Do DO's have a better chance at dermatology? Since they can apply to BOTH DO and MD residencies?

[streampaw]

MD's can only apply to MD residencies, right? DO's on the other hand can apply to both MD and DO residencies. So does that mean that a DO would have a better chance at dermatology, assuming they had the grades/board scores/research/etc?
I am an Oregon resident thinking that I might go to the western university of health sciences in lebanon oregon, but that is only if I don't get into OHSU. (I don't want to leave Oregon lol). If I go to the DO program, then I can apply to the dermatology residency in salem, oregon that is only for DO's. I can also apply for the OHSU dermatology residency. But if I go to OHSU, then I can only apply to OHSU's dermatology residency.

So does this mean that going to a DO school increases my chances slightly of getting into a derm residency?

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[FxnOverload]

Yes, as of right now MD's can only apply to MD residencies.

Before I say anything else, it's very likely that you (or anyone) will change their intended speciality, especially seeing as you haven't started medical school. Also, 99% of people on this site will say that if you have the opportunity to choose between an MD and a DO school, choose the MD school.

Now as for this residency logic, just because you can apply to 2 programs instate vs 1 program instate, does not mean that you will have a better chance of matching as a resident. You may very well have a better chance being accepted to 1 program as an MD, than two as a DO, because of the views of the program toward DO's, and the competitiveness of each of the residencies in general.

I don't know anything about these programs, I'm not even in medical school, for all I know the bias is nonexistent and so your chances are better, but I'm just using logic to state that 2 is not always better than 1.

 

[darklabel]

Hopefully a resident can chime in, but Derm ACGME is near impossible to match by a DO unless you have some sort of connection or your board scores are one of the highest in the country.

Usually if you want to match into a competitive residency, such as Derm, Urology, Ortho etc, then you'd go through the AOA match. ACGME match is mostly good for IM, FM, EM, Psych, etc.

 

[MPHOrtho13]

Thanks for the feedback. I myself am interest in pursuing ortho-- been in the field for over a decade. Personally, I prefer the osteopathic approach to healthcare (I'm a public health/MSK fanatic), but I'm worried about some of the extra hurdles that I may have to overcome if I go the DO route.

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but does anyone know whether matching into an AOA ortho slot is harder for a DO than it is for an MD to match into a ACGME slot? If not, do you know where I may look up these statistics?

Also, an attending told me that DOs typically have to do a year of general surgery before matching into ortho... Is this true? Could someone please elaborate? Many thanks in advance for your time.

 

[SLC]

No your chances are not higher.

Despite having two instate programs in Oregon vs one to apply to as a DO candidate, the DO derm residencies are so few, and take so few residents, that they are practically impossible to match to. And ACGME derm is worse than a pipe dream for a DO student.

You'd have a much stronger chance of matching derm from OHSU than Western-COMPNW, and even then, if you're really limiting yourself to only Oregon for both school and residency, your chances at derm are infinitely small.

You'd do best to open your mind to other residencies in other states, and then take the OHSU acceptance (if it comes), then you still have to dominate in school to have a good shot at matching.

Why are you stuck on Oregon? Most days I can't wait to leave this state.

 

[NontradCA]

Thanks for the feedback. I myself am interest in pursuing ortho-- been in the field for over a decade. Personally, I prefer the osteopathic approach to healthcare (I'm a public health/MSK fanatic), but I'm worried about some of the extra hurdles that I may have to overcome if I go the DO route.

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but does anyone know whether matching into an AOA ortho slot is harder for a DO than it is for an MD to match into a ACGME slot? If not, do you know where I may look up these statistics?

Also, an attending told me that DOs typically have to do a year of general surgery before matching into ortho... Is this true? Could someone please elaborate? Many thanks in advance for your time.

It's a lower matchrate for DOs into AOA ortho than it is for MDs into ACGME ortho. Not by much though. Also DOs do not have to do a year of gen surgery before applying ortho..

Maybe he meant that during your intern year you would be rotating through various surgical fields, which is true for any surgical field.

 

[streampaw]

No your chances are not higher.

Despite having two instate programs in Oregon vs one to apply to as a DO candidate, the DO derm residencies are so few, and take so few residents, that they are practically impossible to match to. And ACGME derm is worse than a pipe dream for a DO student.

You'd have a much stronger chance of matching derm from OHSU than Western-COMPNW, and even then, if you're really limiting yourself to only Oregon for both school and residency, your chances at derm are infinitely small.

You'd do best to open your mind to other residencies in other states, and then take the OHSU acceptance (if it comes), then you still have to dominate in school to have a good shot at matching.

Why are you stuck on Oregon? Most days I can't wait to leave this state.

