Wow lol unbelievable
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DO Match List Thread 2020
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AnatomyGrey12
It happens. The match rate for 240+ to GS is traditionally around 80%. Obviously application strategy plays a role in this, as a bad application strategy can doom even the most qualified of candidates.
I get what your saying, its beyond disappointing, its crushing. This is why playing the match game well is so important. It is not the end of times if you dont match your specialty, but could just be a longer road to reaching your goal. One of my residency classmates was a practicing boarded internist. Another a practicing pediatrician from Boston children's, and the third transferred out of her Chief year in IM at Mayo Rochester, all MDs., It wasnt due to not matching, but they realized they were in the wrong place. It still was a long road for them, and not matching in your desired specialty is not the end of the line. Its possibly the beginning of a longer road to reach your goals. It ain't over until you say over.
I knew people with 14+ ranks who this happened to this year. They did fine in the SOAP, but it definately does happen, and it sucks.
Geez. Is you're getting 14+ ranks and no match thats gotta be a sign that you are either a terrible interviewer or have a red flag personality wise right? (broadly speaking).
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AnatomyGrey12
Depends on the field. In some fields DO's are naturally towards the bottom of everyone's rank list. If you have 14 ranks but all of them are more competitive places then there is always a chance they fill higher on their list and you slip off of yours. Matching is often a numbers game, however sometimes it really is just bad luck.
Part of this is unfortunately plain old bad luck but a big portion of these lost souls are the casualty of non-existent, or even worse, plain wrong advising from their DO school. Every time I hear about dumb things students are doing 3rd or 4th year it seems to come from clearly no advice or bad advice from the school (and the student's inability to use a computer to get on SDN or reddit to be totally frank). It's really sad.
I can't believe anyone would do that. thats just kinda.. dumb?
Yeah they legit have no clue. I’m applying rads in the fall and you’d swear I was committing a crime asking my school for any guidance on the app/match process. I was told just apply and try to focus on osteopathic residencies and audition there.
Worst yet when I said “Am I supposed to just ask sdn and Reddit for advice on the process?” I was told not to trust anything on those sites lol.
I ended up getting some great guidance from an alum of my school eventually...
Bc I messaged him/her on SDN
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AnatomyGrey12
Lol for Rads isn't this terrible advice?
Lol at applying to just the osteopathic radiology residencies... So many MD rads programs are extremely DO friendly that scraping the bottom of the barrel for previously AOA Rads residencies is hardly necessary for most applicants
Yes. There’s like hardly any spots from previous AOA programs. That would have been decent advice 15-20 years ago when MD rads was almost derm level competitive.
I know it sounds kind of nuts, but there’s med students out there who don’t figure out until third year that fields like cards and heme/onc are fellowships. They think they’re residencies. It’s amazing.
It's true, I've seen it. It's not all bad advice from faculty. I have 2nd and 3rd yrs students with a very casual attitude and aren't very receptive to advice about the risks of not playing the match game well. If they have to soap into FM or Peds, they are ok. One was so casual I told him he would be the Doctor I would pick for my Mother in Law. Didnt faze him. Some people are just victims of Darwinism. And lots get crappy advice too!
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deleted1041468
Sure but if i had almost an 8 out of 10 chance marching I’d apply that field and a backup. I guess people I know are lucky because they weren’t that competitive at all compared to people on here.
Big Daddy OP Threadmaster here. I'm mainly interested in people having an easy place to go to review 2020 DO match lists. Post match lists and discuss them.
Please post elsewhere about advising and match rates and other stuff. It's a good discussion, but I can't find match lists easily with it around.
Or keep discussing here, I'll survive.
Please post elsewhere about advising and match rates and other stuff. It's a good discussion, but I can't find match lists easily with it around.
Or keep discussing here, I'll survive.
I think one of the great things about SDN is that if you have been on here from day 1 of med school it really keeps you on your toes. So many people on here have killer board scores and match incredible residencies with insanely good residency app profiles and the bar is set EXTREMELY high on here which has kind of lit a fire under my ass lol because I see the reality of how competitive some fields are. Whether the info is true or false it still helps motivate. You wouldnt believe some of the kids in my class when i ask them what they want to go into non chalantly respond with idk havent decided yet but probably surgery like plastics or ENT. these are current 2nd and 3rd year DO students that think they can just waltz right into these fields. The few people I know that have matched into those fields have been living and breathing those specialties since first year or even before that and are absolute gods on paper. Of course there are outliers and exceptions but some people just dont have a clue lol
Its kind of like hanging out with a bunch of people that are smarter or more accomplished than you.
This. Never miss an opportunity to learn. If you asked any of my former partners a question, you could get CME credit. Hanging out with smart people is very beneficial. Utilize this resource whenever you can.
