DO versus Carib for General Surgery residency

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Which is less competitive for general surgery residencies?

  • DO school

    Votes: 59 53.2%

  • Caribbean med school

    Votes: 55 49.5%
  • Total voters
    111
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Are General Surgery residencies more difficult to match from DO school or from Caribbean med school? How about neurosurgery or plastics residencies?

Also, I know neurosurgery and plastics are very competitive, but how competitive is GS these days? Thanks guys, I appreciate your help.
 
Last edited:
DO >>>>>>> FMG in terms of competitive residencies. For the sake of this argument, that includes g-surgery.
 
I think I misunderstood who I was voting for. DO > IMG
 
Uh oh! Yeah, I think by phrasing the question one way in the post and another way in the poll was a mistake. If you actually feel caribbean med school is the better choice, please reply so I know it's not a mistake. I appreciate it guys!
 
Yeah the poll is definitely off. DO >>>>> IMG unless you're gonna be in the top 5% of your class and even then....
 
I hope I voted right, but I think DO is definitely better than Caribbean if you want to go into a mildly-to-intensely competitive residency. That said, I don't think the better Caribbean schools- like SGU- are the hopeless-bound-to-fail-out-and-flunk-step-I pits that people around here seem to think they are. The Caribbean can be a great path to becoming a doctor, from what it seems to me.
 
I would like to know if it’s harder to get into an MD general surgery residency (and then a CT residency) having gone to a DO school (but having taken USMLE step 1 and 2 instead of COMPLEX)? Staying in my home city would be ideal for me and I would like to specifically know if I could get into a Jackson (Miami, Fl) surgery residency coming out of Nova’s DO school? If you can, how much better would your USMLE score have to be relative to someone coming out of an MD school?
 
DO regardless.

Not trying to be board police, you had a question, I don't blame you one bit for posting, just there are other threads to back up what I'm about to type:

EVERYONE advocates DO>Caribb. From what I've gathered, the material isn't taught as well, which leads to poor board scores. You're likely to get better scores as a DO. There are DO specific residencies, and you can match into MD residencies. MD residencies aren't more likely to take you as a Carrib MD, especially if you barely pass STEP I.
 
as a student currently enrolled at a carib med school, i just thought it would be beneficial to add some perspective...(please note, the following only applies to my school and possibly the other schools in the big four carib med schools)

before i came here i didn't know what to expect in regards to quality of education..but after experiencing school here I have to disagree with comments made about step 1 scores etc. this school has a failure grade of 75 in all classes, 15 points above the normal US med school score. this doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it allows for only the best of the best to remain in the program...the graduating step 1 scores are not only 18 points above the US national average, but 100% of the students in the last 6 semesters to take the step 1 have passed first try. (nbme mini shelf scores for anatomy/embryo, biochem, path, etc are also repeatedly above the US averages as well)

the stigma that goes along with carib schools is definitely present, i can't argue that, but it is getting better and students are matching into excellent positions. the key to success of a carib med student is simply to work our ass off - your education is what you make of it
 
mobitzfoshoitzz said:
as a student currently enrolled at a carib med school, i just thought it would be beneficial to add some perspective...(please note, the following only applies to my school and possibly the other schools in the big four carib med schools)

before i came here i didn't know what to expect in regards to quality of education..but after experiencing school here I have to disagree with comments made about step 1 scores etc. this school has a failure grade of 75 in all classes, 15 points above the normal US med school score. this doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it allows for only the best of the best to remain in the program...the graduating step 1 scores are not only 18 points above the US national average, but 100% of the students in the last 6 semesters to take the step 1 have passed first try. (nbme mini shelf scores for anatomy/embryo, biochem, path, etc are also repeatedly above the US averages as well)

the stigma that goes along with carib schools is definitely present, i can't argue that, but it is getting better and students are matching into excellent positions. the key to success of a carib med student is simply to work our ass off - your education is what you make of it
Click to expand...

My question would then be, what is the "wash out rate". As in how many students that started on the first day of school are actually allowed to take the USMLE.
 
mobitzfoshoitzz said:
as a student currently enrolled at a carib med school, i just thought it would be beneficial to add some perspective...(please note, the following only applies to my school and possibly the other schools in the big four carib med schools)

before i came here i didn't know what to expect in regards to quality of education..but after experiencing school here I have to disagree with comments made about step 1 scores etc. this school has a failure grade of 75 in all classes, 15 points above the normal US med school score. this doesn't seem like a huge deal, but it allows for only the best of the best to remain in the program...the graduating step 1 scores are not only 18 points above the US national average, but 100% of the students in the last 6 semesters to take the step 1 have passed first try. (nbme mini shelf scores for anatomy/embryo, biochem, path, etc are also repeatedly above the US averages as well)

the stigma that goes along with carib schools is definitely present, i can't argue that, but it is getting better and students are matching into excellent positions. the key to success of a carib med student is simply to work our ass off - your education is what you make of it
Click to expand...
The fail rate is not 60% at US schools.
 
I just voted DO thinking I was putting in for more competitive, oops.

I have a fairly limited knowledge of Caribbean med schools, but something I have always heard is that the clinical rotations are very limited. With DO schools there are more clinical opportunites, so you may have the ability to rotate through hospitals where you are interested in attending a residency program, which could be advantageous. Here's a good article about Caribbean schools, the highest USMLE step 1 pass rate they report is slighly over the average DO pass rate (82%), but the rest are quite low. http://www.studentdoctor.net/2009/07/caribbean-medical-schools-a-good-option/
 
rjr2467 said:
I would like to know if it’s harder to get into an MD general surgery residency (and then a CT residency) having gone to a DO school (but having taken USMLE step 1 and 2 instead of COMPLEX)? Staying in my home city would be ideal for me and I would like to specifically know if I could get into a Jackson (Miami, Fl) surgery residency coming out of Nova’s DO school? If you can, how much better would your USMLE score have to be relative to someone coming out of an MD school?
Click to expand...

What the hell is a CT residency????

The test is COMLEX, not complex.

Do your homework. You sound like a fool.
 
how bout this. get into med school, then worry about landing the most competetive residency! ding ding ding ding ding

also. me, personally. I have a family and I will continue to apply usdo until i get in. but if i were single, and couldnt get into a school in the us. after applying 3 or 4 times. then i would consider the carib.
 
In the words of the great Jim Mora Sr.:

"You kiddin' me?"
 
In 2010, 51 out of 3,695 US-IMGs match ACGME gen surgery. That same year, 20 DOs matched ACGME gen surgery and another 89 matched AOA gen surgery. There were roughly 3845 DO graduates that year, and 2045 DOs participated in the ACGME match.
 
cliquesh said:
In 2010, 51 out of 3,695 US-IMGs match ACGME gen surgery. That same year, 20 DOs matched ACGME gen surgery and another 89 matched AOA gen surgery. There were roughly 3845 DO graduates that year, and 2045 DOs participated in the ACGME match.
Click to expand...

I wonder, of the 2k or so DO's that didn't make it, did they find a spot later on?
 
LastPolarBear said:
I wonder, of the 2k or so DO's that didn't make it, did they find a spot later on?
Click to expand...

In 2010, 1473 matched AOA, 218 matched military, and 1444 matched ACGME for a total of 3135 matchs. There were 3845 DO graduates that year, but if you include DO graduates from previous years that participated in the match, you are looking at 4106 total DO applicants. So, 3135/4106 = 76% match rate. However, that number is probably lower than the actual rate.
 
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