Should I do this?

[allendo]

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I'm accepted to D.O. school for the fall! I've always wanted to be a D.O. and never really questioned it before reading this board. Should I reconsider being a D.O. b/c of the residency situation? I've always wanted to be IM/EM or FP/EM, not neurosurgery, ortho, or cards. Do you think It's a poor investment to go to D.O. school?

 

[Kevbot]

You are referring to the idea that it is harder for a DO to get a residency (I gather from your PM). I've heard just the opposite, considering we are able to apply too both osteopathic and allopathic residencies. I've also heard that every year there are osteopathic residencies that go unfilled. It may be that some area's have less available residencies than others. You'll have to find some statistics on your school and region to find out if that will be a problem for you.

 

[JohnDO]

Should I reconsider being a D.O. b/c of the residency situation? I've always wanted to be IM/EM or FP/EM, not neurosurgery, ortho, or cards. Do you think It's a poor investment to go to D.O. school?

You'll be fine with IM/EM/FP. There are plenty of allopathic and osteopathic opportunities for you.

 

[cremaster2007]

what people are complaining about is the fact that the DO match is earlier than the MD match, and if you match with any DO residency you are automatically withdrawn from the MD match even if you the DO program was 1,000th on your list of programs...........


to get around this you just don't enter the DO match and you just do the MD match.................the best part is you can rank your 3 highest DO and if you don't get them still try the MD match before you have to scramble...........

so I would say you are at an advantage being a DO, its just that most of us want a combined match so we can rank both MD/DO programs without having to worry about being accepted to our 8th DO choice when we could have gotten our 3rd MD choice but were withdrawn because the matches are at two different times.


I'm pretty sure what I just typed may be confusing, but do some research on the subject, from what it sounds like I think the AOA will eventually have to cave to pressure since almost everybody I talk to wants a combined match.....

 

[Pikevillemedstudent]

I'm accepted to D.O. school for the fall! I've always wanted to be a D.O. and never really questioned it before reading this board. Should I reconsider being a D.O. b/c of the residency situation? I've always wanted to be IM/EM or FP/EM, not neurosurgery, ortho, or cards. Do you think It's a poor investment to go to D.O. school?

First off, there are ZERO allopathic FP/EM residencies but there are a few AOA spots. So if you go MD you can't do FP/EM.

The residency situation is not bad at all. Alot of people make it sound more difficult than it is because they want the AOA to have a combined match. Believe me, with hard work, you can enter any specialty you want as a DO.

Poor investment? Hell no. You are going to make a six figure salary regardless of what field you enter. Not everyone with an MBA can say that.

If you feel like DO is for you, go for it. Don't let people on SDN change your mind.

 

[macman]

I'm accepted to D.O. school for the fall! I've always wanted to be a D.O. and never really questioned it before reading this board. Should I reconsider being a D.O. b/c of the residency situation? I've always wanted to be IM/EM or FP/EM, not neurosurgery, ortho, or cards. Do you think It's a poor investment to go to D.O. school?

Not a poor investment at all! Although PMS and I disagree on the combined match issue, I would bet we both feel pretty optimistic about our profession and the opportunities avil. to students.

If you want to do primary care, and have an open mind about OMM/OMT, you will be making great choice with osteopathy!