Matching into Ophthalmology

[slaveofthehealer]

I am an OMS I student interested in matching into ophthalmology and I was hoping if someone who has matched into an ophthalmology residency as a DO can advise me about what steps to take to be a competitive candidate. My school does not have many clinical research opportunities so I was wondering how I can do ophthalmology research and find a mentor in the field.

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[You shall know the Truth]

Jus start emailing or introducing yourself to opthos in your area. You can try to contact the university programs in your area as well. Go to the optho national conference.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

I feel that of the surgical specialties Optho is the most friendly to DOs with appropriate apps. i will @sab3156 as he is more familar.

 

[sab3156]

Extremely competitive and getting moreso. The field is small, and you better know someone you have a research relationship with to write you a letter or make calls. Same advice is given to middle of the pack MD students, so you can understand that it is even more important for DOs. It is very difficult to find a mentor in ophthalmology for a DO student who has no prior background in it, but you can try emailing around. Most people will not answer you, but this is basically the last resort thing to do.

I feel that of the surgical specialties Optho is the most friendly to DOs with appropriate apps. i will @sab3156 as he is more familar.

This is not true - ophthalmology is overall highly competitive and most programs will just not interview DOs. I personally know numerous academic faculty in several programs across the spectrum (low tier, mid tier, high tier) who have that attitude. Pedigree is a huge deal for many PDs. A strong application for these specialties also means having letters from well-known people, so if you have that then you have a shot. The match rate for DOs has always been abysmally low in ophthalmology. And I know for a fact after speaking with some people who saw applications from DOs over the years that these were usually pretty strong applications. Some lower tier programs have taken DOs who were able to get a tie to the program in recent years but you must also consider the reality that they may be hesitant to do it again if they care about their image. @LemonLens can offer more details.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I would suggest trying to land a ophthalmology research fellowship the summer after M1. Having no interest in the field myself I have no idea how many of these there are, but you need those kinds of connections. This is something a number of other applicants who have match competitive surgical sub-specialties have done.

You also need to be impeccable on paper.

 

[sab3156]

Very competitive. 21 DOs got ophtho spots last year (about 3 per 1000 graduates).
View attachment 287530

Also, does 21 include the AOA matches? ACGME Ophthalmology only matched 16 osteopathic seniors with 42 applying (and matched 2 out of 3 graduates who reapplied after not matching, likely after doing a fellowship with well known faculty). The match rate is low as usual (38% for seniors). Several of these spots were former AOA programs who are now ACGME but still had DOs match. Can't really hope for that to continue in future years

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

OSU is in the process of starting another ophtho program in OKC. Rumor is OU’s program will be involved somehow and the spot will be DO only. Although the caveat is that it will likely be heavily biased toward any OSU candidates because their hope is to graduate some residents that will then go on to restart the one that was in Tulsa.

 

[Scrubs101]

Here are the former DO programs
Larkin: 3 spots Ophthalmology Residents
PCOM: 1-2 spots Ophthalmology Residents | Graduate Medical Education at PCOM
Kettering-Grandview: 2 spots Grandview Medical Education | Dayton, Ohio
OUCOM- Doctors Hospital: 1 spot Ophthalmology Residents | Doctors Hospital | OhioHealth (listed as preaccredited on ACGME website)
Millcreek: Dead
Genesys: Dead
Hillsdale: Dead
Oklahoma State: Dead
Oakwood: Dead
St. John Providence: Dead
TUCOM Valley Hospital: Dead
MetroHealth: Dead
St. John Episcopal: Dead

AOA past president William S Mayo, DO, recently spoke with a group of osteopathic medical students about matching into residency, the single GME accreditation system and finding the right program. Dr. Mayo completed an ACGME-accredited ophthalmology residency at the University of Mississippi in a program that had never had a DO before. Here’s his advice for the next generation of DOs.
I’m interested in a specific residency that seems to only accept MD students. How does the single GME accreditation system impact my application? Does the program have to accept osteopathic students now?
Dr. Mayo: Residency positions are open to DOs, MDs, and IMGs. You could have program-specific biases based on the particular program, specialty or school. You will find that some are friendlier to MDs or DOs or graduates from specific schools.
You may want to call the program. Just because they don’t have any DOs currently in their program doesn’t mean they’re not DO-friendly and haven’t ranked them in the past.

Your questions about matching into residency answered

The residency application process is full of questions. Finding a residency where you're a good fit is essential to matching into residency.

thedo.osteopathic.org

Beaumont trenton is another prev AOA program with 2 spots i believe

 

[LemonLens]

Extremely competitive and getting moreso. The field is small, and you better know someone you have a research relationship with to write you a letter or make calls. Same advice is given to middle of the pack MD students, so you can understand that it is even more important for DOs. It is very difficult to find a mentor in ophthalmology for a DO student who has no prior background in it, but you can try emailing around. Most people will not answer you, but this is basically the last resort thing to do.




This is not true - ophthalmology is overall highly competitive and most programs will just not interview DOs. I personally know numerous academic faculty in several programs across the spectrum (low tier, mid tier, high tier) who have that attitude. Pedigree is a huge deal for many PDs. A strong application for these specialties also means having letters from well-known people, so if you have that then you have a shot. The match rate for DOs has always been abysmally low in ophthalmology. And I know for a fact after speaking with some people who saw applications from DOs over the years that these were usually pretty strong applications. Some lower tier programs have taken DOs who were able to get a tie to the program in recent years but you must also consider the reality that they may be hesitant to do it again if they care about their image. @LemonLens can offer more details.

