Cardiology as a DO

[unitas4ever]

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I'm kind of new to Osteopathic medicine and was kinda curious about specializing as a DO. A new DO school just opened here in TN and I've heard nothing but great things about it. I'm just wondering, is it easy/possible to specialize in cardiology without jumping through 1000 hoops to get a fellowship as a DO? I know not to confine myself to one field, but it just seemed to interest me most. Any help would be great.

 

[MossPoh]

For the love of god, use the search function. That being said, if you work hard then you should be fine. I know 5 cardiologists off the top of my head that are DO. First step, get accepted. Stop worrying about something that is 7+ years down the road now.

 

[nlax30]

What MossPoh said. 👍

When the time comes if it's still what you want to do and you've put in the necessary work, grades, Step 1, work hard on rotations, etc... then the sky's the limit.

 

[unitas4ever]

Thanks... I guess I left out part of my main question... Will I be at any disadvantage because Lincoln is such a new school?

 

[dangit]

no, you will not be at a disadvantage. the thing that matters is your grades, USMLE/COMLEX scores, letters of rec, etc. the school that you come from will not affect your residency, unless you graduate from the top 10. other than that, the playing field is even. good luck!

 

[bioman2006]

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[unitas4ever]

Thanks guys. I haven't even taken my mcat so I have no idea where/where I won't get accepted but I will definitely make a trip to Harrogate to check it out.

 

[MasterShakeDO]

No. If you work your ass off between now and residency, then you'll obtain a pretty good IM position somewhere, which is the first post-grad step to cardiology. Then go from there.

That's good advice... however it doesn't stop there. What is overlooked is that you have to work your ass off THROUGH residency.

I went into med school with Cards high on my list. However, by the end of 2nd year I was pretty drained already from constantly trying to be at the top of my game block after block. Enter third year - trying to get LORs and honors... and I never was very good at kissing butt. I couldn't possibly fathom continuing this day in and day out as a resident. Thank goodness I'm going into rads and a transitional internship where I can breathe a little bit!

My advice is to aim for an academic residency. Cards is seriously competitive right now. I have a very good friend who's an MD applying cards now from a top 20 NIH academic center and he's sweating it out.

Good luckto you. There are a lot of decisions in front of you... but the good thing is you have plenty of time to make them. Keep an open mind and know that things will change many times over.

 

[cliquesh]

What about osteopathic cardiology? Is there anything wrong with the training or job placement afterwards? I realize an AOA program probably doesn't hold as much prestiage as a university program, but I'd think it would be fine in the long run.

Also, the odds of matching AOA cards does not seem too bad. There are 23 osteopathic cardiology fellowships, which, on average, seem to take 2 people a year, so there are roughly 40 spots each year, if not more. And, in 2009, there were only 230 DOs entering AOA IM, so about 20% of those entering AOA IM in 2009 will have the opportunity to specialize in cards.

 

[MasterShakeDO]

You forgot all the DOs that enter allopathic residencies but are still eligible to do a DO fellowship.

 

[cliquesh]

Really? Are you sure about this? I haven't found anything specific for AOA cardiology, but in order to be eligiable for some other AOA fellowships, like a sports medicine fellowship, the applicant must have completed an AOA residency, so I always assumed all AOA fellowships have the same requirements. But is this not the case?

 

[JaggerPlate]

You forgot all the DOs that enter allopathic residencies but are still eligible to do a DO fellowship.

You sure about this?? Is it for IM fellowships only??

 

[MasterShakeDO]

Really? Are you sure about this? I haven't found anything specific for AOA cardiology, but in order to be eligiable for some other AOA fellowships, like a sports medicine fellowship, the applicant must have completed an AOA residency, so I always assumed all AOA fellowships have the same requirements. But is this not the case?

Wasn't 100% sure but had heard. So in doing a little search in regards to sports medicine specifically I found this

It states you can get AOA approval of your ACGME residency and enter AOA fellowship.

 

[cliquesh]

Ah, on the AOASM's website (http://www.aoasm.org/fellowship_res.cfm) it says the applicant needs to complete an AOA approved residency, so I assumed that meant an AOA residency. Guess I was wrong.

Anyway, anyone know how easy it is to get AOA approval for an ACGME residency? Is it common?

 

[bioman2006]

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