If you see a DO as a chief resident in a residency program....

[purva13]

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Does that mean that the program is somewhat receptive to DOs? I was doing some research for when I start applying to pecs residency programs and I saw that Tufts has 1 DO as a resident, which doesn't sound like much at all 🙁 But then I did see that one of the chief residents is a DO. Any thoughts/advice?

 

[Doctor Bob]

It means that the chief resident went to an osteopathic medical school.

Trying to read more into it is pretty pointless.

 

[Noomm]

It means that the chief resident went to an osteopathic medical school.

Trying to read more into it is pretty pointless.

It means more than that and you know it. At the very least, it means that the program will consider accepting DO's.

 

[s5260205]

I would think the DO is an above average, if not stellar, applicant to begin with, especially when s/he is a chief resident.

 

[Doctor Bob]

It means more than that and you know it. At the very least, it means that the program will consider accepting DO's.

Thanks for looking into my head Psyduck, and letting me know that I know something I didn't think that I knowingly knew.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Thanks for looking into my head Psyduck, and letting me know that I know something I didn't think that I knowingly knew.

Is this what we should come to expect as a result of medical education? What is the treatment?

 

[purva13]

I realize that the student must have been good in her school but Im just trying to see whether residency programs toss DO apps to the side even with good scores or whether they consider DOs.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Is this what we should come to expect as a result of medical education?

Yes

What is the treatment?

Alcohol. It's the cause of, and the solution to, all of life's problems.
I hear krokodil is good as well.

 

[Dharma]

Don't give the title "chief resident" too much clout. It's not as shiny as you think.

 

[pulmoblast]

In many places, the chief resident is the third year who didn't match into a fellowship...

That said...being DO has nothing to do with anything

 

[burritowithgreensauce]

personality > stats.

don't ever forget that

 

[Dr. Death]

Sorry just a dumb pre med here but what is the chief resident? Do they have additional responsibilities? Paid more?

 

[AlteredScale]

Sorry just a dumb pre med here but what is the chief resident? Do they have additional responsibilities? Paid more?

It's an administrative promotion. They do a lot of the scheduling for the resident team. They may have additional teaching duties but it's program specific. Paid more may also be program specific.

In light to what @burritowithgreensauce said: I've heard the joke around here and there that a chief resident is someone who needed an extra year to boost their stats to get into fellowship.

One of our grads from KCU is a chief resident in plastics at KU med and is about to enter fellowship training at the cleveland clinic.

 

[AlteredScale]

Sort of.

In internal medicine, pediatrics, and a few other fields, a Chief Resident year is an additional year, that is done after completing your residency. At most programs it's a prestigious appointment.

In these cases it is both an administrative and a teaching position, and usually involves serving as an attending for at least some portion of the year.

In surgical fields (including plastics), the final year of residency is just called your chief resident year. It's not anything special - we all get to be chiefs.

I see, thank you for the clarification. So last year of any surgical residency is simply denoted chief resident whereas in most non-surgical specialties it's regarded as an extra year out of the traditional residency curriculum.

 

[Dharma]

personality > stats.

don't ever forget that

This is assuming you have the stats to get the interview.

Don't forget that either.

 

[Doctor Bob]

Sort of.
In internal medicine, pediatrics, and a few other fields, a Chief Resident year is an additional year, that is done after completing your residency. At most programs it's a prestigious appointment.
In these cases it is both an administrative and a teaching position, and usually involves serving as an attending for at least some portion of the year.
In surgical fields (including plastics), the final year of residency is just called your chief resident year. It's not anything special - we all get to be chiefs.

In emergency medicine, it's a hybrid. There are chiefs chosen from amongst the seniors. So it's not an extra year and it can be a competitive thing to get. But, as it involves extra work sometimes a lot of people don't want to be considered for it so the competition goes down.

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

personality > stats.

don't ever forget that

unfortunately ERAS doesn't have a section for personality.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Sort of.

In internal medicine, pediatrics, and a few other fields, a Chief Resident year is an additional year, that is done after completing your residency. At most programs it's a prestigious appointment.

In these cases it is both an administrative and a teaching position, and usually involves serving as an attending for at least some portion of the year.

In surgical fields (including plastics), the final year of residency is just called your chief resident year. It's not anything special - we all get to be chiefs.

