Rotating Internship

[ArcherM2]

Quick Question: I was just perusing a general surgery residency site for a program in Western Pennsylvania and I found the following:

If you are an Osteopathic Medical School graduate, aside from the above documentation your application must include: 1. Proof of completion of a one year rotating internship or if still in progress, a letter from your current rotating internship director which should include your status in the program and the anticipated completion date. This internship year is required due to the Pennsylvania State Board of Osteopathic Medicine's rule to obtain an unrestricted license

Does this mean I absolutely have to do an osteopathic rotating internship for all programs in Pennsylvania or is this something I can get "waived" by appealing to the AOA? I would prefer to just apply for a categorical position and avoid all of this confusion. Anyone out there with advice? Thanks in advance for your help!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tkim]

I applied to an allo EM program in PA, and what it boiled down to was people appealed (Article 42), did a month of FM as their elective rotation, and were granted a waiver and got their licenses.

However, if you did not do this, and were denied your appeal, you could basically not practice medicine in PA as a DO. This was a downer for me, as I wanted to moonlight later on.

 

[ArcherM2]

However, if you did not do this, and were denied your appeal, you could basically not practice medicine in PA as a DO. This was a downer for me, as I wanted to moonlight later on.

The impression I was under is that if you eventually wanted to practice medicine in PA or moonlight during residency that you needed to jump through these hoops, but not to complete your residency in PA and practice in another state.

 

[tkim]

In PA there seems to be only two ways to get licensed as a DO: 1) AOA rotating internship 2) Article 42 waiver.

I'm in a NY allo residency, and contemplating applying for the waiver. But what others have told me is that I would have to do a month of FP during one of my elective months in order to satisfy their requirements. It may seem like a small price to pay, but I'm leaning towards not doing it, as a month of FP will do very little towards my specialty.

 

[CorpusERdoc]

The impression I was under is that if you eventually wanted to practice medicine in PA or moonlight during residency that you needed to jump through these hoops, but not to complete your residency in PA and practice in another state.

This is true, but you won't be able to obtain a license and moonlight while in PA.

 

[ArcherM2]

Well it's almost a year later and I was about to post the same exact post except for the fact that my own post was returned in the search.

Anyone with any additional thoughts? I'm not looking to moonlight during residency and I plan on eventually practicing in New Jersey. As I've started to make my rough ROL, it is becoming clear that the program in Western PA I'm interested in is likely going to be at the top of my ROL unless there is an issue with the rotating internship.

I would apply for resolution 42, but there is no way I can meet the requirements for it as a surgical intern. Should I apply and keep my fingers crossed? My argument to the AOA would be that I'm going to be in a general surgery residency for 5 years and then pursue a fellowship whose college (the ABTS) does accept physicians who trained outside of an ACGME program. With residency, plus fellowship, I'm looking at 8 years of training and would rather it be 8 than 9.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[bravotwozero]

Also, what if you do an allo residency in one of the 5 states that is NOT Michigan, and get it approved via resolution 42, and then move to Michigan to practice? I know that they don't accept resolution 42 if you do an allo residency in Michigan, but what if you do so out of state? Would you be able to get licensed there?

 

[peppy]

I know that they don't accept resolution 42 if you do an allo residency in Michigan

How did you find out that they don't? That's news to me, as a dean at my school assured me that this option is indeed available and my understanding is that a significant number of people in MSU's 2008 class went the Resolution 42 route.

 

[bravotwozero]

How did you find out that they don't? That's news to me, as a dean at my school assured me that this option is indeed available and my understanding is that a significant number of people in MSU's 2008 class went the Resolution 42 route.

Really? well, that is news to me! It's just that I keep seeing posts about it on sdn all saying that michigan programs don't approve resolution 42.

Did the grads in your MSU 2008 class that went res 42 all do their residencies in MI?

 

[peppy]

Unfortunately it appears I have deleted the email I had from last year's match about where the class ahead of me wound up, but my understanding was that yes a lot of them were staying in MI and using Resolution 42 thanks to the new rules that eliminated the hardship requirements for approval (that may have been a barrier before since we do have so many DO programs here).
Since I am interested in a few allopathic programs here in MI, I've talked to a number of people about this, and while nobody has made an explicit promise that I'll get approved for Resolution 42, nobody has indicated that Michigan makes it harder than any of the other 5 states. I would love to believe that it is in fact as easy as it seems to be in other states (the programs in PA seem to be very good about getting Resolution 42 approvals for whatever reason). I'd love it if someone could give us a more definitive answer on the topic of whether Michigan is a bigger challenge than the other states...anyone out there know for sure?

 

[group_theory]

If you get your ACGME PGY1 year approved by the AOA via Resolution 42, basically you have an AOA approved intern year and thus satisfy the requirement for unrestricted licensure by the 5 states that require them

There is no longer the exceptional circumstances requirement for approval - you just need to complete the rotational requirements (either the traditional rotating requirements OR the specialty requirements)

http://www.do-online.org/pdf/sir_ogme1core.pdf

I personally think the specialty requirements are ridiculous and that no ACGME intern (in whatever field) can satisfy the requirement and that the simplest way is to satisfy the rotating requirements.


Michigan have been traditionally the hardest of the 5 states for DO students to match without having done Resolution 42 first OR an AOA intern year first. I'm not sure if it is because the programs do not want to go through the hassle of re-arranging your PGY1 schedule so that you can get Res 42 approval or if the state osteopathic board requires an AOA intern year before granting a training license. In the other 4 states, you can easily match into an ACGME program and if you don't pursue Resolution 42 (or get denied), it won't affect your residency (just your job search and moonlighting potential)

 

[treasurefull2]

If you get your ACGME PGY1 year approved by the AOA via Resolution 42, basically you have an AOA approved intern year and thus satisfy the requirement for unrestricted licensure by the 5 states that require them

There is no longer the exceptional circumstances requirement for approval - you just need to complete the rotational requirements (either the traditional rotating requirements OR the specialty requirements)

http://www.do-online.org/pdf/sir_ogme1core.pdf

I personally think the specialty requirements are ridiculous and that no ACGME intern (in whatever field) can satisfy the requirement and that the simplest way is to satisfy the rotating requirements.


Michigan have been traditionally the hardest of the 5 states for DO students to match without having done Resolution 42 first OR an AOA intern year first. I'm not sure if it is because the programs do not want to go through the hassle of re-arranging your PGY1 schedule so that you can get Res 42 approval or if the state osteopathic board requires an AOA intern year before granting a training license. In the other 4 states, you can easily match into an ACGME program and if you don't pursue Resolution 42 (or get denied), it won't affect your residency (just your job search and moonlighting potential)

I just want to confirm what you said, because this is a BIG deal.

You are saying that if I enter an allopathic residency in one of the five states (i'm in PA) and DO NOT have my internship AOA approved that I CAN still complete the residency???

I had just gotten off the phone with the AOA about this and they said that in PA my allopathic residency will not be approved IF my internship year is not AOA approve (ie, i don't apply for resolution 42 or it is denied).

Is what I was told on the phone right or is it totally wrong???