Obviously I'm going to be a doctor, but do you guys think academia is harder to penetrate via the DO route? I know in general as an employed or private practice physician, DO vs. MD doesn't really matter. But I had originally planned to have a distinguished career in academia with research and clinical combined. Will this be too much of an uphill climb? I will already need to score really well and better than MDs on the USMLE to land a good residency. I'm just afraid the DO will limit me too much down the road when it comes to a part of medicine (academia) that really puts emphasis on name/branding. A part of me feels like I would be smarter to focus on a clinical practice career and do well ("well" meaning not only financially but from a satisfaction standpoint) in that sector. Thoughts?
From what my experience talking with Ucsd medicine faculty, residency and fellowship are the times that really make or break if you'll enter academic medicine. So you should go into residencies that have protected research time (1-2 yrs) to build your CV and hopefully apply for a K99/R00 pathway to independence NIH grant. Winning these awards usually leads to the ability to enter a track position at a research university.
It IS possible to enter residencies with protected research time as a DO.
It also really depends on where you plan to be a professor of medicine (usually associate or assistant professor at first, you'll get the promotion if you get more funding). If it's Stanford, MD Anderson, Tulane, or some highly regarded research university then it will be very tough. But if you win a multi million dollar grant then perhaps that may change!
One of the reasons it's tougher for DOs is that research resources at most schools are limited. It's a biit harder to find PIs who could could provide you with that Cell or PNAS authorship that could launch your academic career. Not because the PIs are bad...but because resources are limited. DO schools only took in like 2-3% of the total nih funding for medical schools because we are a much smaller cohort of faculty.
When you think about it, many MD are associated with a university that has a PhD program in biomedical sciences, there's a tremendous amount of workforce (grad students, post docs, research scientists) there that most DO schools do not have.
I would say Rowan, Touro CA, KCU, Nova, DMU, and any of the state DO schools have good research behind them and should give you the opportunity to make yourself as competitive as possible to go into a residency that allows for research and also is a feeder for fellowship.
At the end I wouldn't drop your medical school acceptance. Sure it may be a tougher road to enter academic medicine but it IS doable.
Feel free to PM me as this is a route I want to enter as well.
