Need real advice... bad

[Spoonbig21]

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Hello everyone! I've searched for awhile now and can't find the answer to this question so forgive me if it is in a thread somewhere. I was thinking of applying DO this cycle and thought I heard somewhere that after med school DO's need to get a MD internship and residency to get a good job later. Is this true? Is there anything more difficult in getting a job at a hospital or private practice if you are a DO that went to a DO residency? I'm particularly interested in neurology, pathology, ophthalmology or orthopedic surgery. Are these specialties harder for DO's? My stat's are cum and sci GPA 3.7, MCAT PS 8, VR 8, BS 13 WS M. I'm mainly interested in VCOM, PCOM, NOVA, NYCOM and TOUROCOM. Thank you for any feedback, it is very much appreciated!!

 

[AdemTD]

Hello everyone! I've searched for awhile now and can't find the answer to this question so forgive me if it is in a thread somewhere. I was thinking of applying DO this cycle and thought I heard somewhere that after med school DO's need to get a MD internship and residency to get a good job later. Is this true? Is there anything more difficult in getting a job at a hospital or private practice if you are a DO that went to a DO residency? I'm particularly interested in neurology, pathology, ophthalmology or orthopedic surgery. Are these specialties harder for DO's? My stat's are cum and sci GPA 3.7, MCAT PS 8, VR 8, BS 13 WS M. I'm mainly interested in VCOM, PCOM, NOVA, NYCOM and TOUROCOM. Thank you for any feedback, it is very much appreciated!!

You might get an MD acceptance with your 29, but it might be harder with 2 8s...or are you opposed to getting an MD degree? Anyway, to get a "good" job, as long as you're an outstanding candidate, I don't think having done a DO residency is going to work against you. Also, there are plenty of DOs in those specialties that you mentioned you were interested in.

 

[Spoonbig21]

I'm not opposed to MD, I actually just applied MD last cycle and I'm still on two wait list. But even before I read all of the ridiculous stigmas about DO's I thought that the philosophy made sense. If I could be successful in one of those specialties I would be very happy. I just don't want to feel like I have to do way better than an MD student just because he/she is an MD student. I will, of course, do my best in med school. I just don't want to be at a disadvantage, especially since I don't feel DO's are any different than MD's as far as medical skill and knowledge is concerned. A good doctor is a good doctor.

 

[jmanpatsfan]

You are absolutely right, a good doctor is a good doctor. The only place the DO stigma exists is in the undergraduate and pre-medical community. If you do well on the boards and land a good DO residency, no professional will think twice. You can be the same surgeon or whatever specialist you want to be coming out of a DO residency as you will from an MD one.
Of course there are real people behind what I just said.

 

[KTownGT]

Doesn't really matter for the most part; most of the veterans here always parrot the same general idea, "Do well on your board exams, and you'll be fine."

A couple docs I've been going to for years have been DO, and I couldn't tell a difference between them and an MD unless they wear lab coats.

I think a bulk of the people will agree if you want to go into a very, very competitive residency(Plastic Surgery, Derma, dermpath(?)) going MD is slightly better because more prominent doctors/professors can write a students recommendation letter.

 

[spicedmanna]

Doesn't really matter for the most part; most of the veterans here always parrot the same general idea, "Do well on your board exams, and you'll be fine."

Well, I'm one of those veterans... I agree for the most part, meaning I think that performance and spending elective time with a given program matters more. However, it's sometimes not as simple as that. If you want to match into a competitive allopathic program, you are going to want to take the USMLE Step 1 (and maybe even Step 2, sometimes), in addition to the COMLEX. The main issue is that a lot of these programs screen their applicants based on USMLE score and the committees can't (or won't) readily correlate your COMLEX with the USMLE. I can certainly understand that position. It's an additional hoop we sometimes have to jump and it does in fact involve more work when you are studying for boards, especially if your school curriculum isn't geared towards the USMLE. I'm not talking merely taking the USMLE, either; if you are going to take it, you should try to do well. Many people jump this hoop just fine, but I thought you should know that before signing on.

A couple docs I've been going to for years have been DO, and I couldn't tell a difference between them and an MD unless they wear lab coats.

This is true pretty much across the board.

