Incoming DO Student- Feasibility of Med/Peds Residency?

[farmtodoc]

Hi Everyone!

Incoming OMS-1 here. Looking for some advice on how feasible it is to try to match med/peds. I know this is a long way down the road for me, but I wanted to start to get an idea of what I should be doing to have my best shot at matching med/peds. Its more appealing to me than FM just because I don't think I want to do any OB/GYN in my future practice + I also like the idea of being able to pursue a subspecialty if I want.

After looking at the 2021 Match data, it looks like 35 DO's matched into a med/ peds residency compared to 313 MD's....

How competitive is this? Are we talking Derm/Neruosurg competitive?

Thanks for the advice!

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[FutureDoctor5000]

Not super competitive, take step and do well on rotations, get good LOR's and apply broadly and you shouldn't have much issues... def not Derm/Neurosurg level.

 

[Dr Meow]

I think with peds, you get it just by passing med school (Still DIFFICULT). Very low competition

 

[DOVinciRobot]

Med/Peds is not competitive.

 

[group_theory]

Not competitive in general.

However, as a DO, getting into Harvard/MGH for Med-Peds, or Hopkins for Med-Peds, or Penn/CHOP for Med-Peds will be difficult/impossible

However, a lot of Med-Peds programs are DO friendly. Just try to get inpatient medicine, inpatient pediatrics experiences if you can during your clinical rotations. There are Med-Peds med student electives available as well.

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Not at DO, but applying Med Peds so I'll toss in my two cents

statistics wise, med peds is slightly more competitive than either IM or peds independently, at least on paper. but a much larger proportion of MP programs are at what I would consider "name brand" academic programs, there's not nearly as many tiny no name community programs as you would have in either IM or Peds, so the higher stats make some sense in that context. I think MP tends to be a self selecting group, and so far as I've seen people are friendly to DOs (I've encountered DO students at interviews, and there's a lot of info for DO students on the NMPRA website!)

However, from the spreadsheets and match data, last year seemed kinda brutal for DO applicants. of the 82 DO seniors who ranked any MP programs, only 47 matched MP (57%). This is made more complicated by the fact that many MP applicants dual (or triple!) apply, so it's a little hard to know how much that affects the match stats. DO applicants who ranked ONLY MP seemed to do pretty well - 24/25 matched MP. but 42 more ranked MP as their first choice - at least 19 of those applicants either didn't match, or matched something other than MP.

The good news is that most MP folks are INCREDIBLY friendly and supportive and want to help future colleagues. If you don't have any MP connections through your school, definitely reach out to faculty/residents at other programs or through NMPRA (esp if DO!). They can help give you better guidance about what would give you the best chances at matching MP.

tl;dr - MP is definitely feasible but the match statistics are complicated

 

[farmtodoc]

I appreciate everyone's input! I think I was intimidated by 1) looking at the match data which I think make it look more competitive than what the general consensus is and 2) looking at FREIDA, and the first page being programs like UMich, Vandy, MGH, etc.

This makes me feel a lot better going in to this!

Just as a side question, how important is research/ publications?

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Just as a side question, how important is research/ publications?

from what I've seen, not extremely important but it may depend what the rest of your app looks like. I have a a lot of research on my app but i've barely talked about it in interviews, people are more interested in other things. MP seems to be a specialty that legitimately cares very strongly about non-research ECs, advocacy and community service are big focuses. Most programs describe themselves as very ~holistic~. But as mentioned before, many programs are at big academic centers, so it probably helps to have some research, especially if you're trying to aim high. Definitely nothing like derm/neurosurg/ortho though.

 

[SharonShares]

from what I've seen, not extremely important but it may depend what the rest of your app looks like. I have a a lot of research on my app but i've barely talked about it in interviews, people are more interested in other things. MP seems to be a specialty that legitimately cares very strongly about non-research ECs, advocacy and community service are big focuses. Most programs describe themselves as very ~holistic~. But as mentioned before, many programs are at big academic centers, so it probably helps to have some research, especially if you're trying to aim high. Definitely nothing like derm/neurosurg/ortho though.

I'd make the attempt to get at least three research/presentation experiences that you can use on your ERAS application. Plus, taking both Step 1 and Step 2 in addition to COMLEX will be beneficial.

 

[gyngyn]

We always tell the med-peds applicants to dual apply to either IM or peds.

 

[The Med-Peds Dude]

As a DO, and former Med-Peds PD, I'd broadly say that being a little above average helps. The stats make things seem more competitive than they really are; PD's have discussed how average board scores in matriculating residents may frighten people away.

However, a lot of Med-Peds programs are DO friendly. Just try to get inpatient medicine, inpatient pediatrics experiences if you can during your clinical rotations. There are Med-Peds med student electives available as well.

I agree with this entirely. The most concerning element in applications from DO students is not board scores, but rather weak pediatric experience.

The Med-Peds PD recruitment subcommittee encourages programs to look at DO applicants and consider COMLEX. Christiana Care (DE) probably has the best known elective experience. A LOR from them is worth its weight in gold.