Literally exactly. Very very true. My exact point
ProleneSuture2020
New Member
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine:
I matched in Cardiothoracic Surgery I-6 at the University of Kentucky.
I feel completely humbled to be the only DO in the past 3 years to match into this specialty. I worked as an LPN/Open Heart Scrub Nurse for 5 years while taking night classes dreaming of this day.
I matched in Cardiothoracic Surgery I-6 at the University of Kentucky.
I feel completely humbled to be the only DO in the past 3 years to match into this specialty. I worked as an LPN/Open Heart Scrub Nurse for 5 years while taking night classes dreaming of this day.
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congrats man thats crazy impressive. good looks!
OBGYNs still do plenty of prostatectomies too lol
Not sure exactly how long but it's been that rate at least the last 2 years.
If you think this thread ends with more matches than discussion, you haven't been paying attention the last 4 years
Focus on osteopathic residencies and audition... Jfc. It's like the same canned response. Not to paint a picture of all DO programs but the truth is that in some specialties the DO programs are garbage. And some specialties you shouldn't audition. Obviously you know this but this type of blanket advice is dreadful and usually comes from admin (who aren't docs) and 70 year old FM docs who don't know **** about their own specialty much less others. It must be an ego thing.
Our main adviser always uses anesthesiology as one of the most competitive, hardest to match specialties. So you know her info is from 2001
Poor advising for residency applications is genuinely one of the things that most adversely affects DOs. I remember people applying and thinking, wow, you really need a back up. Applying to a handful of places even with repeat years or failed classes and then saying they'd only rank 3 or 5. Crazy.
And then there were the ones that were just clueless. I remember in 4th year a student with us that was held back, decided not to even apply for GME, as in not even a TRI, because they "just wanted to open up an OMT clinic" out of their home and didn't want to have to deal with residency. I was like, "but you need at least 1 year of GME for a license, and you can't practice without a license". They had no idea what I was talking about. They genuinely assumed as a 4.5 yr med student that they could just graduate and hang a shingle and that it "wouldn't be a big deal" and could do it without a license. I didn't even know what to say at that point. I tried to explain licensing and, you know, practicing without a license quickly and then just went to see the next patient.
And then there were the ones that were just clueless. I remember in 4th year a student with us that was held back, decided not to even apply for GME, as in not even a TRI, because they "just wanted to open up an OMT clinic" out of their home and didn't want to have to deal with residency. I was like, "but you need at least 1 year of GME for a license, and you can't practice without a license". They had no idea what I was talking about. They genuinely assumed as a 4.5 yr med student that they could just graduate and hang a shingle and that it "wouldn't be a big deal" and could do it without a license. I didn't even know what to say at that point. I tried to explain licensing and, you know, practicing without a license quickly and then just went to see the next patient.
Honestly thought I'd waltz into M1 this summer and find SDN personalities everywhere. Not sure what to expect now.
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Psych is definitely competitive. It's honestly hard to tell what PDs are exactly looking for- it probably differs for every program. I'm a DO with solid boards, good ecs, research, no red flags, etc. I matched Psych at my #15 (of 20) with a mix of midtier university and community programs and I received several 'love letters.' I don't think I'm a bad interviewer (did well with my medical school interview-acceptance ratio). I know of several students with 10+ interviews who didn't match Psych and got into their back up specialty or went through SOAP.
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deleted1005514
You're in for a world of surprises. Some students are SDN personalities, but some will be so socially low-functioning you'll wonder how they got past interviews, some you wouldn't allow near you or your family members for all the gold in Fort Knox, and some will be such impressive humans that you'll wonder how you got to be part of their class.
We have to remember that people on SDN are the minority out of the med school population. I feel like the average SDN user is more of the obsessive type. Like they're just very interested in all things medicine, so they'll know a lot more about stuff like the match and won't be looking towards clueless administrators to point them in the right direction.
Honestly shoutout to @AnatomyGrey12 for having the most useful signature on this site. Charting Outcomes, NRMP Advanced Data Tables, FREIDA, and viewing dozens of residency rosters completely changed how I viewed the game.
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AnatomyGrey12
HELL YEAH BRO!!!
Dude in my class was a PA for a plastic surgeon for 10 years. He’ll match plastics no doubt.
Also, Nova’s U of CO ortho match was the first assist to Dr LaPrade at Steadman for over 5 years, one call from that man and you’re matching anywhere you damn well please.
I want to know how many people went for GS, didn’t match, and decided NOT to go for prelim soap. Or maybe they tried to prelim Soap and couldn’t find a spot? Seems unlikely considering more than half those spots didn’t fill. Do you thin like students this year tried for GS and just didn’t want to deal with prelim so they soaped into an easy specialty? Asking because I am 100% willing to go the prelim route if I have to.
last comment regarding lost students. My friend took step 1 at the end of 3rd year, scored a 247, decided that was avg for plastics and applied to IP. No ECs, didn’t even take step 2... that’s just to paint a picture of how confused many students are regarding this process.
sorry OP that your thread got hijacked.
