

 

[PracticeAdmin]

Hi Everyone, OMS-III here. Pretty soon, I'll be starting to apply for VSAS and ERAS and I was wondering if there are any good sites that have information on residencies or connect you with people in those residencies so I know which ones are competitive and which are good or not.
Other than FREIDA which is basically geographical and specialty based, idk where to start or where I stand with my board scores to be competitive. Any information will be helpful. Thanks!

The NRMP Match 2017 report "Charting Outcomes - US Osteopathic Medical Student" will provide a break down of competitiveness of board scores per specialty. I find that Residency programs will not publish there cutoffs for interviews as they change year to year. Their goal is to invite enough candidates to fill their positions, so they change their board score cut off in offer sufficient number of interviews. Our program, OBGYN, offers interviews to approximately 70-80 applicants to fill 5 slots.

 

[Chibucks15]

Can you access FRIEDA while in preclinical years?

Yeah through the AMA you can. It's nice to have an idea of whats important in areas that you are interested in thats for sure

 

[abolt18]

The whole process is very specialty specific. If its a specialty with a lot of programs (i.e. >100), I would narrow down by the region(s) where you want to end up. If that narrows things down too much, you can expand the regions a bit. I would also check out the specialty specific forum.

Next step would be deciding what type of training you want. There are pros and cons to every different type of program. If we're talking real specialties, its almost always better being at a University of at least university affiliated program, but there are exceptions. With regards to something like FM, it depends on the type of exposure you want (e.g. full-spectrum, jack of all trades delivering all night and in the OR vs. OP only, no OB, and everything in in-between).

Its a very self-directed process, you basically have to do a lot of legwork and figure out what you want in a program.

After that, then you have to start looking into specific programs on FREIDA and their program specific websites. I got to be honest, I looked at 100-150 programs, and whittled it down from there to get a solid list with a variety of programs with a variety of competitiveness so that I knew I had at least some that would almost guarantee an interview as well as plenty of reaches.



You just need an AMA account to get access to FREIDA, so yes.

This is the advice you were looking for OP.

I did first by region, taking the total programs from 140ish to about 90. Then I ruled out any program that didn't have a single DO, or at least a history of taking DOs. This brought the number down quite a bit as well. Then I just poured through each program's website as well as did many SDN searches about each program. Narrowed it down to 33 programs and called it good.

 

[jrlob91]

This is the advice you were looking for OP.

I did first by region, taking the total programs from 140ish to about 90. Then I ruled out any program that didn't have a single DO, or at least a history of taking DOs. This brought the number down quite a bit as well. Then I just poured through each program's website as well as did many SDN searches about each program. Narrowed it down to 33 programs and called it good.

This^
Definitely the best way to do things for sure. My number for DOs was 8%, if they had at least 8% of their total residency DOs, I deemed that residency worth the application cost.

 

[abolt18]

This^
Definitely the best way to do things for sure. My number for DOs was 8%, if they had at least 8% of their total residency DOs, I deemed that residency worth the application cost.

As long as there was one DO, I called it good. You at least know then that your application won't be thrown out because of your degree.

 

[HuskyPride149]

Awesome!! those are some really good tips. I'm basically interested in Pediatrics and/or IM in the northeast and unsure if I want to specialize at this point so I would like to keep that option open. Doesn't that mean I should apply to residency programs that have fellowships in the subspecialties I am interested in?

 

[sab3156]

As long as there was one DO, I called it good. You at least know then that your application won't be thrown out because of your degree.

This is not rational. Sometimes DOs get in through the back door, and it doesn't mean that your application is going to be looked at. If there is a history of taking DOs, then you have a good reason to apply. Do you think it is rational to apply to UChicago IM just because they had a DO in the past, or U of Oklahoma Ophtho just because they took a DO recently?

 

[abolt18]

This is not rational. Sometimes DOs get in through the back door, and it doesn't mean that your application is going to be looked at. If there is a history of taking DOs, then you have a good reason to apply. Do you think it is rational to apply to UChicago IM just because they had a DO in the past, or U of Oklahoma Ophtho just because they took a DO recently?

