Confused about AOA internship requirement

[Teufelhunden]

Okay, I'm an osteopathic MS-III considering surgery, and I'm trying to figure out the deal with the required AOA internship.

I will be pursuing an allopathic surgery residency, so does that mean I'll have to do an AOA rotating internship in addition to my allopathic surgical internship? I've read the AOA's site, and it just doens't make any sense.

Personally, I hate the AOA...I get that damned stupid "DO" journal...page after page of old, bearded white guys who appear to do nothing all year long than go to crazy osteopathic conferences. Anyway, I'm pretty sure they all sit around, sing kumbaya, and praise A.T. Still. I digress.

The only reason I give a **** about this AOA requirement is because I've heard that some states won't license you w/o this AOA-approved internship.

Is there an easy explanation to all this?

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[nejdo]

From what I understand...you can bypass the DO internship and go straight into an MD residency BUT there are a few states (I think 5...FL, PA...not sure the rest) that will not let you practice w/o the internship. However, you can complete your residency and then petition the AOA to have your internship year of your MD residency approved...which can get you around this requirement. SO...if you don't live (or plan to live) in one of those states, then don't worry about it. But even if you do, it is possible to get around it...although there are definitely no guarantees.