Getting a job after residency and board certification...

[ocwaveoc]

I was reading a thread on MD vs DO and came across a lively discussion on how getting a job after residency as a DO may be tougher since " AOA grads are not eligible to sit for many of the ACGME boards."

You know we constantly hear about how such and such doctor is "board certified". So board cert is important obviously....but not sure if an AOA board cert is just as acceptable as an ACGME when it comes to getting a job at hospitals or medical groups.

1) So, what are the specialties which the ACMGME board is necessary to be considered competitive for employment?
2) Does having gone through an AOA residency preclude one from sitting for ACMGME boards for those specialties in question for the above question?

I'm finding out more and more about the "hurdles" by becoming a DO if this is true!!! I hope it's not!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DrMidlife]

The ACGME doesn't own any boards. ACGME accredits residency and fellowship programs.

The governing association for a specialty (such as family practice or neurosurgery) owns the boards for that specialty. There are osteopathic versions of most of these associations.

If there actually are some specialties that don't allow DO's, which I doubt, then DOs would not be admitted into residency for that specialty.

When it comes time to look for a job, if you did an osteopathic residency and took the osteopathic boards and can be licensed to practice in whatever state you're aiming for, OR if you did an ACGME residency and took the "allo" boards, you can run into anti-DO bias just as you can run into racial/gender/etc. bias at the hiring institution. Go surf some hospital web pages looking for DOs, and you'll see what you already know: some institutions have lots, some have a few, some have none. Which type is going to be the most friendly to incoming DO's? Right, the one with lots of DOs already.

This is NOT a good subject for using SDN's premeds as consultants. Including me. I strongly suggest that you find MULTIPLE DO's who are practicing how/where you want to practice and cultivate them as mentors.

Best of luck to you.