Should one not apply DO schools if not intending to go into primary care

[deleted421268]

---

Members do not see this ad.

if one wants to keep other options open asides in going into primary care should they not bother applying to DO schools and just apply MD schools?

 

[HomeSkool]

if one wants to keep other options open asides in going into primary care should they not bother applying to DO schools and just apply MD schools?

No. DOs may have a higher rate of ending up in primary care, but osteopathic training does not limit one to those specialties. My best friend, my brother-in-law, and the guy I'm working alongside this evening are all DO anesthesiologists. I've known DOs in surgery, neurosurgery, urology, and a number of other competitive specialties. Please don't propagate the nonsense that DOs have limited career options!

 

[MareNostrummm]

Per Goro from another thread on DO specialties:

"Straight from the Program director's survey: those programs most willing to rank/interview DOs:
Emergency Medicine
Child Neurology
Transitional Year
Internal Medicine
Neurology
Internal Medicine/Pediatrics
Psychiatry
Anesthesiology
Pathology
Pediatrics
Family Medicine
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

A little less likely:
Rads
Ob/Gyn


Hardest to get into:
Vascular Surgery
Orthopaedic Surgery
Neurological Surgery
Otolaryngology
Plastic Surgery
Dermatology
Radiation Oncology
Surgery
Thoracic Surgery"

If you absolutely have to be a surgeon and you would never want to do anything else then it might be better to just apply MD.

 

[Goro]

if one wants to keep other options open asides in going into primary care should they not bother applying to DO schools and just apply MD schools?

If one has a 3.7+ GPA and an MCAT > 513, I tell 'em to apply to MD schools.

Other than that, beggars can't be choosy.

SDNers...gotta love 'em. Picking their specialities when they have yet to set foot in a med school.

About 40-45% of my grads for to specialties. That's about the same %s of the kids graduating from Pitt.

 

[atomi]

if one wants to keep other options open asides in going into primary care should they not bother applying to DO schools and just apply MD schools?

DO schools by and far and filled with people who could not get into MD schools.
There are a minority of students who want to do primary care and could have gone to MD schools, but chose the DO school.
I would only consider a DO school if you could not receive an MD acceptance, or in special circumstances, if you know you want to do primary care and have a geographic restriction that the DO school fits.

You can easily do primary care from an MD school. You cannot easily do any of the following from a DO school (if not near impossible): ENT, Urology, Neurosurgery, Ortho, Optho, Plastic Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Dermatology. You will need a connection and/or be in the top 1% in terms of board scores and research to match into these fields with a DO, and it will follow you throughout your career as the degree is stigmatized in these subspecialties.

 

[deleted916225]

My dad works with a brilliant DO who does orthopedic surgery.

 

[deleted922750]

You can easily do primary care from an MD school. You cannot easily do any of the following from a DO school (if not near impossible): ENT, Urology, Neurosurgery, Ortho, Optho, Plastic Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Dermatology. You will need a connection and/or be in the top 1% in terms of board scores and research to match into these fields with a DO, and it will follow you throughout your career as the degree is stigmatized in these subspecialties.

cite?

 

[mwsapphire]

And many of those that don't specialize right out of residency fellowship specialize later. It's not all doomy and gloomy.