DO or MD residency?

[steven123]

I am currently a first year at LECOM and have recently decided that I do not want to go into family practice like i thought. I was not pleased when i noticed that there are not many DO specialties out there. How difficult is it for a DO to obtain a MD residency? And is there any type of internet site that lists all the DO residencies that are offered each year?

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[UHS03]

The AOA web site has info regarding various residency programs. Basically, any MD residency is open to you if you want it...surgery I have heard can be pretty tough to get as a DO though (may have to go DO residency for that one.) If you want to specialize, what field? Many specialties begin with internal medicine (cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology, etc.)An IM residency should be relatively easy to secure in a DO or an MD program. Unless you thinking about something really competitive, if you want an MD residency, go for it. On a side note, my personal feeling on the subject is this: Go where you will get the most experience. If your choices are an MD residency in nowhere Alaska versus a DO residency at some county hospital in a big city...go DO. Bottom line, go where the interesting stuff is...that'a where you will learn the most. Whether it's DO or MD should be totally secondary. But remember, there are A LOT more MD residencies than just family practice open to DO's (in fact, all specialties accept DO's), so don't feel like you have to go DO just because you have strayed away from FP.

 

[rtk]

Something to consider is getting a job after residency. It seems like a long way off but where you trained in residency has a bearing on where you can get a job (or fellowship) after graduation. It may sound discriminatory but employers take into account where you trained when you're hired. If you have a job set up already (some of my classmates did even before residency), then no problem. But if you are going to be on the 'open market' after residency, then you want to be as marketable as possible.

Employers want to hire someone from a program they've heard of or at least sounds accreditted. Whether you like it or not, you'll continue to be 'evaluated' based on the last place you trained (i.e.: insert name-osteopathic medical school for residency, insert name-internal medicine residency program for fellowship and insert name-cardiology fellowship program for a job).

I didn't realize this took place until I started residency. I've recently started moonlighting and many positions accept only residents who are in ACGME programs. Same's true for the post-graduate market. Most positions accept DO's if they completed ACGME training. It's tougher for AOA program grads. It appears that this is discriminatory but taking an employers' perspective I see why they feel more comfortable hiring a graduate from a University training program over a small-town community program that they've never heard of and accreditted by a board (AOA) that they're not familiar with...

 

[DO Boy]

What a terrible outlook for AOA grads and the DO profession...

Oh well. That's what a DO has to put up with.

 

[amyb]

In line with choosing between a DO residency and an MD residency, does anyone know if it is required that you take the USMLE in addition to the COMLEX if you plan on doing an MD residency? I have read that it can be program specific, but better to be safe than sorry, right? Does anyone have words of wisdom regarding this?

 

[prefontaine]

Words of wisdom?

Why not start with reading the previous posts on this often discussed topic...it seems to come up every few days.

 

[amyb]

Prefontaine,

Why such animosity for someone asking a simple question? I have read the previous posts and wanted another opinion. Sorry to bore you.

 

[roger2004]

Prefontaine,
wondered if you ever got my last email regarding NOVA and PCOM graduates? It was generally in regard to satisfaction with and quality of these programs - and where and in what area their graduates obtained residencies. You had some interesting comments about your own experiences with graduates you've talked to from both schools and I hoped you might expand upon that - post or email if you'd like. Thanks for your previous comments.

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rog