DO residents at Carolinas Medical Center

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shaggybill

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I've seen a few threads on here from people at CMC in Charlotte, and wondered if anyone knows if they take DOs in their EM program. Or, if anyone knows if DO students have done/can do 4th year elective rotations there.

Thanks!

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I've seen a few threads on here from people at CMC in Charlotte, and wondered if anyone knows if they take DOs in their EM program. Or, if anyone knows if DO students have done/can do 4th year elective rotations there.

Thanks!
:rofl:LOL... sorry, had to do it. I'm sure if you ask you will get the standard "We are open to applicants from all whatever whatever" just like you would if you asked any of the Harvard affiliates, Denver, Vanderbilt, and a number of the Cali programs. Problem is that when you look at their past classes you see absolutely ZERO residents in history were DOs. Short (honest) answer... no, they will not take a DO as a resident. Elective... probably. Someone will undoubtedly debate me and give the "there has to be a first... " argument but when it comes down to it they are right... there does have to be a first... someday. What it will take for that to happen is likely administration change, culture change, and time.
Carolinas has regularly (at least the last few years) ended up at the very top of many of the top MD candidates lists and has been widely regarded by quite a few people as one of the top residencies out there. Sure, much of what makes a residency "good" is fit, but when throwing out names of places that regularly end up on the top 5 list of the top tier candidates Carolinas tends to be there.
If you have a particular reason for wanting to be there then perhaps check VSAS (not sure if they are on there though) or their website and see if you can rotate and if it doesn't explicitly say then you can email the coordinator and find out. Worst case scenario if you go is that you wasted a rotation month but get a great letter from a great program that carries some weight and best case.... well, I won't even go there, lol :)
 
Haha! Well thanks for the honesty. I basically had no knowledge of the place, so getting an idea of what to expect is helpful. I didn't know it was such as highly regarded program. That's good and bad, I guess. I'll try to do an elective rotation there and see what comes of it. I thought the world of EM had come a long ways in regards to attitudes towards DOs, and that's probably true for the majority of it, but I guess there are still places holding out on us. Gonna have to fix that. :)
 
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Haha! Well thanks for the honesty. I basically had no knowledge of the place, so getting an idea of what to expect is helpful. I didn't know it was such as highly regarded program. That's good and bad, I guess. I'll try to do an elective rotation there and see what comes of it. I thought the world of EM had come a long ways in regards to attitudes towards DOs, and that's probably true for the majority of it, but I guess there are still places holding out on us. Gonna have to fix that. :)

FYI, I hear Carolinas is very 'honest' with their letters. Aka some people walk away with less than amazing letters if they are not themselves amazing.
 
We've had this discussion before and the general rule of thumb is that, given the actual population of DOs in comparison to all American medical students, a program would need to have 10-20% of each residency class be DO, all things being equal. Of course, this isn't realistic. ACGME program directors should be looking for the best applicants for their program, regardless of the degree obtained. That's going to mean that some years a DO won't make the cut. Additionally, and I think many people on the DO side understand this, ACGME program directors probably feel some obligation to take care of their own. After all, there are roughly 120 allopathic schools pumping out many thousands of new graduates every year. They need to go somewhere and certainly, given the recent AOA-AGCME issues, they can't go to osteopathic residencies.

With that being said, I think most DO-applicants would love to have a list of EM residencies that are not DO friendly. I can think of a few really good ACGME programs that are DO friendly and have a history of taking 1-2 DOs in every/every other class. Some of these programs are routinely listed among the very top notch and, in my opinion, this demonstrates a desire to recruit the best physicians regardless of background, period. As a DO, these are the places you want to be. I should add that places like Denver Health have taken DO students, again, demonstrating their desire to find the best applicants, regardless of where they went to school. I think any list would have to be separated by those places that are not interested in a DO under any circumstances (based on user feedback and historical data) and those that are open to one but have not yet found a good match, which is admittedly possible.
 
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I've seen a few threads on here from people at CMC in Charlotte, and wondered if anyone knows if they take DOs in their EM program. Or, if anyone knows if DO students have done/can do 4th year elective rotations there.

Thanks!

Anything is possible, but I would use an away rotation to get an "in" at a more realistic place...unless you really are a baller and have the stats to back you up.
 
they can't go to osteopathic residencies.

And the scam continues...

Maybe some day DO residency directors will want to be able to "recruit the best physicians regardless of background", but for now they just don't seem interested enough. Discrimination sucks...

HH
 
And the scam continues...

Maybe some day DO residency directors will want to be able to "recruit the best physicians regardless of background", but for now they just don't seem interested enough. Discrimination sucks...

HH
Trust me, I don't think you are/were "missing out" on anything. Really.
 
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Trust me, I don't think you are/were "missing out" on anything. Really.
Every year, plenty of allopathic students miss out on emergency medicine because they don't match. So, yeah, I'm sure many of them would rather go to a program perceived as lesser than do a completely different residency.
 
And the scam continues...

Maybe some day DO residency directors will want to be able to "recruit the best physicians regardless of background", but for now they just don't seem interested enough. Discrimination sucks...

HH

This is a valid point, although I don't think you'd see a massive influx of MD graduates into DO residencies overnight, especially if there was an OMM requirement. I think this is why so many people were disappointed when the recent AOA/ACGME discussions broke down.
 
Every year, plenty of allopathic students miss out on emergency medicine because they don't match. So, yeah, I'm sure many of them would rather go to a program perceived as lesser than do a completely different residency.
Mostly valid point but still... I still say that most people that are in that situation and don't match often don't match for a reason. If they were not competitive enough for MD slots then I'm pretty sure that the DO slots aren't magically going to be open season for lowest level MD students cuz they are now "better" candidates than the DO students who are applying for the DO slots. That's why this part of the argument doesn't make sense.... you make it out like if you miss out on the MD match then you are automatically going to be a shoe in for the DO match and that's just not the case. DO programs will take DOs preferentially and an occasional MD (as MD programs do taking MDs preferentially and some DOs) and the MDs that are taken are NOT going to be the bottom of the pack type of people that couldn't match to ANY MD program. It will be the MD students that for one reason or another have a good reason to be at that programs (99 times out of a 100 it will probably be they want the location but God knows why considering where DO programs are). The assumption that a MD student that CANNOT match into the MD match automatically becomes the most competitive candidate in the DO pool is the fundamental flaw in your thought process. Most, if not all, of the people who don't match MD would not match DO either even if it was open to them.
 
The assumption that a MD student that CANNOT match into the MD match automatically becomes the most competitive candidate in the DO pool is the fundamental flaw in your thought process. Most, if not all, of the people who don't match MD would not match DO either even if it was open to them.
Not an assumption I had at all. Thanks for playing though.
 
Not an assumption I had at all. Thanks for playing though.
If playing is pulling the most obvious meaning from your statement then you are welcome. If not then perhaps clarity in your wording/documentation might be an issue?
 
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