 

[Spoonbig21]

Well, I'm one of those veterans... I agree for the most part, meaning I think that performance and spending elective time with a given program matters more. However, it's sometimes not as simple as that. If you want to match into a competitive allopathic program, you are going to want to take the USMLE Step 1 (and maybe even Step 2, sometimes), in addition to the COMLEX. The main issue is that a lot of these programs screen their applicants based on USMLE score and the committees can't (or won't) readily correlate your COMLEX with the USMLE. I can certainly understand that position. It's an additional hoop we sometimes have to jump and it does in fact involve more work when you are studying for boards, especially if your school curriculum isn't geared towards the USMLE. I'm not talking merely taking the USMLE, either; if you are going to take it, you should try to do well. Many people jump this hoop just fine, but I thought you should know that before signing on.

Do you have to match into an MD program to be competitive for jobs? Is it basically a given when you go DO that you'll have to take the USMLE? Is the USMLE that different from the COMLEX?

 

[spicedmanna]

Do you have to match into an MD program to be competitive for jobs?

No. There's almost no discrimination that way. You are going to be judged primarily based on your clinical ability.

Is it basically a given when you go DO that you'll have to take the USMLE?

This is somewhat hard to answer objectively. I mean, if you want to apply to allopathic residencies, then, yes, you should absolutely take the USMLE in addition to the COMLEX. It'll broaden your chances and the programs that you can be successful in matching. If you want to stick to relatively non-competitive programs and/or AOA programs, then you don't need to take the USMLE. The thing is, there's a perception out there that allopathic programs are better and a lot of them are located in better geographic areas. Right now, the statistics show an alarming trend where a significant number of graduates from osteopathic medical schools are choosing allopathic programs. Make of that what you will.

Is the USMLE that different from the COMLEX?

Again, not an easy question to answer objectively. I will have to say that they are different in several ways. Based on the question banks I'm using to prepare, I'd say that the USMLE is a more of a test of thinking, where you are expected to reason out your answer based on basic science facts; it's a test of mechanisms. It's not enough to know what, you have to know why. Also, the USMLE-type questions have been significantly more molecular in nature, with more lab and even theoretical type information being integrated. The vast majority of USMLE-style questions are short clinical vignettes. The COMLEX-style of questions appear to be more straightfoward and knowledge-based. There are clinical vignettes, which have several questions following the vignette, independent questions, and matching. The questions can be tricky, too, though, and there are always going to be stuff that nobody will know. The COMLEX also has OMT material, which isn't on the USMLE at all. The scales are different between the two, so it's difficult to equate them on that basis as well.

 

[Mohammed1989]

So I'm assuming neurological surgery and neurology will be hard to match if a DO doesn't have high step 1 and step 2 scores? If that's the case I better study my a** off in med school.

 

[beckhunter116]

So I'm assuming neurological surgery and neurology will be hard to match if a DO doesn't have high step 1 and step 2 scores? If that's the case I better study my a** off in med school.

Neurology isn't one of the competitive residencies so you should be fine. Neuro-surgery is very competitive, but don't forget that there are DO residencies that only DO's can apply to.

 

[Mohammed1989]

Neurology isn't one of the competitive residencies so you should be fine. Neuro-surgery is very competitive, but don't forget that there are DO residencies that only DO's can apply to.

Really? I was so unaware of that! Now I have to do more research if you can please tell.

 

[beckhunter116]

Really? I was so unaware of that! Now I have to do more research if you can please tell.

I know I read about that here in the neurology forum, but from googling it I get this stuff.

http://www.medfriends.org/specialty_info.htm

http://residency.wustl.edu/medadmin...be07f359e5b490ec86256f8f007326d7?OpenDocument

I hope that second link works.

Of course residency popularity kind of goes in phases so take all of this with a grain of salt.

 

[Mohammed1989]

I know I read about that here in the neurology forum, but from googling it I get this stuff.

http://www.medfriends.org/specialty_info.htm

http://residency.wustl.edu/medadmin...be07f359e5b490ec86256f8f007326d7?OpenDocument

I hope that second link works.

Of course residency popularity kind of goes in phases so take all of this with a grain of salt.

Gee thanks for the sites. 👍 I sure do got some research to do, actually a lot now. Get all the info I can.