Osteopathic Traditional Internship

[GreenEyedMonster]

I was curious what people thought about the Osteopathic Traditional Internship.

Today, the Residency Director at my student rotation told me that it would be a waste of time and I will regret selecting that path.

Currently, I am undecided on my choice of residency--I have it narrowed to two. I was going to do the Traditional year in 2003-2004 to fulfill Michigan's AOA credit and take time over the next few months to completely decided my field.

Is this a bad decision? Am I wasting my time? OR...am I going to be a better & stronger candidate when I apply for residency next year?

Let me know your thoughts...Thanks!!

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[gas-x]

i've never been much of a fan of osteopathic transitional programs mainly because of their hospital size, location, and pathology, pay/benefits. as far as the rotation requirements, they are pretty much the same as ACGME transitional. it's always some combo of IM, peds, surgery, ob/gyn, etc... i visited two programs in tx and was not very impressed. the hospitals were in communities, with little pathology. they usually pay less as well. if you plan on staying in michigan, you'll have to apply to DO programs. think about it...riverside hospital in michigan recently closed down completely. what's up with that? i would be wary of most DO programs, but that's just my bias.

 

[njdevil]

DO internships in the NJ/PA/DE are very common due to PA requirement. You are hard pressed to find a DO that hasn't fulfilled the requirement. Some hospitals are small, but quite a few large ones in the Area:

Christiana, Graduate, Crozer-Keystone, UMDNJ-kennedy system...and most pay high 30's. low 40's.

As for residencies, out here many AOA are linked to the internship to keep from adding a year to your training. But I know several people who found wonderful ACGME positions after that year and became chief in the long run.

One note: if you are thinking about acgme anesthiology/rad/pm&r..those are pgy-2 postions...so you need to apply for them at the same time as the internship.

 

[Stillwell]

PLEASE tell me that PA MD programs don't require the DO transitional year, because a couple of Michigan programs told me that (after I applied there and they had taken my money) and so Michigan is out of the question for me. I know the practice rights for those 5 states, etc, etc, but as far as residency I hope PA doesn't have that same rule. There are a couple programs in PA I am looking at. Anyone know???

Anyway I am forgetting about the transitional year. I think some programs harp on it a lot to keep people in the DO programs, but I don't think it's a big deal. But I am doing a specialty that doesn't have many DO programs, but does have many MD ones. But if I were doing primary care only, then I would do the 1 year and acually a whole DO residency. However, look into the dually accredited ones, there aren't a lot, but it's an option.