Bias against DOs in pediatric rehab?

[racystacey07]

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I am interested in pediatric rehabilitation (although I am not certain that I want to do a fellowship yet). The medical director at my base hospital advised me against doing an osteopathic internship for my PGY-1 year. He thinks that this would be career suicide for me and says that there is still a strong bias against DOs in the pediatric rehab world. There does not appear to be a huge bias in the general physiatry world, but I was wondering if any of you knew if DOs are looked down on in peds. Would it really make that big of a difference to do a Transitional Year or Prelim Medicine year? I have always wanted to do an osteopathic year, and when I graduate, I will always have the initials "DO"--which I am proud of! Thanks in advance.

 

[buddy 2004]

I have never heard of such a bias. If you want to do pedi rehab, there is a nationwide shortage of practitioners and you would be welcomed no matter what your degree. However, you almost certainly would have to do a pediatric rehab fellowship (2 years if you want to sit for the boards). The job security and income is there (due to all the botox) but you have to get the training and be emotionally prepared to practice with that population.

 

[dc2md]

what would the osteopathic year offer you (in terms of education) that a prelim medicine wouldn't??? also, the two PM&R programs that come to mind when thinking about peds are Eastern Virginia University (4 intensive months are required...whereas most others only do 2 months) and University of Cincinnati. i know you didn't ask for that but i thought i'd offer.
-chris

 

[ampaphb]

what would the osteopathic year offer you (in terms of education) that a prelim medicine wouldn't??? also, the two PM&R programs that come to mind when thinking about peds are Eastern Virginia University (4 intensive months are required...whereas most others only do 2 months) and University of Cincinnati. i know you didn't ask for that but i thought i'd offer.
-chris

UC Davis and Baylor Dallas are also big on peds

 

[racystacey07]

Thanks so much for your comments. I appreciate any other input. I really want to do an osteopathic internship because I would like to further my OMM skills. Additionally, I live in one of the five states that require a DO internship for licensing, so it just makes sense to me to pursue this avenue. However, if doing this is going to kill my chances at a peds fellowship, I would definitely reconsider. It was specifically mentioned to me that Cinci was one of the programs that would look down on me for doing a osteopathic internship.

 

[dc2md]

Our chief resident (last year) here at LSU was a D.O. that did an osteopathic internship...so not all program will look down at that. And just explaining that it's required by your state should appeas the others...and if they do have a problem with it, maybe you don't want to work with them anyway. I know the residents in our program would LOVE to have someone here that likes peds...cuz we typically don't and you doing extra rotations in it will save us from doing some. :-D
And speaking of OMM, I know Nassau's PM&R program on Long Island has a rotation where an osteopath likes and encourages OMM use in the clinic...don't know how there peds education is though...you can ask "drvlad2004" on SDN though.

 

[melancholy]

Thanks so much for your comments. I appreciate any other input. I really want to do an osteopathic internship because I would like to further my OMM skills. Additionally, I live in one of the five states that require a DO internship for licensing, so it just makes sense to me to pursue this avenue. However, if doing this is going to kill my chances at a peds fellowship, I would definitely reconsider. It was specifically mentioned to me that Cinci was one of the programs that would look down on me for doing a osteopathic internship.

Congrats on your interest in peds rehab. As stated above, it is definitely in demand. The previously mentioned programs are all good places to start looking at if you have interests in this area.

My former med school classmate (and former fellow) got into the Cinci peds PM&R residency. I suspect she is doing well over there and I think her presence there could only encourage more future DO's although there certainly aren't many spots for the actual peds PM&R residency. That being said, I recall her mentioning during her audition rotation there that they were all very friendly with her and she didn't notice any bias regarding DO's.

You already brought up your interest in a traditional rotating internship for various reasons. It certainly can't hurt to do one, but if your heart is set on a combined program, you'll prob have to do your internship there and appeal for your internship to be AOA-approved. It's usually a lot of paperwork and hoops, but quite doable with some persistence.

If you're open to rehab programs with stronger exposure to peds (ie Davis, Colorado, etc.), that might give you more options in the future and you would still have an advantage whether or not you wanted to go into private practice or apply for the peds rehab fellowship.

 

[racystacey07]

My former med school classmate (and former fellow) got into the Cinci peds PM&R residency. I suspect she is doing well over there and I think her presence there could only encourage more future DO's although there certainly aren't many spots for the actual peds PM&R residency. That being said, I recall her mentioning during her audition rotation there that they were all very friendly with her and she didn't notice any bias regarding DO's.

You already brought up your interest in a traditional rotating internship for various reasons. It certainly can't hurt to do one, but if your heart is set on a combined program, you'll prob have to do your internship there and appeal for your internship to be AOA-approved. It's usually a lot of paperwork and hoops, but quite doable with some persistence.

Thanks for your input everyone! I am definitely exploring all options. I have heard that it can be difficult to get internships AOA approved, and I doubt any combined Peds-PMR program will let me do 6 months of internal medicine/family medicine my first year! Do you know if your friend at Cinci did a Traditional Rotating Internship, or did she go the allopathic route the whole way? Did she do an audition rotation as a student or a resident? Thanks again.

 

[drvlad2004]

Our chief resident (last year) here at LSU was a D.O. that did an osteopathic internship...so not all program will look down at that. And just explaining that it's required by your state should appeas the others...and if they do have a problem with it, maybe you don't want to work with them anyway. I know the residents in our program would LOVE to have someone here that likes peds...cuz we typically don't and you doing extra rotations in it will save us from doing some. :-D
And speaking of OMM, I know Nassau's PM&R program on Long Island has a rotation where an osteopath likes and encourages OMM use in the clinic...don't know how there peds education is though...you can ask "drvlad2004" on SDN though.

Whoa, I didn't realize that my name was mentioned. I guess that I am famous, lol 🙂 ! Seriously, I think that attending Physiatrist was absolutely full of it when he or she made that foolish comment. That doctor probably does not like DOs period. Honestly, I do not know of any DOs in PM&R that did not complete an osteopathic internship, unless they started their residency program as a PGY1. One program director at one of the NYC programs said that I was much better off completing an osteopathic internship rather than an allopathic one. First of all, osteopathic internships are easier to get. Second, you can focus more on applying to PM&R programs.

If you were applying to allopathic programs neurology then an osteopathic internship would not be useful. DC2MD is right about our program. We are huge into using our OMM skills thanks to Dr. Dowling (OMM guru and specialist).

Finally it is NOT difficult to get internships AOA approved. They have made it easier for residents. The Academy has been pushing hard to keep their members. https://www.do-online.org/pdf/acc_postdocmodintcur.pdf

I hope this helps

 

[melancholy]

Thanks for your input everyone! I am definitely exploring all options. I have heard that it can be difficult to get internships AOA approved, and I doubt any combined Peds-PMR program will let me do 6 months of internal medicine/family medicine my first year! Do you know if your friend at Cinci did a Traditional Rotating Internship, or did she go the allopathic route the whole way? Did she do an audition rotation as a student or a resident? Thanks again.

Yes, my former classmate did an audition rotation in her last year as a medical student. However, since she went straight to Cinci for her internship/residency, she did sort of a categorical internship there. If you read AOA guidelines on internships carefully, there are specific requirements about what rotations you need to cover during your internship. You may want to check these out and talk to others PM&R DO residents _who have had their non-osteopathic internships_ approved by the AOA to see what barriers they had to deal with.