D.O. and allo residencies?

[xnfs93hy]

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My cousin's boyfriend went to an Osteopathic med school and he is doing Emergency medicine. From what he told me, it is generally easier to get accepted to a D.O school and nowadays it is not extremely difficult to get into allopathic residencies. But that is EM, what if I wanted to go for like NS, or Ortho? Those are competitive residencies. Would I be at a disadvantage in any MAJOR way?

What I mean by "MAJOR" is...like, something that would just totaly block me.

I understand that some programs may pick an M.D over a D.O., but I bet they all would do that. Is a D.O looked down upon when applying for M.D residencies?

I have another question too. Do D.O.'s have D.O residencies as well? Are they generally less competitive? Is it looked down upon?

I'm sorry I keep asking these annoying questions.

I have two more questions:

When you are a D.O applying for M.D. residencies, don't you have to take the USMLE?

and...

If D.O. schools are just as good as M.D schools, why don't people go D.O.?

 

[236116]

When you are a D.O applying for M.D. residencies, don't you have to take the USMLE?

If D.O. schools are just as good as M.D schools, why don't people go D.O.?

It is still very difficult for an osteo to get into an allo residency. Osteo have their own residencies.

For an ACGME residency, yes, the USMLE is generally required.

Some people do prefer DO over MD. For many reasons, it is a very bad idea to rehash this topic. In the pre-Osteo forum, there is a sticky post about it.

 

[RySerr21]

My cousin's boyfriend went to an Osteopathic med school and he is doing Emergency medicine. From what he told me, it is generally easier to get accepted to a D.O school and nowadays it is not extremely difficult to get into allopathic residencies. But that is EM, what if I wanted to go for like NS, or Ortho? Those are competitive residencies. Would I be at a disadvantage in any MAJOR way?

If you are dead set on matching into an MD residency for specialties such as ortho or neurosurgery, you will be at a disadvantage applying as a DO. That being said (and to answer one of your other questions) there are DO residencies to which ONLY DOs can apply. You are obviusly at no disadvantage there. Just like the MD residencies, tehre are residenceis with great reps and ones with not so good reps. In the end, there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to a DO residency.

For other specialties, especially the primary care specilaties, there really isnt much of an issue. DO students match into MD residencies all the time. Not all DO students take the USMLE, but to make yourself as competitive as possible some students do take it. There also residencies that require it to be taken.

If D.O. schools are just as good as M.D schools, why don't people go D.O.?

If you think about your question, it doesnt really make any sense. People go to DO schools every year. Every year classes are FULL at every US medical school and there are thousands of people that are rejected b/c there are more applicants than spots available. In addition, there are people that ONLY apply to DO schools, and there are people that apply to both MD and DO and end up choosing DO over an MD acceptance. Its a very personal decision that is based on a number of factors including but not limited to things like location, tuition, curriculum, etc. etc.

 

[Law2Doc]

...what if I wanted to go for like NS, or Ortho? Those are competitive residencies. Would I be at a disadvantage in any MAJOR way?

The short answer is yes, if you are trying to get into a competitive allopathic residency, you are at a huge disadvantage if you aren't coming from an US allopathic program. Osteopathic residencies do exist in many of the competitive fields but are far fewer in number. You will see a number of DOs in allopathic residencies in EM and the primary care specialties, and a smattering in surgery and some of the mildly competitive fields. But even for those folks they often had to be more competitive than their MD counterparts just to get looked at, and often had to take two board exams (DO's take COMLEX, MDs take USMLE and many/most competitive allo programs require the latter exclusively).

It's simple math. In the US allo match last year, 28,000 people applied for 22,000 slots. 15,000 US allo med students applied and matched 94.2% of the time, with 85% getting one of their top choices, the remainder scrambled into spots. 1900 osteos applied to the allo match and about 70% matched in the allo match. The remainder of those who matched were IMG/FMGs, who matched about 45% of the time. So we aren't talking huge numbers of osteos going this route, and they are successful a lower percentage of the time 70% compared to 94% of the time. Of the competitive slots out there, most will go to the 15,000 US allo students. That isn't to say that an amazing DO or IMG/FMG couldn't wow an adcom into giving them a shot. It just means the odds are worse.

As for why DO, this is a topic that results in flame wars and has basically been banned on SDN because of it. There are many stickes on the osteopathic boards explaining what DO is all about, which I implore you to read. Some people like the philosophy. Some find those schools more receptive to folks without the traditional stats. At the end you will probably be working in a hospital that has both MD and DO and will come across good and bad doctors in both groups.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I apologize. My question has been answered, you can close this...

 

[Depakote]

My question has been answered, you can close this...

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