I want to stay in Oregon because of family reasons. I suppose I might do residency out of state, but I would really really much prefer to stay in state. 4 years out of state is a long time. Do you know if it is possible to do the preliminary year (PGY 1) in Oregon, and then do the derm residency wherever I would get accepted in the US (3 years derm residency) if I go the MD route?

 

[SLC]

I want to stay in Oregon because of family reasons. I suppose I might do residency out of state, but I would really really much prefer to stay in state. 4 years out of state is a long time. Do you know if it is possible to do the preliminary year (PGY 1) in Oregon, and then do the derm residency wherever I would get accepted in the US (3 years derm residency) if I go the MD route?

That's generally how it works from what I can tell.

Well plenty do prelim years at the same institution as the derm residency, but there's nothing to prevent you from going elsewhere as far as I am aware.

 

[aslan]

Honestly coming out of Oregon it will be hard to get any derm residency. Much better chances if you go to one of the big names (Hopkins, Yale, Mayo, Harvard, Stanford, UC--, etc). If you go DO, just plan on not having derm as a possibility. Also, DO derm residencies make you complete a full IM residency first. So it's a 6-7 year residency. If you want to do something ultra-competitive, just go MD, and go as high profile as you possibly can. If you want to live in Oregon long-term in a lifestyle specialty, your best bet is to leave the state for med school. Sorry man, just how the world is. This is assuming that you don't have crazy connections, like the derm RD is your dad or something. In which case it doesn't matter where you go.

 

[MPHOrtho13]

It's a lower matchrate for DOs into AOA ortho than it is for MDs into ACGME ortho. Not by much though. Also DOs do not have to do a year of gen surgery before applying ortho.. Maybe he meant that during your intern year you would be rotating through various surgical fields, which is true for any surgical field.

Thanks so much; that makes me feel a lot better.

 

[dermpathdoc]

No your chances are not higher.

Despite having two instate programs in Oregon vs one to apply to as a DO candidate, the DO derm residencies are so few, and take so few residents, that they are practically impossible to match to. And ACGME derm is worse than a pipe dream for a DO student.

You'd have a much stronger chance of matching derm from OHSU than Western-COMPNW, and even then, if you're really limiting yourself to only Oregon for both school and residency, your chances at derm are infinitely small.

You'd do best to open your mind to other residencies in other states, and then take the OHSU acceptance (if it comes), then you still have to dominate in school to have a good shot at matching.

Why are you stuck on Oregon? Most days I can't wait to leave this state.

I agree with SLC...As a dermatopathologist I can verify how difficult it is for a DO to get into an MD Dermatology residency. As well as how difficult it is to get into a DO dermatology residency. Canhces of getting into a DO dermatology residency in Oregon would be one in a thousand. Get into medical school first. The saying "don't count your chickens before they hatch" applies here.

 

[Jumpstartmy5HT]

I agree with SLC...As a dermatopathologist I can verify how difficult it is for a DO to get into an MD Dermatology residency. As well as how difficult it is to get into a DO dermatology residency. Canhces of getting into a DO dermatology residency in Oregon would be one in a thousand. Get into medical school first. The saying "don't count your chickens before they hatch" applies here.

I'm curious--how exactly did you do your post-grad studies? Did you get into a derm residency and then some sort of a pathology fellowship?

 

[dermpathdoc]

I'm curious--how exactly did you do your post-grad studies? Did you get into a derm residency and then some sort of a pathology fellowship?

I did a pathology residency and then did Dermpath fellowship.
There are two ways to do Dermatopathology, the way I did it or do Dermatology residency and then the Dermatopathology residency. Most dermatopathology fellowships accept either a Pathology candidate or Dermatology candidate, sometimes both if they take more than 1 fellow a year.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I want to stay in Oregon because of family reasons. I suppose I might do residency out of state, but I would really really much prefer to stay in state. 4 years out of state is a long time. Do you know if it is possible to do the preliminary year (PGY 1) in Oregon, and then do the derm residency wherever I would get accepted in the US (3 years derm residency) if I go the MD route?

You need to seriously rethink what you want to do. There is NO WAY that I can see you staying in Oregon all the way through medical school and residency. Life just doesn't work that way. If you seriously want derm you GO WHERE THEY TAKE YOU meaning you better apply EVERYWHERE and be happy IF you get a spot. 4 Years is NOTHING and it goes by very quickly.

 

[Lost Vagus]

A student from KCUMB last year matched in to Derm at Mayo. I think he scored a near perfect on the Comlex though. It's not probable that this happens often but it can definitely be done. I don't start medical school until August, and honestly I haven't worried one bit about whether or not I will match into the residency I want. So many things need to happen before I can even think of that. Why are so many premeds worried about something that is 3 years away. Study hard and enjoy life and things will work out.

http://www.kcumb.edu/uploadedFiles/Content/Academics/_Assets/2013MatchSpecialty.pdf