I would say I agree with all of this. Things are definitely getting more competitive (the quality of this current cycle's applicants to my program reflect this). Our PD does not extend interviews to DOs under any circumstances, and this is the norm rather than the exception in this specialty.

To answer the OP - I would probably start with emailing nearby departments and see if you can get in touch with a resident to help with projects. I would imagine it's very difficult for DO students to find mentors simply due to the fact that they usually lack home Ophthalmology departments. MD students have an advantage there, and it would be much easier for them to get hooked up by their home department and get a strong set of letters, including at least one from a well-known ophthalmologist or chief.

 

[hallowmann]

Re: The old Millcreek program, the program ended before the merger due to the unexpected death of the PD. They struggled to find a replacement and the program closed.

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[sab3156]

And also for the love of God, please don't introduce yourself as an "OMS" when you email places.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I think matching into non-former AOA programs is rare.
MCG Augusta program has taken a few DOs: Department of Ophthalmology
Albany program has taken a couple of DOs: Meet Us
Ohio State has taken a few DOs: Ophthalmology Residency Program I Ohio State Medical Center
and https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/-/med...ments/ophthalmology/alumni-directory-2019.pdf
GW has taken a couple of DOs: Meet the Residents | The Department of Ophthalmology
Geisinger has taken a couple of DOs: $name
Will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming match.

Oklahoma has one I believe, or at least has had one recently, and before I left my old job for med school a fresh DO ophtho grad from U Arkansas joined the local practice.

 

[sab3156]

If less than 21 DOs match ophtho this year, then I think that is a bad sign. It would not be in line with the promises that the combined match will increase opportunities for DOs in GME.

It will be an interesting thing to see. But one important thing we should note is that the ACGME ophthalmology match happens before the AOA ophthalmology match, leaving people free to fully commit to the ACGME match prior to commiting to AOA. Yet we still saw horrendous statistics for DOs participating in the ACGME match. I predict things will only get worse for DOs trying to get residency in ophthalmology, or stay the same. As far as changes in the rates go, this will depend on what programs gained ACGME status this past year after the 2019 match. Haven't really cared about keeping track of those programs, but it will skew numbers in the ACGME match just like Larkin did this past cycle when they filled all their spots with DOs, making what could have been a 30% match rate into a 38% match rate - this is assuming all those Larkin matches would have participated in both matches (which would be a very realistic assumption to make), and also assuming that they couldn't match at other ACGME programs (which is also a very realistic assumption, considering they matched to a former AOA program).

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

If less than 21 DOs match ophtho this year, then I think that is a bad sign. It would not be in line with the promises that the combined match will increase opportunities for DOs in GME.

I personally suspect things will stay relatively the sameish, meaning it’s going to be brutal for DOs applying ophtho. The fact so many of the few programs that existed didn’t make the merger is going to hurt. There will most likely still be the same number of people that were matching ACGME as before.

Overall ophtho is one of the few fields I’m not very optimistic for with regards to DOs. It and neurosurgery.

 

[niagra]

It's highly unlikely that you will get in. Look at the writing on the wall!

 

[EyeDR_oo]

Wholeheartedly disagree...Yes, be realistic with an approach, but you have one life, and it is much too short to be spending it doing something you do not love. Go forth and produce opportunities in whatever it is that makes you happy!

 

[harrislakers123]

make yourself a known commodity (research network and attend local rounds) and you will match assuming you have the scores and grades

 

[PsychHopeful2021]

I am an OMS I student interested in matching into ophthalmology and I was hoping if someone who has matched into an ophthalmology residency as a DO can advise me about what steps to take to be a competitive candidate. My school does not have many clinical research opportunities so I was wondering how I can do ophthalmology research and find a mentor in the field.

Above average Steps, solid connections, lots of research.

My friend matched; he made connections since Day 1 and started research during 1st year. We were lucky in that our school had MD school(s) nearby, which allowed him to network. He presented at multiple conferences during his 4 years in medical school, he got several publications in the field, as well as a plethora of abstracts/posters. He also was heavily involved in our state medical society, as it allowed him to make connections with Opthos throughout the state. While he did not actually score above the average matched Step score, his passion was palpable. Organized several lectures series and symposiums - even inviting Optho attendings from really elite institutions to speak (I have no idea how he got this done...).

He also did 3-4 auditions, got a solid LoR, according to him, and ended up matching like 3rd on his rank list. The interviews he was getting were at top programs in the US; no love from CA though...

 

[epoosh60]

Above average Steps, solid connections, lots of research.

My friend matched; he made connections since Day 1 and started research during 1st year. We were lucky in that our school had MD school(s) nearby, which allowed him to network. He presented at multiple conferences during his 4 years in medical school, he got several publications in the field, as well as a plethora of abstracts/posters. He also was heavily involved in our state medical society, as it allowed him to make connections with Opthos throughout the state. While he did not actually score above the average matched Step score, his passion was palpable. Organized several lectures series and symposiums - even inviting Optho attendings from really elite institutions to speak (I have no idea how he got this done...).

He also did 3-4 auditions, got a solid LoR, according to him, and ended up matching like 3rd on his rank list. The interviews he was getting were at top programs in the US; no love from CA though...

This is great motivation wow... Are you aware of your friend having an SDN account or if he'd be willing to be contacted regarding his pathway? I'm an OMS-I also doing ophtho research and I'd really like to put all my eggs in this basket. Thanks!