Osteopaths in surgery

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dkwyler94

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I read one of the old posts about DOs getting into MD surgery residencies, but there is one question I still had.

I have heard that surgery is old school, in that in order to take the boards, you not only have to complete the MD residency, but you have to have graduated from a MD school. I also understand that to take the AOA boards in surgery, you have to do a DO residency.

This would of course mean the only real option for a DO graduate is to do a DO surgery program. Does anyone know if this is correct.

I am only an MSII now, and haven't decided on any particular residency, but am considering surgery and am curious of any of these factors I should be considering.

Thank you.

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Surgeons who take the board examination to become certified through the American Board of Surgery will have completed their training through an allopathic (MD) general surgery program. Regardless of whether a surgical resident is an MD or a DO, so long as he has gone through an allopathic (MD) general surgery program accredited by ABS, he would take the allopathic boards.

Only DOs can take the osteopathic board exam in general surgery, but this is not through the American Board of Surgery and is not after having completed an allopathic general surgery program. A DO who wants to be boarded with the osteopathic equivalent of the ABS will have gone through a DO general surgery residency.
 
You'll find DO's in MD surgery programs and they would be boarded by the MD boards. It's getting to be more common. We had three DO's in my class match into ACGME-accredited surgery programs---the rest did AOA-accredited (osteopathic) surgerical residencies.
 
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Thanks for the replys. I was told from a DO surgeon that DOs couldn't take the MD surgery boards even after completing an MD residency, however he has been in practice for about 20-30 years, so he probably wasn't up to date on this.
 
I think 30 years ago few, if any, DO seniors would have matched to an MD surgical program. But today, in an era where general surgery has fallen out of favor with most medical students, MD or DO, it's not that uncommon but still relatively difficult for DO seniors to get into an allopathic general surgery program.

Interestingly one of the programs I recently received an interview from (a university program) simply carbon-copied the email to a group of applicants. From the list I noticed there were some DO seniors, mainly from NYCOM and PCOM. So a DO in an MD surgical program will probably become more common in the future.
 
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