Also, Nova’s U of CO ortho match was the first assist to Dr LaPrade at Steadman for over 5 years, one call from that man and you’re matching anywhere you damn well please.
I want to know how many people went for GS, didn’t match, and decided NOT to go for prelim soap. Or maybe they tried to prelim Soap and couldn’t find a spot? Seems unlikely considering more than half those spots didn’t fill. Do you thin like students this year tried for GS and just didn’t want to deal with prelim so they soaped into an easy specialty? Asking because I am 100% willing to go the prelim route if I have to.
last comment regarding lost students. My friend took step 1 at the end of 3rd year, scored a 247, decided that was avg for plastics and applied to IP. No ECs, didn’t even take step 2... that’s just to paint a picture of how confused many students are regarding this process.
sorry OP that your thread got hijacked.
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I went to my schools administration for guidance on matching my desired residency at the beginning of M2 just to see what they had to say. I went in there and told them I wanted to match a solid mid-tier uni IM program and they said "oh you should be fine with a 225 Step 1 thats the average for IM". They don't know squat. Yeah maybe average for random community IM, not for a DO student trying to match a mid tier academic IM program. I'm sorry but that is just horrible advice-if it weren't for SDN or doing my own research on Frieda I would be applying to those programs in a little over a year with a Step 1 potentially almost 10-15 points below the average Step 1 for that tier of program. The misinformation from some of these people is scary
lmao they should start adding footnotes to some of these match lists
Dude has a “you get one call” policy with anyone who works for him. It’s literally a golden ticket. You just have to pass your crap and you’re good. That said, this guy who matched is a BAMF. It’s well deserved.
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Based on the Advanced tables data, about 59% of DOs applying for categorical GS made it. We won’t know for certain unless it’s something being analyzed this year in the Nrmp data, but it would be interesting to know how many of these matches were at previously AOA programs. I know my program had 3 categorical GS matches, 2 at previously DO programs and 1 at UTMB. In regards to soaping, there are too many factors to consider for why someone interested in GS might not try to soap prelim. I would imagine the comfort of having a categorical position in any other specialty as opposed to having to go through the process all over again is more than enough to convince some to jump ship. Not only is it incredibly taxing to find out on Match day that you didn’t match, the soaping process is easily one of the worst experiences in medical school. There’s also good data out there that shows prelim positions have less than favorable odds of matching into a categorical GS position.
I know several as well, I have changed my mind on how many apps a DO should be doing for psych, it should be over 100 with a goal of 20 interviews it’s the only way to be safe.
I love this, you go girl/guy!
Have been asked several times “cant you just do an ortho fellowship after GS?”
I can at least see a non-surgical person making that assumption. Heck I’ll be the first to admit I only have vague ideas about what goes on in PM&R and I’ve no clue if I’m ever going to be taught anything about the entire field of rad/onc. But I’m talking about people legitimately considering these fields not realizing they have to through IM lol.
The BEST one of these cases ever (and I’ll stop derailing after this...maybe) was the chick who halfway through first year realized residency is a thing. That’s right. She really thought you just put in 4 years of med school and then apply to job opening in whatever field you want like any other job. She thought if you want to live in city X and there’s no openings in derm you just do cardiology for a while.
She immediately dropped out once she realized her error.
She probably thought she was attending PA school.
If you’re not geographically limited a 225 Step is ok for Uni IM. I know people who Mather Uni IM with no step at all (albeit minority but if you are strategic it’s possible). 225 is still reasonable for Uni IM as a DO tho.
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AnatomyGrey12
Both of ours that didn't match just SOAP'd less competitive fields. One of them SOAP'd pretty well actually. I think it just comes down to how bad you want to be a surgeon and/or whether you think you would be fine in whatever field you're soaping into. I am also planning on the prelim route if I don't match, I'd regret it if I didn't take a second chance.
Yeah it wasn't just the phone call, although that probably helped for the elite MD program they matched. From what I've heard that dude was in the top 1% of ortho applicants in the entire country.
Correct me if im wrong but not for solid mid tier Uni IM on the east coast which is my goal. Places like gtown, wake, brown categorical youll need more like 235-245 avg step 1 is what I have seen based on my research. Shooting for as high a Step 1 as possible just because I mean why wouldnt you shoot for your best and its always good to overcompensate with a test as important as that at this point in my training
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Meh, not really. The vast majority of MDs who match into a top 10 program in a specialty like ortho have at least one (usually more) academic connections/letters vouching for them. It’s why going MD is so beneficial. The reason a DO matched a top Ortho program is the same reason an MD matches a top Ortho program.
Man, what did he do, does he have patents??
