DOs landing top pediatric residences...

[mke520]

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so i have the choice of going to a MD or DO school and i'd love to go the DO route but i want to do a fellowship in pediatrics, particularly hematology/oncology. i know where you go to residency can greatly influence landing the fellowship you want, so would it be "easier" to land a top/mid tier pediatric residency as an MD compared to being a DO? i want to land the best pediatric residency i can and would hate for certain doors to be closed just because i'm a DO. any advice would be greatly appreciated...

 

[Cuthbert]

That's easy - go MD. Source: I'm a DO.

It does open more doors. There are some programs that did/do not interview DOs until all of their MD applicants have been vetted. There are also some institutions that have different standards for interviewing DOs vs. MDs.

I'm not saying you can't succeed as a DO. You can, and I have. However, when the question is "what path opens more doors," the answer is MD.

 

[StarboardMD]

Agree with above. I interviewed at both DO and MD schools, and while I really liked the DO philosophy and sometimes get jealous of my DO colleagues' OMM skills, I'm really glad I went MD. There is absolutely still anti-DO prejudice out there.

 

[mke520]

Agree with above. I interviewed at both DO and MD schools, and while I really liked the DO philosophy and sometimes get jealous of my DO colleagues' OMM skills, I'm really glad I went MD. There is absolutely still anti-DO prejudice out there.

yeah i was afraid of that...this DO prejudice stuff really sucks because i would love to go DO but this stupid prejudice kind of stops me from going DO because i don't want potential doors to be closed from the get go...i know the residency merger will be coming very soon but i'm not sure if this will eliminate the bias too much

 

[Cuthbert]

You will do fine going MD. Don't buy in on the "DO philosophy" too hard either. All of my MD colleagues also treat the "whole" patient and do not simply focus on the disease. Also, manipulatory medicine should not be used in the pediatric population. There is not enough research to support its use. Pediatricians should practice evidence based medicine in my opinion. Therefore, any training you would receive in this area would likely go to waste in the future.

 

[jonb12997]

There are definitely still some DO bias out there. It's stupid and a waste (I passed the same ABP boards as you did), however go to whatever medical school will be the best fit for your life. Almost more importantly go to whatever med school will give you the lowest amount of loans (says the guy who is paying back his loans for an expensive private DO school right now). There are some areas that OMT is useful in the pediatric population (newborns with rough vaginal deliveries with feeding difficulties?), although not as often as in adults for sure.

 

[jonb12997]

I also definitely agree with don't buy into the DO whole person philosophy. MD's take care of the whole patient just like DO's do... I wish DO schools would stop saying that it makes them special.

 

[mke520]

yeah i don't buy into the whole "osteopathic philosophy" either. i think OMM would be very interesting to learn and can see its benefits with certain patients but it's not like OMM will be something i will probably ever use besides for just adjusting myself and family since it just "feels good" afterwards. i just really like the DO school itself much more than the MD school and think the quality of education will either be the same or slightly better than the MD school because of the quality of the profs at the DO school and the state of the art facilities they have whereas the MD school is an old program, older facilities, and nothing very appealing about it (but still a solid program). it's just i hate that there is this stupid bias against the DO schools because i'd love to go to the DO route but i guess the MDs at the more competitive residencies still have their thumbs up their butt thinking they're better than everyone else, especially DOs, which is ridiculous. i guess i'll just go the MD route because it's going to open up more doors for me in the future with the more competitive pediatric residencies. i do like the MD school but just not nearly as much as the DO school. thanks for the replies everyone, i appreciate it!

 

[oldbearprofessor]

There are some areas that OMT is useful in the pediatric population (newborns with rough vaginal deliveries with feeding difficulties?)

Entirely curious, is there a reference/explanation for the bolded? I've never heard that suggestion before and I've worked with several handfuls of DO neonatologists/neo fellows.

 

[jonb12997]

I definitely don't have any specific references (the whole problem with a lot of OMT). My understanding of the theory is that the nerves controlling suck/swollow that are exiting the different foramens can be irritated and by preforming cranial omt on them you open up the foramen to improve the nerve function (this goes beyond what most DO students are taught in their intro to OMT classes). A lot is anecdotal, and again, my n="basically a handful" but I have seen it work well with both term and late pre-term infants. It's certainly not going to hurt.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23622070

There appear to be a series of references from this Italian group.

 

[redwings54]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23622070

There appear to be a series of references from this Italian group.

OBP:
We use OMT a fair amount at my institution, an allopathic peds residency. We even use it some in the NICU and in our continuing care nursery. Here is a paper talking about a case we had: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21258016

Jane Carreiro, DO is a big pedi OMT person and is one of the authors. The main person who performs the OMT is Bryan Beck, DO. He treats nearly 1/4 of the entire hospital at some point or another. Hope this help.