As an applicant, you have limited resources. You obviously have no way to possibly know the reasons people got into certain programs. Whether it was on their own merits or if the knew someone important. So you go with what you've got, and in my case, that was seeing if a program had a DO or not. I didn't just apply to every single place that had DOs. But I used the requirement of at least 1 DO (current or recent) in the program.

I applied to, and interviewed at, several programs that have reputations for being less than friendly to DOs, but for whatever reason they have 1 or 2 in their program. So yes, ruling out programs that didn't have a single DO, I believe, was a rational and useful way to narrow down my choices. And no I didn't set some arbitrary number like "they have to have >13.7% of their residents that are DOs." It was simply a tool for narrowing them down.

 

[sab3156]

As an applicant, you have limited resources. You obviously have no way to possibly know the reasons people got into certain programs. Whether it was on their own merits or if the knew someone important. So you go with what you've got, and in my case, that was seeing if a program had a DO or not. I didn't just apply to every single place that had DOs. But I used the requirement of at least 1 DO (current or recent) in the program.

I applied to, and interviewed at, several programs that have reputations for being less than friendly to DOs, but for whatever reason they have 1 or 2 in their program. So yes, ruling out programs that didn't have a single DO, I believe, was a rational and useful way to narrow down my choices. And no I didn't set some arbitrary number like "they have to have >13.7% of their residents that are DOs." It was simply a tool for narrowing them down.

I agree with what you're saying about ruling out programs that historically haven't had DOs in their program. I guess it's a case by case thing, as you said about not applying to every single place that had a DO. I agree with your approach. I guess I misunderstood your words for meaning that DOs have a shot at any program that matched DOs in the past.

 

[DO2015CA]

I agree with what you're saying about ruling out programs that historically haven't had DOs in their program. I guess it's a case by case thing, as you said about not applying to every single place that had a DO. I agree with your approach. I guess I misunderstood your words for meaning that DOs have a shot at any program that matched DOs in the past.

I’m also in the camp of if you are competitive stat wise throw in a couple apps for places that haven’t had DOs. How else will glass ceilings be broken if no one tries. Sure you will prob get filtered but that’s why it’s just a few places that would be dream programs.

 

[abolt18]

I’m also in the camp of if you are competitive stat wise throw in a couple apps for places that haven’t had DOs. How else will glass ceilings be broken if no one tries. Sure you will prob get filtered but that’s why it’s just a few places that would be dream programs.

You can do that. I was more interested in saving money

 

[sab3156]

I’m also in the camp of if you are competitive star wise throw in a couple apps for places that haven’t had DOs. How else will glass ceilings be broken if no one tries. Sure you will prob get filtered but that’s why it’s just a few places that would be dream programs.

Is there a such thing as a glass ceiling, or is it the imagination of SDN? Many programs in many specialties simply just will never take a DO. You're not breaking any "glass ceilings" by applying to them. Moreover, if someone gets into an elite program through connections, there is no glass ceiling breaking there, either. Usually "glass ceilings" breaking are simply either someone with great connections getting in, or a specialty becoming less competitive (even MGH has started taking DOs into their anesthesiology program, for example). I hardly would call these two cases a big move up for DOs.

 

[DO2015CA]

Is there a such thing as a glass ceiling, or is it the imagination of SDN? Many programs in many specialties simply just will never take a DO. You're not breaking any "glass ceilings" by applying to them. Moreover, if someone gets into an elite program through connections, there is no glass ceiling breaking there, either. Usually "glass ceilings" breaking are simply either someone with great connections getting in, or a specialty becoming less competitive (even MGH has started taking DOs into their anesthesiology program, for example). I hardly would call these two cases a big move up for DOs.

There are programs taking DOs that have never taken them before in specialities like IM. I believe it was a SoCal IM program either USC or UCLA. Could the applicant have connections? Sure. As applicants do we have a way of knowing that? No. As stated above, you have to go with the knowledge you are afforded. An extra coulple hundred bucks for a few application fees is nothing in the grand scheme of your medical education. If you got rejected from your hometown medical school and want to go back but they haven’t had a DO wouldn’t you throw an app in because on an off chance you get past the filter. Who cares if you get rejected. I don’t even consider them reach programs just an Aaron Rodgers hell mary.