Originally posted by DrScott
I have a couple questions about DO residencies and also about applying for MD residencies as a DO student:
1) I see references to 1 year internships that have to be taken before you enter your DO residency. Is this required? Does this mean that comparable residencies(like Anesthesiology) will usually be one year longer than comparable MD programs due to this additional internship year?
2) Do the majority of the MD programs accept the COMLEX in place of the USMLE?
Thank you!
1) NO, programs in Anesthesiology, PM&R, rads will accept the AOA internship as a required PGY1 year. Those programs are often an advanced PGY2 year, which means that you often need to do an internship year outside of the hospital. In fact, you are much better off doing an AOA internship since 5 states (MI, OH, WV, PA, and OK) require a DO internship. Also, you only need a pulse to get a DO transitional year. It is much harder on the ACGME side (you compete with radiologists and other competitvie specialties for those spots.)
However, I do know that in neurology and ophtho, you will need an ACGME accredited internship. This is because those specialties will not allow to sit for the specialty border without that internship.
2) It appears that most programs accept COMLEX. It really depends on what specialty you are looking at. Very competitive specialties like ortho, ENT, derm, and radiology require USMLE and won't even consider your COMLEX score. However, I see that mid to moderately competitive programs like EM and Gas, do not usually require a DO to have USMLE scores as long as you have good board scores. Having the USMLE score can be a bonus. Primary care fields like peds, IM, and FP don't require USMLE, unless you are looking for the most prestigious program in the country. You have to make that decision whether you want to take USMLE or not.
