I am going to Osteopathic school next fall and I am interested in PM&R. Does one have to be at the top of their class to get a PM&R residency from an Osteopathic school. One of the reasons that I am interested in PM&R is that I see it as a perfect opportunity to use OMM. The school that I am going to has a strong OMM department and has placed the students that have gone into PM&R into big name schools, does that help?
DO opportunities
- Thread starter K-man
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 21, 1998
- Messages
- 13,342
- Reaction score
- 8,008
- Points
- 8,231
- Location
- Over the rainbow
- Attending Physician
You don't have to be in the top of your class to match into a good PM&R residency; the answers to all your other questions is "yes." PM&R is a great match for DO's because the field is very open to using OMT. You will actually find that your manual medicine skills will be viewed as an asset by virtually all PM&R programs---I mean we're talking "physical medicine" here people! Most top PM&R programs have manual medicine workshops and tutorials for their residents as a required part of their training. So many therapists incorporate manual medicine of some kind or another into their practice that its becomes crucial that physiatrists understand these modalities first hand. Congratualations on your acceptance and interest in PM&R. It's a little known field to most students but a very interesting one. With the promising advances in functional restoration, the future for rehabilitation medicine is a bright one.
Okay then, I got accepted to an allopathic program, will I be at a disadvantage if I want to go into PM&R?
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2002
- Messages
- 6,526
- Reaction score
- 3,105
- Points
- 5,216
- Attending Physician
Congrats on your acceptance. No, you will not be at a disadvantage for gaining acceptance to any PM&R program. You may even be at a slight advantage, just in case you run into any PM&R programs that practice DO discrimination (I never have encountered nor heard of such a program by name, but one never knows...).
Keep in mind that MDs can learn manual medicine techniques through post grad courses or through some PM&R residencies. Manual medicine would be of great help to you in many sub-specialties of PM&R, particularly in Spine Care and Pain management.
I can safely say that you would be very sought out by patients if you were a PM&R doc that specialized in Spine or Pain care and used your manual medicine skills. I have rotated with such physicians as a medical student and many of them have closed practices or at least many week wait lists.
manual medicine is a tool you can add to your toolbox if you want to invest the time.
