DO psychiatrist?

[velvsop]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if one can become a psychiatrist after earning a DO degree. Is it harder to land a good residency? Does the market/public discriminate against DO psychiatrists when giving out jobs, etc?
The reason I'm asking is that I recently realized that I might again be interested in going to medical school to become a psychiatrist. However I did not earn competitive grades by any means in college. I was going through depression myself, and probably have a science GPA of less that 3.0, although my overall GPA was 3.3. Currently I'm doing clinical psych research and neuro research, and am trying to decide between PhD clinical psych and psychiatry, but I fear my grades won't get me into an MD program. However, if I study hard for the MCAT, maybe I could get into a DO..What do you guys think?

 

[Doc Samson]

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if one can become a psychiatrist after earning a DO degree. Is it harder to land a good residency? Does the market/public discriminate against DO psychiatrists when giving out jobs, etc?
The reason I'm asking is that I recently realized that I might again be interested in going to medical school to become a psychiatrist. However I did not earn competitive grades by any means in college. I was going through depression myself, and probably have a science GPA of less that 3.0, although my overall GPA was 3.3. Currently I'm doing clinical psych research and neuro research, and am trying to decide between PhD clinical psych and psychiatry, but I fear my grades won't get me into an MD program. However, if I study hard for the MCAT, maybe I could get into a DO..What do you guys think?

I wouldn't necessarily write-off your chances for an allopathic program. If you publish and do well on the MCAT, there's always the chance that they might look past your grades. If you were dead-set on an allopathic spot, you could boost your chances further by spending a year at one of the Master's programs (e.g. Georgetown, BU) that let you take classes alongside the med students to prove that you can perform.
The short answer to your question re: DO discrimination is (rightly or wrongly - not a debate I'm looking to start) "yes." Several of the most competitive residency programs don't even look at applications from DOs.
Overall, you might be able to get better feedback on one of the pre-med forums.

 

[marie337]

I'm a DO student applying for psychiatry right now. I do know plenty of DO psychiatrists and psychiatry residents. As Doc Sampson said, just know that as a DO you may have to work extra hard to get into a top residency in any field. That being said, it is definitely possible. There are definitely many residency spots available for DOs in mid-level residencies also across the country (hopefully I get one of them ).

 

[kstotes]

I am an intern in an allopathic psych residency and graduated from an osteopathic medical school. Most any of the main programs in the country have taken a DO at some point, particularly in the last 2-3 years. These include UC Davis, UCSD, USC, Colorado, Pittsburgh, NYU, Maryland, St. Vincent's, Boston U, Umass, Brown (for neuro), Harvard (neuropsych), and some of the southern programs. I can say that unless you do rotations at the more competitive allopathic programs you will likely not get interviews. Further, if you have not done a rotation at the hospital AND have not taken the USMLE its even harder. But that's much further down the road. And incidentally the osteopathic psych residencies are rarely the fall back and this usually only comes into play when someone absolutely HAS to stay in a given city/region. The allopathic psych scramble offers better programs than the osteopathic primary match.

 

[Doc Samson]

Harvard (neuropsych)

I'm not familiar with this program - could you clarify?

 

[hippiedoc13]

.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

UMich take DOs.

 

[billypilgrim37]

UMich take DOs.

But I think they generally struggle to get waivers for the osteopathic intern year.

 

[marie337]

But I think they generally struggle to get waivers for the osteopathic intern year.

Yeah, this is a big problem. I probably would have applied to U of M if not for the internship issue. If you're not staying in one of the 5 states, though, it's not a big deal I don't think.

 

[kstotes]

To the best of my knowledge unless you are at a dual-accredited program (have both DO and MD programs in one) all DO's get cleared. I can't speak for Michigan, particularly MSU, but I know here in PA all you have to do is 4mos of medicine, 2 mos of neuro, 6 mos I/P psych and go to a conference/do a presentation and you will get your year cleared. I can't imagine it would change state to state. We don't have an osteopathic psych program here but we do have a dual-accredited program (Einstein) and NJ has a osteo program at UMDNJ 20 minutes away.

As for the neuropsych program at Harvard- it may be a non-Mass general harvard program but 2 years ago my school matched someone to neuropsych and the word harvard was attached to it.

 

[futuredo32]

But I think they generally struggle to get waivers for the osteopathic intern year.

I don't know anything about U-M specifically, but the AOA is really getting pretty lenient about giving out waivers.

 

[domsport]

to the OP...seriously, don't worry about it.

I am a 4th year DO student, did not take the USMLE and have interview invites from Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Tufts to name a few...didnt even get all my LOR's in yet...go figure

you'll be fine...

 

[whopper]

Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Tufts

Good to see top level institutions not discriminating against someone who could be a potentially good candidate simply because they are a D.O.

And this is coming from an M.D.

 

[billypilgrim37]

and have interview invites from Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Tufts to name a few

I think you'll find one pet peeve of several of us on this forum is people referring to receiving interviews at "Harvard" when there is no "Harvard" program, and one of the four "Harvard" programs is likely one of the least competitive and least desirable programs in the entire state of Massachussetts.

Which isn't to say you didn't know the difference, but name-dropping Harvard and name-dropping Yale are fundamentally different things in psychiatry.

 

[domsport]

I think you'll find one pet peeve of several of us on this forum is people referring to receiving interviews at "Harvard" when there is no "Harvard" program, and one of the four "Harvard" programs is likely one of the least competitive and least desirable programs in the entire state of Massachussetts.

Which isn't to say you didn't know the difference, but name-dropping Harvard and name-dropping Yale are fundamentally different things in psychiatry.

Hi, as a psych resident would you give insight into the "Harvard" programs. I have recieved interviews from two programs under the Harvard name and would really like some info...especially if one of them is in your opinion the WORST program in all of Mass. Also what info are you basing this on? Residents opinions? Attendings? Funding? Research? Location? Work Environment? Please explain...Thanks