Originally posted by drchrislareau:
I'm not a surgeon, but here is how I got a radiology residency. It may be analagous to your situation.
In my fourth year (in December) I snagged a rotation at a top 10 radiology department. They looked at me like I had two heads when I suggested I might want to be a resident there. However, my preceptor there took pity on me and gave me honors which I earned.
Then I scheduled another radiology rotation at an another ACGME accredited department which was friendlier to D.O.'s. I asked the residents there what I had to do to get into radiology there. They told me to talk to the residency head. I did. He interviewed me on the spot while I was still a medical student.
During my internship year I got a phone call out of the blue asking me to start there.
Find out who makes the decision and take your case right to him or her in person. You appear to be a "top" D.O. so you shouldn't have any problem as long as the program is willing to accept D.O.'s.
This sounds pretty much like what a few of my classmates and I did. We rotated through a top residency program (usually Stanford or UCSF due to proximity) in the field we were interested in. Assumings we got honors, which most of us did, we would then get a LOR from that program. Next, we would do an acting internship at a program we had a more realistic chance of getting into. This sounds pretty intuitive but some people still don't do it for some reason. I wound up matching at a top ER program and my classmate got her first choice at Stanford in Pediatrics.
I think osteopathic medical students do well on rotations in Radiology, Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, and ENT because of the time we spend learning anatomy during OMT classes. For whatever reason, many of us don't rotate through a top allopathic program and very few of us even apply to those fields. I'm sure part of it is because many DOs want to go into primary care and some plan on doing an osteopathic residency. However, I think another reason is that they are afraid they won't match (legitimate reason) or they will do poorly on the rotation. There are many UCSF or Stanford students who are extremely bright but many of them are just regular people that really aren't that different from an osteopathic medical student (in terms of performance during a rotation). I did the above rotations at UCSF and received honors in every single one.
To get a ENT residency is really tough no matter what school you come from. You should definitely do some research in the field and try and do it with someone well-known in the ENT community. While at UC Davis doing an acting internship, I met the chief resident in Neurosurgery, Jeff Mimbs, D.O., and he had already started contacting the program during his second year of medical school for research opportunities. I guess he opened the door for D.O.s there because they have another one at UC Davis now.
If you haven't already taken the USMLE, you should take that as well if you want to get an allopathic ENT residency. Best of luck in the match next year and let us know how you do.
