D.O. to head Dartmouth Ortho Dept

[drusso]

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From time to time the question always comes up regarding how competitive ACGME ortho programs are for D.O.'s---I just thought some of you would like to be interested in reading about James Weinstein, DO, MS, world renowned orthopedic surgeon who will head Dartmouth's ortho department

James Weinstein, DO to Head Dartmouth Orthopedic Department

"Weinstein, whose research focuses on understanding and treating spinal disease and injury as well as pain mechanisms, has received numerous awards for his work, including the AAOS?s highest award in 1997 for orthopedic research. He serves as a member of the AAOS board of directors and as a director of the American Board of Orthopeadic Surgery, and has been recognized around the world as a visiting lecturer.

An advocate of evidence-based medicine and conservative treatment measures for low back pain, he directs the multidisciplinary Spine Center and the Center for Shared Decision Making at DHMC and collaborates with Dartmouth?s Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making. He also is editor of Spine, the journal for a consortium of national and international spine societies, considered one of the world?s leading subspecialty journals. A graduate of Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Weinstein completed his residency in orthopedics at the Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke?s Medical Center in Chicago and served on the faculty at the University of Iowa with an endowed professorship before joining Dartmouth in 1996."

 

[Docgeorge]

COOL...theres hope for all of us lowly DO's and wanna be DO's.

 

[bob3]

yes, i'm sure you became a DO because you love the material over MD work, right? gimme a break.

 

[womansurg]

Originally posted by bob3
yes, i'm sure you became a DO because you love the material over MD work, right? gimme a break.

What does this mean 😕 ?

 

[Wrigleyville]

Originally posted by womansurg
What does this mean 😕 ?

I'm not sure, but let's hope it turns into another MD vs. DO flame war.

 

[ArrogantSurgeon]

When you get further along in your medical education/training, you'll realize that you won't even care (or even know at times) who is an M.D or a D.O. The thing that will always matter though regardless of their degree is the level of care they provide and the way they treat the patient, his or her family, and other people at the hospital (nurses, residents, med students, etc). When a person is sick and suffering, the last thing they will care about is if you are a D.O. or M.D., as long as you are competent and take care of them compassionately.

 

[Castro Viejo]

Originally posted by drusso
James Weinstein, DO to Head Dartmouth Orthopedic Department

Excellent!

 

[Docgeorge]

Originally posted by bob3
yes, i'm sure you became a DO because you love the material over MD work, right? gimme a break.

I'm not even going to go there. As far as the lowly DO thing, understand that there was sarcasim involved.

 

[daveyboy]

bob3,

let go of the rage, sweety. you just need a big ol' hug.

 

[Flatus?]

A DO heading an Orthopedic Department should be no suprise. Look at how many Dept heads are FMGs. Back in the old days Ortho was not a well respected field and lacked the relative compensation it has today. Hence the door was open to many nonMD students.
I'm sure the guy is a rock star.
I'm also sure that the odds of future DO Dept heads will decline as the current generation works its way through the academic ranks.
It's a numbers game.

 

[drusso]

Originally posted by Flatus?
A DO heading an Orthopedic Department should be no suprise. Look at how many Dept heads are FMGs. Back in the old days Ortho was not a well respected field and lacked the relative compensation it has today. Hence the door was open to many nonMD students.
I'm sure the guy is a rock star.
I'm also sure that the odds of future DO Dept heads will decline as the current generation works its way through the academic ranks.
It's a numbers game.

I don't think that you've looked at his CV.

 

[Flatus?]

Nope, I have not. What's his name? Too tired to page up this post. Just don't care. Either way I complimented the guy so I don't understand your comment.

My main point was that he got to where his is because he is good and built an academic career during a time when a DO had more opportunities then they do today because of the increased comp of securing an ortho training position. Some of this is due to a relative lack of highly qualified DO applicants applying to ortho relative to the number of applicants from allopath schools, some is due to prejudice.

This need not get degraded into a DO < or = MD discussion. Nobody ever says it but I think everyone will agree that individuals need to be evaluated as individuals and groups are often stereotyped by objective means that may or may not have any predictive value. I?m not going to sit here and say that my med school does just as good a job at preparing its students to be department heads as Duke does. Overall we might be just as good as managing a Pt with an MI but I?m not going to argue obvious objective end points (#dept heads/alumni) or make excuses for a lack of ability/training/desire by my fellow students to be dept heads. Along this same line of thought, DOs need to accept where they are coming from, need to realize that a lot of MDs do not realize or acknowledge that the DO they work beside is just as and often more competent then they are if the DO is working in an allopathic affiliated medical center, and MOST IMPORTANTLY needs to realize that not every comment is a verbal attack on the profession.

I've all to often had to flat out tell some of my colleges who are DOs that the chip on their shoulder does them more harm then good.

 

[drusso]

Originally posted by Flatus?

My main point was that he got to where his is because he is good and built an academic career during a time when a DO had more opportunities then they do today because of the increased comp of securing an ortho training position. Some of this is due to a relative lack of highly qualified DO applicants applying to ortho relative to the number of applicants from allopath schools, some is due to prejudice.

The general concensus is that DO's have far more opportunities today in terms of securing competitive allopathic residencies than they did in the late 70's when Weinstein did his residency in orthopedic surgery at Rush. Up until the late 60's the allopathic "establishment" was still pretty hostile toward DO's with the exception of some very forward thinking places such as Mayo (had been training DO's since the late 1950's), Mass General (training DO's since the early 60's), and the Cleveland Clinic (again late 1950's). So, I'm not sure others would agree with you that DO's had an easier time securing ACGME orthopedic surgery slots in the 1970's than they do today.

 

[Flatus?]

I agree that DOs have finally received some of the opportunities they deserve but still face unfair discrimination in many circles. My point was directed specifically at ortho surg training, which was open to nearly everyone in the past (and therefore provided an opportunity to DOs back then during more hostile times) but is obviously one of the most competitive residencies today.

 

[mison]

Check this guy out.
http://www.uc.edu/orthopaedics/faculty/view.asp?id=14
He looks pretty young, he's a DO from OUCOM, and he is the director of resident education and musculoskeletal outcomes research at Children's Hospital Medical Center of the Univ of Cinncinati. I don't post this because I feel the need to prove that DO's are just as good as MD's. I have been researching ACGME residencies trying to figure out how DO friendly they are. I have a good chance of getting into an allopathic school off of the WL and I'm trying to weigh my options.
If anyone else can give some examples of DO's in any specialty ACGME programs I would love to check them out. If I go to the osetopathic shcoll what are my chances of getting into an IM, Peds, Gen. Surg., or Psych program?

VCOM Class of 2007

 

[mison]

oh well, I don't know what the problem is.

 

[DoctorDoogie4]

Hey Mison,

I am glad to see that you got into VCOM..Congrats!! As for the D.O. at Cincy Children's, he is the D.O. that wrote my letter of rec for medical school. He is one of the most respected pediatric orthopods in the city if not the nation. Very nice guy...

As for D.O.s in ACGME specialty fields, I have found at least one DO in each field I have researched. Trust me, I turned down MD and other DO schools to attend DO. I feel by the time we graduate hositility, if any, will die down to minimal. I have yet to encoutner a problem going DO.

Matter of the fact is ..if you :
a) score well on boards
b) do well in rotations
c) secure good letter of recs..

You should be a competitive applicant across the board...hope this helps.

 

[FireAway]

All this thread says is that sometimes against all odds even the janitor can be ceo for a day. Sometimes the underdog wins, its a mathematical certainty, but remember that its just an aberration and not a trend.