I just went through the process as a DO 2 years ago. I hope the following is helpful...
Hi there,
I am a 4th student at PCOM interested in applying to allopathic programs in PM&R. I was researching programs and have the following concerns:
-Most programs have an advanced track (beginning as PGY2) along with an integrated 4-year track.
As an osteopathic student, I'm planning to do a traditional rotating osteopathic internship for PGY1 so i can get licensed in all states (esp in PA and MI). However, for programs with a 4-year track in other states, I'm choosing both tracks. Is this a good idea?
Some of this was covered in earlier replies, but basically:
-unless things have changed significantly since I applied 2 years ago, there are not that many programs that have an attached pgy-1 year (ie categorical pm&r program) as an option
-the few that I came accross that did offer BOTH tracks as options gave you the choice of ranking both types of positions. Upenn was the only program that had a disproportionate amt of their spots as categorical, but they weren't high on my list (a discussion for another time...)
-The DO match occurs about 1 month before the MD match. Because of that, if you apply and match into a DO internship, you will essentially lose the option of applying to the 4-year/categorical PM&R programs. The match does not let you overlap years, and once you match into a DO internship year, you will not be eligable to match into a 4 year PM&R program. This is really not a problem whatsoever, as just about all PM&R programs have both options as I wrote above.
-Regardless of whether it's a good idea or not to do the DO internship for simplification of licensing, to the best of my knowledge a program that wants to rank you has no real reason to say "lets only rank him high in the categorical track.... forget him for the advanced" If they want you, they want you and vice versa
- Some programs require an ACGME-accredited transitional year. The internship programs i'm applying to (Crozer-Keystone, Cristiana, Mercy in PA) seem to be dually accredited.. are there programs that will turn you down if you match into an AOA program?
-I have never heard of any programs that require an AGCME transitional or prelim year (ie not accepting an AOA year). I know DO's in just about all of the top 15-20 PM&R programs and have never heard of it being an issue. I am not as familiar with west coast programs.... hopefully someone can give you some more input on that.
-Even if a program would "prefer" that you do an AGCME intern year.... by the time you know where you are doing your AOA intern year it is too late for them to change their mind about your rank. There may be a few days between when you match into a DO internship and when MD rank lists are due from programs, but unless they call you personally to ask...they don't know. And if they did do that and then changed their mind about your rank... that's just absurd.
-I'm not sure about the accreditation of Mercy and Christiana, but Crozer (Delaware County Memorial) is not dually accredited. It is an AOA program, and though I may be biased, it is THE best one in the northeast. Christiana is definitely a solid program, but was just too far for me to commute to. Lankenau is great as well, though much more of a pure medicine year. On a side note... Lankenau, Christiana and Delco seem to be the only AOA prelims in this area that consistantly fill through the match year-to-year
- I HAVE heard that programs in other fields (specifically Neuro and Optho) may require AGCME intern years....but not in PM&R
- Finally, are there some programs that will not allow you to apply for PGY2 spots as a 4th year med student?
Thanks!
I have never heard of any PM&R programs that don't let you apply as an MS4. I've heard that it can be like that for DO Derm programs and a few other random anecdotes, but not in the AGCME world.
Hope that helps and good luck with the match. There is certainly a solid precedent of PCOM grads matching into top PM&R programs.
