specialties

[sarah_viola]

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To those of you who have applied to osteopathic schools, did you have a specialty in mind when applying? Did that come up in the application/interviewing process? All of the DOs I have spoken with are PCPs, and some use OMT, and it just seems like the mission statements of a lot of schools have to do with primary care. Was wanting to go into specialty medicine ever a hindrance in the application process?

 

[JMJ]

That depends on the school. Some don't like applicants who want to specialize, however there are some that don't mind. With a god GPA, MCAT, and extras, I would say not to worry so much. However, if you have a particular school in mind, i would suggest looking at their mission statement and finding as much info. as you can about the school. 😉

 

[Bevo]

the schools Ive interviewed at have pointed it out. I dont think its to your advantage at all to say you want to specialize. You can once you get in, but dont let them know.

The osteopathic doctor I got to shadow for a bit put it like this. You are trying to sell yourself. You are not misrepresenting yourself at all. But you have to sell yourself to what they want to hear. It could mean the difference between an acceptance and a waitlist or a waitlist to a rejection.

THey know people change their minds eventually and what we go in thinking isn't exactly what we'll think going out. THey have no say in what we do after med school.

I say tell them you want to do primary care. You dont have to want to, but say it anyways.

I think you gain more for it than anything else. But in the end its your choice.

 

[DrMom]

Originally posted by lmbebo
the schools Ive interviewed at have pointed it out. I dont think its to your advantage at all to say you want to specialize. You can once you get in, but dont let them know.

The osteopathic doctor I got to shadow for a bit put it like this. You are trying to sell yourself. You are not misrepresenting yourself at all. But you have to sell yourself to what they want to hear. It could mean the difference between an acceptance and a waitlist or a waitlist to a rejection.

THey know people change their minds eventually and what we go in thinking isn't exactly what we'll think going out. THey have no say in what we do after med school.

I say tell them you want to do primary care. You dont have to want to, but say it anyways.

I think you gain more for it than anything else. But in the end its your choice.

I agree.

At my school, they want to hear that you are willing to consider primary care and/or rural practice. That's not to say that you can't get in if you say "no," but it could certainly hurt your chances.

I was honest and said that I'm considering family practice, but that since I have a husband and daughter established in this city it is unlikely that I'd uproot them to have a rural practice. They said that that made sense.

DrMom's moral of the story: If you're going to tell them what they don't want to hear, it is best to have a good explanation for why you are doing so.

 

[luckystar]

During my interviews, I did say that I've always wanted to specialize, but I wasn't totally sure yet. They asked, and I gave them my honest answer. I guess I wanted to see their reaction, because if they were going to be outwardly negative about that, then I would have questioned whether that school was right for me. And I did get into those schools 😀

However, this all depends on the school, and the vibe you get from them, and during your interview, you can change your mind about how much to reveal if you're not comfortable. Just think it through and make sure you appear sincere no matter what you choose to say (ideally, you really would be sincere 😉 )

But yeah, there's a lot more to your application and interview than what you think you may be interested in at this point.

 

[irish79]

I think most schools will understand that you may believe you want to specialize now--but that you may change your mind once in school. I let schools know that I was interested in cardiology, at least right now. I also made it clear that this could change, that I might like something else once I entered by rotations. Most seemed to accept this answer. I have been accepted to every osteopathic school I applied to and a few allopathic schools--so this answer worked for me.

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

Going into medical school I believe that I want to go into a surgical specialty. Although, I know things may change while being exposed to medicine.

I probably want to go into OB/Gyn or General Surgery. During my interview at CCOM I was asked what I wanted to do. I knew that the answer every medical school applicant is supposed to give is "primary care". But since I have worked in surgery for so long, and since I didn't feel comfortable lying, I said that I probably wanted to do surgery. It didn't hurt that one of the interviewers was a surgeon himself.

Oh......there were 3 D.O.'s that I shadowed and did research with here in Los Angeles. One is an FP who does nothing but OMM. The second in an OB/Gyn who is on the admissions committee for a major allopathic school of medicine, and works in academic medicine there. And the third is an Oncologist who works in private practice in one of the most well respected oncology groups in the area.

So........I believe that there are no barriers to doing what you want to do in medicine if you go to an osteopathic school.

 

[sarah_viola]

Thanks for your input. I am concerned b/c a lot of my experience/knowledge is in psychiatry, and I feel that it is a strong part of my application, so if I were to not talk about my experiences and my lofty 🙂 career goals and instead say I want to practice rural primary care, I would have nothing to back it up. I feel like they might ask why I'm even applying DO when I want to go into a field that doesn't use OMT. I am trying to contact some psychiatric DOs in my area, but no luck thus far.

 

[DrMom]

Originally posted by sarah_viola
I feel like they might ask why I'm even applying DO when I want to go into a field that doesn't use OMT.

I doubt that this will be a big issue. There are so many DOs that don't use OMT. The skills you learn in OMT are useful in other specialties, anyways.

 

[Bevo]

i have yet to meet a DO who uses OMT. The clinic I was shadowing at had a lot of DO residents, TCOM grads, and none ever used OMT. The doctor who wrote my LOR said he never uses OMT, PCOM grad, and the anethesiologist I shadowed for an hour never used it either.

 

[PublicHealth]

The only time I saw a D.O. use OMM was to relieve pain in a resident's low back.

Anyone know why D.O.'s don't use OMM, even though the entire profession "hangs their hat" on this technique in distinguising osteopathic medicine from allopathic medicine?

PH

 

[Bevo]

I was told lack of time and interest

 

[Kritenoel]

I'd reccomend checking out residency match lists for the schools you're interested in - they often show a broad range of places and residency types. 🙂 [sidenote: UNE matched three to psy last year - the list ishere ]

I wouldn't worry about an adcom saying "well, she doesn't plan on using OMM - she doesn't stand a chance!" And, as a family friend who's a psychiatrist once reminded me - everyone goes through the same clinical rotations third and fourth year, no matter what school you're at and what you plan on doing for residency.

Public Health: My family physician uses OMM and I hope to incorporate it into my future practice. Please don't say that 'the entire profession "hangs their hat" on this technique ' -- I think it depends on where you are and who you are talking to. In my mind it does differentiate me from allopaths - not in an "I'm better then you are" or a "possible flame war starting" way. I know there are osteopaths who will never again use it, but there are some of us who will! 🙂