How to figure out if your program of interest is DO friendly

[Ho0v-man]

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based on your opinion, would you say that things are changing rather fast and these types of reactions, while still prevalent, are becoming a bit less these days? Not looking at the elitist programs, even though it would be nice to have a chance to go there for residency. Just thinking about in terms of rads, since it was once fairly DO friendly, but last year's data shows that it has gotten more competitive. I don't want to be in a situation where if i'm trying to match into rads and mid-tier programs that i'm interested in won't look at me because i'm a DO. I'm hoping something like that won't happen.

Prestige is stupid and doesn’t matter. You just need to match. Don’t get hung up on top programs.

No DO should go in expecting to match a top program in any field. Of course you can, but you knew going in that some things were going to be harder when you went to DO school.

Besides, there’s only like 20-30 programs in the country that don’t take DOs. They essentially all expect you to outperform the MDs on the roster. Competition is going up for sure. But that can’t be explained away by the few IMGs/FMGs that match. If you’re not a radiologist one day, that’s on you, friend.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I was mainly referencing the link that was posted earlier for MGH's rads program. Granted, I have no idea how they're ranked for rads. I just assumed that since it's MGH, it would have been desirable for the name alone. On there, there's like almost at least 1 FMG per class with the most recent class having two. I guess it's not really worth losing too much sleep over, it just doesn't feel the best to think that even if I try to work as hard as I possibly can, I likely won't have a chance at a place like MGH, but others are able to do the work and show that they belong there. While this glass ceiling thing is getting better, it still feels like there's a chunk of places that won't even look at me because of my being a DO. I'm the type that doesn't like being told that I can't do something or that certain things are too difficult to accomplish, so i should give up lol. Even though I wouldn't apply, I don't like being told that I could never do it, if that makes sense.

Dude those FMGs literally do multiple radiology-specific research years.

 

[Neopolymath]

I was mainly referencing the link that was posted earlier for MGH's rads program. Granted, I have no idea how they're ranked for rads. I just assumed that since it's MGH, it would have been desirable for the name alone. On there, there's like almost at least 1 FMG per class with the most recent class having two. I guess it's not really worth losing too much sleep over, it just doesn't feel the best to think that even if I try to work as hard as I possibly can, I likely won't have a chance at a place like MGH, but others are able to do the work and show that they belong there. While this glass ceiling thing is getting better, it still feels like there's a chunk of places that won't even look at me because of my being a DO. I'm the type that doesn't like being told that I can't do something or that certain things are too difficult to accomplish, so i should give up lol. Even though I wouldn't apply, I don't like being told that I could never do it, if that makes sense.

There's a lot to unpack here but I'm sorry the MGH FMG thing has nothing to do with you. Put it out of your mind. The fmg matching a top program is way out of your league. You aren't going to be there and it's not going to be because you are a DO. You are really missing the point. There is a lot of BS DOs put up with each app cycle and there is a good bit of "too good for lower tiers but not cool enough for top tiers" that really strong DOs experience but an FMG who I guarantee has a resume that you could probably never build even with unlimited time and was likely an attending in their own country isn't the problem. You are getting bothered by something that's frankly meaningless. You aren't really having a good attitude with these posts but I'm going to chalk it up to a fundamental misunderstanding of how residency apps and rankings work. You need to do your best and apply to a lot of places in different tiers and move on. You will see that the problem isn't really top tier places. It's the mid tier places that don't understand they aren't that cool.

As for the OP before it got highjacked, shoot you shot. If they have ever taken a DO or if they haven't but aren't in an amazing location (but it might be perfect for your situation/goals) then apply. It's a drop in the bucket. The idea of trimming the list is important but if you have to really think about cutting a place then I think in this environment I would just leave it and over apply. Worrying about applying to too many programs is an MD problem. Don't let anyone tell you it's your duty. That's BS. We don't have a completely even playing field and it's your life/money.

 

[h23]

There's a lot to unpack here but I'm sorry the MGH FMG thing has nothing to do with you. Put it out of your mind. The fmg matching a top program is way out of your league. You aren't going to be there and it's not going to be because you are a DO. You are really missing the point. There is a lot of BS DOs put up with each app cycle and there is a good bit of "too good for lower tiers but not cool enough for top tiers" that really strong DOs experience but an FMG who I guarantee has a resume that you could probably never build even with unlimited time and was likely an attending in their own country isn't the problem. You are getting bothered by something that's frankly meaningless. You aren't really having a good attitude with these posts but I'm going to chalk it up to a fundamental misunderstanding of how residency apps and rankings work. You need to do your best and apply to a lot of places in different tiers and move on. You will see that the problem isn't really top tier places. It's the mid tier places that don't understand they aren't that cool.

As for the OP before it got highjacked, shoot you shot. If they have ever taken a DO or if they haven't but aren't in an amazing location (but it might be perfect for your situation/goals) then apply. It's a drop in the bucket. The idea of trimming the list is important but if you have to really think about cutting a place then I think in this environment I would just leave it and over apply. Worrying about applying to too many programs is an MD problem. Don't let anyone tell you it's your duty. That's BS. We don't have a completely even playing field and it's your life/money.

yeah, i mean you are right, i'm still learning about a lot of these different things in regards to residency and the match process. I don't mean to sound like I have a bad attitude about this btw. I'm mostly just thinking like this because I'd like to match in a certain area to be close to family and while there are a couple places in that area that have matched DOs, there are several others that are very high tier, so while the goal is to match somewhere, I'd like to have the option open to maybe apply and not feel like I wasted my money. Maybe this is a nonissue to some and I'm overthinking things, so idk.

 

[Goro]

yeah, i mean you are right, i'm still learning about a lot of these different things in regards to residency and the match process. I don't mean to sound like I have a bad attitude about this btw. I'm mostly just thinking like this because I'd like to match in a certain area to be close to family and while there are a couple places in that area that have matched DOs, there are several others that are very high tier, so while the goal is to match somewhere, I'd like to have the option open to maybe apply and not feel like I wasted my money. Maybe this is a nonissue to some and I'm overthinking things, so idk.

Do keep in mind that even if you do your residency at Joe's Hospital and Use Car Lot, you salary as an attending in your field will be the same as the person who did their residency at Yale or Stanford.

 

[h23]

Do keep in mind that even if you do your residency at Joe's Hospital and Use Car Lot, you salary as an attending in your field will be the same as the person who did their residency at Yale or Stanford.

no, i get it. It's mostly just to be near family, not for any sort of prestige. In the area(s) that I wanted to try to match in, there were a decent number of higher tier spots. If those aforementioned places were mid-tier instead of higher tier, I'd happily apply there. My honest end goal isn't to search for prestige. I'd like to get trained at a competent place and believe that I can do that at a decently mid-tier location. I was mostly speaking about the higher tier stuff because I don't like feeling limited in places that I can apply to, especially when i do have a geographical preference. I used MGH as an example to show that there were FMGs there, not because I'm gunning for MGH rads.

 

[DrZoidbergDO]

Do keep in mind that even if you do your residency at Joe's Hospital and Use Car Lot, you salary as an attending in your field will be the same as the person who did their residency at Yale or Stanford.

prob more since they're more likely to go academic

 

[Dr. Pineal Gland]

prob more since they're more likely to go academic

Most of these institutions implement lots of academics/research into their residency/attending curriculum to maintain the grants and funding they get. I have worked with docs from top institutions and from overseas and the only thing that mattered was their attitudes toward patients/staff and how good of a physician they were. Usually most people don't care where you trained or went to medical school except pre-meds lol

 

[DrZoidbergDO]

lots of academics/research into their residency/attending curriculum

disgusting