For a DO shooting for a formerly-AOA residency, it all about COMLEX, or does USMLE also matter?

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Thumpar

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Depends on the program, but one thing that is certain is you need to do well on COMLEX to have a good shot, and doing well on usmle sets you up to do just that. I have see a lot of programs with 230-245 cutoffs for USMLE so I would imagine it matters to a lot of programs.
 
I know people with 220 USMLE scores but 600 comlex match ortho. This last year you couldn’t even send your USMLE transcripts to programs participating in the AOA match.

With the merger you will be able to send USMLE scores so it’s another data point. Although the PDs may not be familiar with USMLE, they will probably notice a trend relatively quickly.
 
I know people with 220 USMLE scores but 600 comlex match ortho. This last year you couldn’t even send your USMLE transcripts to programs participating in the AOA match.

With the merger you will be able to send USMLE scores so it’s another data point. Although the PDs may not be familiar with USMLE, they will probably notice a trend relatively quickly.

Hard to say, I graduated from a program that is ACMGE accredited now but still only looks at the COMLEX. That’s because all the leadership is still DOs and they want to keep the program DO and are against the idea of taking MDs. Other programs are more open to taking MDs. There are at least two programs that accept residents through both matches, therefore, they have to care about the USMLE. When I applied 7 years ago, plainview program had just started from the old peninsula program and they asked me if I took the USMLE and how I did. I would just call the programs and ask them, most of them are fairly upfront and will tell you.
 
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