Residencies in CA

Started by Isotopes
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Isotopes

Isotopes

Full Member
7+ Year Member
How difficult would it be to obtain a residency in radiology or internal medicine in California if I attend a DO school in Colorado (RVUCOM) without much connections to CA? Also is it impossible to become a dermatologist as a DO? What are the steps I need to take? Thank you!
 
1) I've heard it's difficult, but a lot of my students are from CA and many of those seem to go back there.
2) DO -> Derm? I'd say close to impossible, but not actually impossible. Acing USMLE, and publishing would be a requirement.


Isotopes said:
How difficult would it be to obtain a residency in radiology or internal medicine in California if I attend a DO school in Colorado (RVUCOM) without much connections to CA? Also is it impossible to become a dermatologist as a DO? What are the steps I need to take? Thank you!
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The problem with Do-> derm is I think with the merger it's one we're going to lose out on. Its already very very difficult, but I honestly believe with the merger It's going to be nearly impossible
 
Don't quote me on this, but DO to Derm is possible depending on the school. For example, VCOM seems to place 3-4 students each year into Derm which is crazy! How? Because they keep setting up their own Derm residencies and they have connections in that sense. Also, I keep trying to see who places into Derm from residency lists but it's nearly impossible because all the students must go through a transitional/traditional year first in order to place.

But for all those who thinks its impossible, it's not.... far from it. There's about 20 PGY-1 positions and 399 PGY-2+ positions for derm. Out of roughly 20,000 U.S. MD graduates means that around 2% match into Derm. As far as DO's go, we currently have around 4,900 graduates (roughly; ACGME and AOA combined) and around 56 AOA Derm positions. This equates to around 1.1% of DO's currently matching into Derm.

Now, how's the merger going to affect the AOA Derm positions, who knows? But seeing as how all the current PD's are DO's specialized in their fields, I doubt they will turn a blind-eye against all DO's. So who knows? But yea hope these numbers help put things into better perspective.
 
MADD!!! said:
Don't quote me on this, but DO to Derm is possible depending on the school. For example, VCOM seems to place 3-4 students each year into Derm which is crazy! How? Because they keep setting up their own Derm residencies and they have connections in that sense. Also, I keep trying to see who places into Derm from residency lists but it's nearly impossible because all the students must go through a transitional/traditional year first in order to place.

But for all those who thinks its impossible, it's not.... far from it. There's about 20 PGY-1 positions and 399 PGY-2+ positions for derm. Out of roughly 20,000 U.S. MD graduates means that around 2% match into Derm. As far as DO's go, we currently have around 4,900 graduates (roughly; ACGME and AOA combined) and around 56 AOA Derm positions. This equates to around 1.1% of DO's currently matching into Derm.

Now, how's the merger going to affect the AOA Derm positions, who knows? But seeing as how all the current PD's are DO's specialized in their fields, I doubt they will turn a blind-eye against all DO's. So who knows? But yea hope these numbers help put things into better perspective.
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I did a little research on the VCOM match list and the derm program and was surprised. This is one of those times dare I say, attending VCOM might give one an inside track into dermatology. For one, the dermatology residency is located in Blacksurg which is very close to the school. This gives the student the leg up in various ways, they get to meet the faculty, do research, maybe make connections (depending on how well the PD networks in the dermatology community). So although the sponsoring institution is not VCOM, it acts like a home department for the school. Here are the current residents of LewisGale Hospital derm program:

http://www.lghm-gme.com/#!blank-3/zotzk (2 of which are from VCOM)

However, I still feel that even with this "home" advantage, matching into dermatology is risky. So far only one dermatology program has been ACGME accredited and there are plenty of others that are so sketchy they know they won't survive accreditation, so they don't try. Right now around 30% of ACGME derm programs are willing to interview/rank DOs based on the 2014 PD survey (plus you don't know who actually interviews/ranks DOs or not). So even if 1.1% are making it, that number will definitely decrease due to the school expansions plus AOA residency decreases. So if one really wants derm, they have to make every sacrifice necessary, including location and investing an extra year of research. Even then, it is still a far reach.

Until the merger is done, we don't have an exact lay of the land view for matching.
 
Bottom line: no matter where you go (MD or DO) derm is a significant challenge.
 
This is just hearsay, but from what I have heard, there is a pretty strong in-state bias for people with ties to CA for residency here. I think it is possible but as everyone has said, Derm in CA will be VERY hard to get into, but even more so without state ties.
 
What about less competitive fields such as psychiatry/internal medicine? Or how about a job in CA after residencies?
 
Yeah for less competitive fields I don't think you will have a problem with residency placement in CA as there are quite a few community programs here. Also, there are almost 40 million people in this state so we definitely will need more doctors. You should be able to get a job no problem, especially in primary care.
 
FourniersGreenGang said:
Yeah for less competitive fields I don't think you will have a problem with residency placement in CA as there are quite a few community programs here. Also, there are almost 40 million people in this state so we definitely will need more doctors. You should be able to get a job no problem, especially in primary care.
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Thank you! 🙂
 
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