DO schools and Specialty

[DObound]

---

Members don't see this ad.

How to search for which schools get more students in a specialty I want? I am thinking to go into the shools which gets the more of its students into the field I am interested in than other schools. I tried to look into the mentor section on AOA website and just limit the search by schools and the specialty and then compare the schools based on that, but I feel it does not fully reflect what I want to find.

 

[prionsRbad]

You probably want to look at match lists, but even those won't mean that a particular school is "good at" placing students into a certain specialty . . . that's up to the student, not the school.

Good Luck

 

[scdocusc]

honestly, matches vary from year to year and class to class. If you pick your school based on the place you will learn and prosper the best then you will end up where you want to be. If you try to work from the top down then you might end up in a place that you dont learn well. Good luck

 

[RySerr21]

if you want to maximize your chances of getting into a competetive MD residency.... then i dont think any of your DO schools will be a good option.

if you are set with DO and plan on applying to DO residencies only, then yea i dunno where to find the match lists.

 

[DObound]

if you want to maximize your chances of getting into a competetive MD residency.... then i dont think any of your DO schools will be a good option.

if you are set with DO and plan on applying to DO residencies only, then yea i dunno where to find the match lists.

Well, most of the DO grads go into MD residencies. I was more interested in the specialties that those schools have the most connections with.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Well, most of the DO grads go into MD residencies. I was more interested in the specialties that those schools have the most connections with.

A good rule of thumb is to think old and established. Older schools tend to match into more specialties. However, it's really not that great of an indicator of anything much besides how hard the individual worked, test scores etc. Also, check out the AOA residencies for the speciality you're thinking about. (http://opportunities.osteopathic.org) Keep in mind that it will always be difficult for DOs to match uber competitive MD residencies based on sheer number of people applying to programs ... but there is AOA residencies (check link).

 

[RySerr21]

Well, most of the DO grads go into MD residencies. I was more interested in the specialties that those schools have the most connections with.

most? really? i dont know the percentages but dont' most of the DO residency spots fill up?? i konw there are always some left open but thats true for MDs as well.

my point was that to maximize getting into a competetive MD residency, the best thing would be to go to an MD school. i wasnt implying that DOs don't go to MD residencies, that clearly is not true.

 

[DObound]

most? really? i dont know the percentages but dont' most of the DO residency spots fill up?? i konw there are always some left open but thats true for MDs as well.

Yeah there are much more graduating DO's than there are DO residency spots. So 2/3 of graduating DO's actually end up in an MD residency.

 

[sexyman]

I believe ~60% of DO grads do an allopathic residency. The OP didn't ask about MD vs DO chances of landing a specialty residency, he explicitly asked about DO schools.

You can search for stats on what percentage of the class go into primary care, that should give you a good starting point. I believe WVSOM grads are the highest in terms of percentage of going into primary care (~85%) and PCOM is one of the highest in terms of going into specialty residencies.

 

[RySerr21]

Yeah there are much more graduating DO's than there are DO residency spots. So 2/3 of graduating DO's actually end up in an MD residency.

interesting. i wasnt sure on those percentages but i did know there was on overflow due to lack of spots.

 

[MDROCKSTAR]

Take both the COMLEX and USMLE. (and score high) ...easier said than done --also it won't hurt if you graduate towards the top of your class.

 

[Nasem]

Yeah there are much more graduating DO's than there are DO residency spots. So 2/3 of graduating DO's actually end up in an MD residency.

thats sort of true, but it doesn't apply to ANY residency, most of those MD residencies obtained by DOs (I would guess more than 90%) are primary care, which is pretty nice


Its sooo hard to answer the OPs question, what residency stats existing today might not hold for the next 5-6 years (assuming you woun't enter DO school for another 1-2 years), its like, school X has a 30% class entering into competitive residencies today, but in 6 years, there is a strong chance those numbers will change

 

[stmclovin]

I am interested to know about this as well

 

[UCDavisdude]

Dmu Has The Highest Rate, From The Numbers I Saw, And List, They Had Over 60% That Mathced Into Specialty. Cant Remember Where The List Was, Some Website.they were ranked in the twenties for most students going into specialty, list was for allo and osteo

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I'd like to see a list of statistics for DO students with USMLE step 1 scores over 230 who matched into specialty.

 

[scpod]

How to search for which schools get more students in a specialty I want? ....

You can't. The match list changes every year. There is NO school that makes it easier for you to get into any given specialty. t doesn't matter how long the school has been in existence, what it's name is, what state it's in or who the dean is, etc.

What matters, if you are looking at a competitive specialty, is how YOU perform. f you go to a school where you are uncomfortable, don't fit in, and perform poorly, then you will be DOOMED to what ever you can get.

The two most important things from the aspect of getting an interview are board scores and GPA. If you don't have really high board scores and GPA then your application will never get from the secretary's desk to the program director's desk. Competitive programs all have cutoffs. If you are two points below the cutoff, you won't get an interview-- period! Your file will never, ever be seen by the program director. They'll still have plenty of people to choose from with higher board scores than you. The first thing you have to do is get the interview. Once you have that, then the other things become important.