Does being chief resident help one's application that radically when one wants to be an academic physician? Or would one be just a fine as long as an appropriate amount of research and teaching is done during residency?

 

[IslandStyle808]

I'm not in those fields but from my friends who are - at our institution at least having the chief position is more or less viewed as a golden ticket to fellowship of choice, so yeah pretty helpful in that regard.

That's good to know. I'm surprised that it is really that helpful. I remember residents stating it wasn't that helpful if one were not doing academic medicine (considering some programs require an extra year and that one would be paid as a resident instead of as an attending). Interesting to know it helps that radically for fellowships.

 

[hamstergang]

I realize that the student must have been good in her school but Im just trying to see whether residency programs toss DO apps to the side even with good scores or whether they consider DOs.

To clarify, you're asking if a program has accepted DOs, does that imply that the program considers accepting DOs?

 

[notbobtrustme]

Chiefs aren't the smartest or best residents because those will match to a fellowship they wanted in the 3 years of training. Chiefs are those who need an extra leg up in order to get where they want to go.

That said, they definitely are not the dumbest or worst residents in the program.

 

[DubVille]

It's odd, where I did med school and intern year the Chiefs were chosen for pgy 3, no extra year. In my specialty it is also done pgy 4 with no extra year. Usually the chief is a good mix of academic achievement but more importantly reputation/personality/not pissing anybody off. It will help when applying for fellowships, but isn't a golden ticket. May help a bit in job search, but it's generally not a big factor.

They make about 1500-2000k more for the year, but it's a lot of extra work, even at my small program. Not worth it from a monetary standpoint.

 

[Sai111394]

To clarify, you're asking if a program has accepted DOs, does that imply that the program considers accepting DOs?

Seems as though the program OP is talking about has only one to two DOs.

 

[wjs010]

Is this what we should come to expect as a result of medical education? What is the treatment?

Cranial

 

[BudMEd05]

Does that mean that the program is somewhat receptive to DOs? I was doing some research for when I start applying to pecs residency programs and I saw that Tufts has 1 DO as a resident, which doesn't sound like much at all 🙁 But then I did see that one of the chief residents is a DO. Any thoughts/advice?

If you see a DO chief resident, that means that resident came across as a stellar candidate in the eyes of the program director compared to all the other residents in that particular program, being a DO had very little to do with him/her being chief.
In terms of finding residency however, programs generally look at whether you are a good candidate, if you are a strong DO candidate: good comlex and usmle scores (or excellent/stellar comlex only scores) , good recommendations, did well in school, you will match into the program of your choice or close to it. Just focus on being a good medical student and do your best, and don't worry about the receptiveness in ACGME world to your degree, because it is a non-issue unless you are applying to an extremely competitive residency (for example- surgery).

 

[hamstergang]

Seems as though the program OP is talking about has only one to two DOs.

Ok, so how is the answer still not immediately obvious?

 

[burritowithgreensauce]

It's an administrative promotion. They do a lot of the scheduling for the resident team. They may have additional teaching duties but it's program specific. Paid more may also be program specific.

In light to what @burritowithgreensauce said: I've heard the joke around here and there that a chief resident is someone who needed an extra year to boost their stats to get into fellowship.

One of our grads from KCU is a chief resident in plastics at KU med and is about to enter fellowship training at the cleveland clinic.

I think about it like this. 1 more year of docked pay, BUT 1 more year of "protected" practice at medicine. that year could make all the difference between u keeping ur license or losing it. Again, ppl usually offered chief spots are not in this situation of knowledge deficit, but taking a docked pay of 200k for one year could save u from XYZ lawsuit. i guess? haha iono

 

[costales]

No one makes chief by being incompetent.

 

[22031 Alum]

I think about it like this. 1 more year of docked pay, BUT 1 more year of "protected" practice at medicine. that year could make all the difference between u keeping ur license or losing it. Again, ppl usually offered chief spots are not in this situation of knowledge deficit, but taking a docked pay of 200k for one year could save u from XYZ lawsuit. i guess? haha iono

No. Even in programs where the chiefs are the ones who didn't match for fellowship, people who need an extra year of supervision do not make chief (they remediate). Chief residents often spend time acting as the attending of a service; that's not a job you give to someone who needs more supervision.