Is there any truth in the statement that DO applicants can't match into most specialties ? - Nerve Racking Convo I had

[2026PreMed]

Hello all,

I'll try to keep this as short as possible but currently I am a pre-med student taking various science classes and building a strong application. My neighbor/family-friend who is a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) offered to allow me to shadow him on certain days of the week after he learned I was pre-med. I did not even have to ask since my parents have known him and his wife for upwards of a decade. I was going to take him up on his offer but a friend I know from a bio lab I intern at told me it wasnt worth doing as he was a DO and that the only reason one should shadow a DO doctor is if they want to go to a DO school. Additionally he told me that most specialties are extremely difficult to get accepted to as a DO and that certain surgical specialties like CT-Neuro-Vascular and Ortho surgery are completely off the table for all DO applicants. He told me that if I apply DO I am wasting my time and jokingly said even going to a PA school is a better option. Most of the pre-meds in the lab also agreed with this sentiment.

I am kind of scared after hearing this as I was planning to apply to a few DO schools as well during my applicaiton year (2027). I dont want to go through the hard work of applying and going through med school only to have no options at the end. I did not know DOs were treated this bad. I don't know how I was the only one that wasnt aware of this.

Is it worth applying DO for my applicaiton or is it better to just keep reapplying MD until I get accepted somewhere. Additionally I looked at Carribean med schools and they offer MD degrees as well. Will these be looked at favorably by residency programs since they are MD ? It feels highly illogical that international medical degrees would have more weight than American ones, even if they are Osteopathic.

Lastly will Allopathic schools in the USA still count it as shadowing if the doctor is a DO ? Or does the bias apply to shadowing hours as well.

Thank you to all who respond !

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[chilly_md]

but a friend I know from a bio lab I intern at told me it wasnt worth doing as he was a DO and that the only reason one should shadow a DO doctor is if they want to go to a DO school

You may want to stop listening to this friend. That was very nice of your family friend who is a DO to let you shadow him. There is no difference in the office between DO and MD and you wouldn't ever know unless the physician happened to tell you or had those credentials listed on their white coat. They are paid the same in whatever specialty they are in. If you do not want to be a physician, then you can consider being a PA.

Caribbean school is what your rather odd lab coworkers should have said to avoid as that is very expensive, predatory, and often ends up as useless since those who do graduate at the end struggle to match. It is foolish to think of an MD there as being more valuable simply because of those 2 letters, as if the residency directors can't see what school it came from. Those schools do not have LCME accreditation in spite of offering an "MD" degree.

There are DO's that match Ortho and neurosurgery. That is difficult to do at an MD school as well and many of those initially interested may end up having to pivot because there is very little that a school name can do to make up for much lower board scores or other issues with how competitive you are as an individual applicant.

 

[DO2015CA]

Wouldn’t listen to anything anyone that hasn’t undergone the match before, much less a premed, has to say on the subject.

Is it all rosy? No. Is it less attractive than MD? Yes. Look at match results to show that the friend is presenting alternative facts. Yes it is harder but no there are still DOs in every specialty under the sun.

If you are competitive specialty or bust then you should not go to a DO program. But if you want to be a good doctor and are opened to multiple specialties then it is worth it.