I year osteopathic training

[nyjph]

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I have a question for those that attended PCOM or any other school that requires the 1 year osteopathic training after they graduate. If you do attend one of these schools (that require this post training period) but intend to practice medicine outside that state (one that doesn't require this one year) do you still have to do it? If not/if so what happens then? I am from NY and if its possible I would love to move back there after graduation. Thanks,

John

 

[Stillfocused]

If one does not complete an AOA approved/ AOA OPTI internship, then practice rights in some states, including PA and MI, can be limited.

I do not believe that a school can require someone to do an AOA intership. But if one chooses not to do it, future chioces can be limited. Also, one does not have to do an intership associates with one's school it just has to be AOA approved. A PCOM student could do a NYCOM intership, for example.

The really sucky thing about this is that there are more graduates than there are funded slots for AOA OPTI interships.

The AOA allows students to petition to have ACGME interships approved by the AOA. But, it seems like they usually have to be tradional style rotating interships.

The AOA (I think for good reasons) belives that traditional rotating internships are an essential aspect of osteopathic medical education. But, this can be annoying for someone who is certain about specialization.

This page should be helpful.
<a href="http://www.aoa-net.org/postdoc/ppn.htm" target="_blank">http://www.aoa-net.org/postdoc/ppn.htm</a>

 

[nyjph]

Thanks for your help 😳 )

John

 

[Medic171]

It was my understanding that if you do the internship, it counts as your 1st year residency anyway, so regardless of it being a AOA internship or a 1st year resident, it all counts the same.

Am I wrong? I would be interested to learn how it really works since I hope to go DO.

 

[njdocDO]

I believe the first year of residency only counts as the DO internship year if you're doing a DO residency. If you're doing an MD residency, you have to do the DO internship for the year, then start the MD residency. I could be wrong though.

 

[Sweaty Paul]

Future Collegues,

I would respectively disagree. The internship year can be counted as a pgy-1 year in some allopathic programs and in others it is not. However, even within certain osteopathic residencies, the internship year is not counted as a year of your residency. Instead if that program, for example neurosurg (This is an example, I don't know if it is true) says you owe them 5 years, they may not count the rotating internship year as one of your years of residency. Each program is diff. though the trend seems to be moving towards "fast-tracking" where the internship will count as a first year of residency it is not yet universal.

Sweaty Paul MS-II
KCOM

 

[anon48430]

From KCOM MS-4

I matched to an allopathic residency, and opted not to do the DO intern year. What this means is that I will not be able to practice in the big 5 states (I think Florida, Michigan, Pennslyvania, Oklahoma, and one other I don't know) unless I go back and do that intern year. I don't have any desire to practice in those states and so it does not affect me. Many residencies are moving towards tracking internships (ER, IM, FP, OB, Surg, ENT,...) so you are really not spending an extra year in training. In DO and MD internal medicine it is still 3 years long.

 

[migraineboy]

No osteopathic medical school (at least none that I am aware of) requires a graduate to enter an AOA-approved internship year. The option of entering the internship year is up to the graduate. As previously stated, there are currently 5 states which require the completion of an AOA-approved internship year in order for that DO to practice in that state (I think W. Virginia is the fifth). As to whether the internship year is counted as a year of residency, that completely depends on the residency program. Some AGCME and AOA programs will count it as a year, others will not. I, like anon and many others, matched into an ACGME program and will not complete an AOA-approved internship year. Personally, I fail to understand the necessity of this internship year if it is not counted towards your specific residency program. I have been told in the past that the additional year of training "puts us ahead" of our allopathic conterparts. Seemed like poor logic to me. Any thoughts out there on how useful these internship years are?

 

[anon48430]

The only people who have done the internship year and say they are an advantage are the people who end up doing an ACGME residency afterwards. Essentially they end up doing two intership years. Of course their senior residents think they are very well educated. However, you would be doing a 4 year IM, FP, etc. residency instead of a 3 year one like every one else. I say why waste the time or the money.