What's the moral of the story? Go to a scool where you are comfortable and can perform well. It makes no difference if KCUMB had 146 match into general surgery last year. That won't help you. If you don't perform....you suffer.

 

[DragonWell]

honestly, matches vary from year to year and class to class. If you pick your school based on the place you will learn and prosper the best then you will end up where you want to be. If you try to work from the top down then you might end up in a place that you dont learn well. Good luck

I think there's some wisdom in this post. Picking a school based on the % of students who match into the specialty you want is sort of putting the horse in front of the cart.

As far as competitive specialties go, I'm doubtful that one DO school makes much of a difference over another. An orthopod today was just talking about how their first step in deciding who to interview is to look at board scores, and if a student doesn't make the cut off, their app doesn't even make it past the secretary. Where they went to school might grease the works a bit, but it doesn't seem to get your foot in the door.

I don't mean to sound preachy, but if you absolutely have your heart set on a super-competitive specialty, I'd really think long and hard before I signed on for med school. The reason why is this: if you've been on here for a while, I'm sure you know the pattern - around April, the board starts to fill up with premeds prepping for the MCAT, and discussion tends to center on the finer points of choosing Harvard or Hopkins. Then, the MCAT happens, reality hits, and all of a sudden the discussions about MD vs DO, DO vs. Carribean, etc. start to pop up...

Well, there is a similar phenomenon in med school. On the first day, we where asked who wanted to do primary care, and almost no one raised their hand. People were discussing what offered better hours - hand surgery or interventional neuroradiology. Then, anatomy hits, then pharm, then micro, then the boards...and suddenly it is so much work just to stay afloat and pass, that people begin to rethink their plans, and some of the primary care specialties maybe start to seem like options well-worth considering.

I don't mean to sound discouraging, or to suggest that you can't achieve your dream - if you want it bad enough, you can do it, absolutely. My point is just that no med school in the country is going to be able to guarantee you a specialty. Likewise, none of them will prevent you from getting a specialty - it is all up to you. Sorry if this comes across as preachy, but I don't want to blow smoke - the opportunities are there, but med school is a tough competitive game - and will be so regardless of what school you pick.

 

[DragonWell]

^darnit scpod, you made my point in half the space and beat me by 3 minutes...

 

[medhacker]

Well, most of the DO grads go into MD residencies. I was more interested in the specialties that those schools have the most connections with.

What specialty are you interested in?

 

[scpod]

^darnit scpod, you made my point in half the space and beat me by 3 minutes...

LOL...Sorry....

But, to reiterate my point, looking at the matchlist of any school and applying because of that....well, it's just based on logical fallacies. You must assume that everyone wants one of the highly competive residencies. You must also assume that the reason why one school has 70% of graduates going into primary care is that they all wanted to go the highly sought specialty route, but failed at it. You aren't taking into account the fact that a whole lot of people really do want to practice ob/gyn, peds, fp or other primary care specialties. Here's an example comparing schools X and Y:

School X has 80% go into primary care and 20% competitive specialties.

School Y has 60% go into primary care and 40% competitive specialties.

On the surface you would believe that school Y gives you a better chance....but that is due to faulty assumptions. The true story is that 75% of school X wanted primary care and 25% wanted the hard-to-get specialties. So, of the people who actually wanted those tough residencies, 80% got them.

For school Y, 75% wanted the tough specialties but only 40% go them. That means that only 53% of the people got what they wanted. 80% versus 53%...hmmmmmm.....who has the better rate now?

In simple terms....you have to actually know how many people wanted those hard-to-get residencies but failed in order to use the matchlist. Yet, that still doesn't guarantee that YOU will perform as well as anyone else. Hera this: board scores are big. Remember that for every huge board score there is a failure (or near failure) and most of the people will be in the middle. You can't yet know which category you will be in. Pick a place where you will excel.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

No graduate of GA-PCOM has ever been denied admission to a neurosurgery, derm, anesthesiology, ortho, or rads program. Ever.

That is very telling if you ask me. Of course, GA-PCOM is very difficult to get into, as it is probably the best medical school in the world.

 

[MaximusD]

No graduate of GA-PCOM has ever been denied admission to a neurosurgery, derm, anesthesiology, ortho, or rads program. Ever.

That is very telling if you ask me. Of course, GA-PCOM is very difficult to get into, as it is probably the best medical school in the world.

Just like a ton of undergrad institutions have 99% acceptance rates for medical school.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

What specialty are you interested in?

Good question. Why the secrecy?

OP, go to PCOM.

 

[medhacker]

Good question. Why the secrecy?

OP, go to PCOM.

Exactly! 20/20 👍

 

[DO Sigma Nu guy]

Exactly! 20/20 👍

👍