sara;
From what I understand, inorder to do any form of post-graduate training in any of the five states that require the AOA internship you must first do the internship, (dosen't matter where...). Even though you'll only have a temporary licsense your first year, most programs will require you to get a permanent liscense by PGY-2, that's when the AOA internship comes into play. In order to get a permanent liscense as a DO in FLorida you first need the AOA internship even if you are training in an ACGME program.
Although an extra year of training isn't all bad, it does pose some potential problems. The most obvious being an extra year of training to get to the same place as your MD collegues. The other problem is that of funding for the duration of training when you do start residency. With Medicare cut-backs, you are granted a certain number of years for residency funding depending on the training that you pursue. e.g.: OB/Gyn programs are four years, allowing four years of funding, however, if you do an AOA internship year, one year of funding has been used... This may mean problems for residency matching after your Internship year. If you go from AOA Internship to AOA residency, this isn't a problem. But obviously this is a contention in Florida as there are no AOA OB/Gyn programs there.
Isn't the AOA wonderful...
