DO vs MD matching

[Jermsss]

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Hello all,

I am fairly new here so excuse my ignorance. No, I am not a troll, and someone will probably hit me with a "search for it yourself" comment. I have searched and no answer could be found 🙁

With all that being said, I am wondering if it is harder to match into competitive residency programs (radiology, anesthesiology, etc.) as a D.O. versus a typical M.D.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

For DO's Radiology can be a bit more difficult, but with a high USMLE it is very possible. Gas is generally a friendly and open field for DO's to match into.

More or less the matching limitations are within the realm of surgical specialties for the ACGME match, though DO's have the AOA match to basically balance it out.

 

[Myro]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=813819

 

[Jermsss]

Thank you for the quick reply serenade.

I am only asking because I am wondering if I should only limit myself to applying only to allopathic schools. I know I shouldn't worry about matching this early, but it is something i must consider prior to applying to any osteopathic schools.

 

[Myro]

If you have the stats, I don't see a reason to apply to DO schools, unless location is your top priority by an extreme margin, and there aren't many MD schools in your proximity

 

[Jermsss]

Thank you for the link, Myro. But to my understanding, there are considerably fewer people in DO school than MD school in the US, meaning less DO residency applicants. With that being said, i noticed that the link you provided said that the MD to DO ratio of people admitted into anesthesiology, for example, are 671:72. Is that because it is harder for DOs to get into the program? or because of the fewer amount of DOs out there?

 

[Jermsss]

again, please excuse my ignorance on the topic.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thank you for the link, Myro. But to my understanding, there are considerably fewer people in DO school than MD school in the US, meaning less DO residency applicants. With that being said, i noticed that the link you provided said that the MD to DO ratio of people admitted into anesthesiology, for example, are 671:72. Is that because it is harder for DOs to get into the program? or because of the fewer amount of DOs out there?

There are about 16,000-19,000 MD graduates and 4,000 DO graduates. There are AOA residencies ( 2000 of them) which only accept DOs and can be nice if you want a hyper competitive surgical specialty as a DO ( Lets say Opthalmology or Ortho). Your chances of matching into Ortho for example as a DO in the ACGME match are very low, but with the AOA match your chances of entering an ortho residency are about the same.
I'm not sure if that answered all of your questions though.

 

[Jermsss]

Thank you Serenade for your helpful comments. I will definitely consider DO school now. (Although I probably won't place it over an allopathic school).

 

[Soccer171983]

Some fields for sure are easier for do's to match into because of pure numbers. If you are looking for academic med then I would recommend going allo because it is easier to find research opportunities.

 

[tantacles]

Some fields for sure are easier for do's to match into because of pure numbers. If you are looking for academic med then I would recommend going allo because it is easier to find research opportunities.