west coast rotations for DO's?

[solie]

Hi everyone,

I posted this message on the Osteopathic forum, but it's not getting any replies there, so I hope you don't mind the cross-post.

I'm really interested in eventually practicing somewhere on the west coast, to be close to my family. I'm thinking especially of the Seattle area.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knows if it's difficult to set up rotations as a DO in Washington state, or even in northern California or Oregon. I've heard that it's best to try and do rotations in hospitals where you'd eventually like a residency position, so this is what I'm thinking about trying to do.

I've noticed, however, from the match lists I've seen, that the number of DO's ending up in these areas is very small. Is this because people just don't want to practice there (want to return home to other states) or is it because it's hard for DO's to find positions there?

I'd appreciate any thoughts at all on this.
Thanks!

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[deleted6669]

eastmorland hospital in portland, oregon is an osteopathic hospital and has an fp residency for do's and rotations for students.
good luck

 

[deleted6669]

one more thing to mention... touro college of osteopathic medicine is in the bay area and has lots of regional connections for rotations.check out their website.hope that helps-e

 

[AJM]

Well, I guess it depends if you're looking to do a DO residency or an MD residency (or if you're considering both). If you are thinking about an MD residency at all, try some of the MD schools. It's actually not too difficult to set up rotations on the West Coast, it's just that there aren't nearly as many programs out here as compared to the East Coast.

Here are some starters:
Seattle area: try the University of Washington website at <a href="http://depts.washington.edu/visitstu/visitstu.html" target="_blank">http://depts.washington.edu/visitstu/visitstu.html</a>

UW has some amazing hospitals you can rotate through. Harborview Medical Center, one of UW's teaching hospitals in Seattle, is a huge county hospital that is a wonderful environment to learn at. To do a rotation there, you have to apply through UW.

Oregon: Oregon Health Sciences University also has some great programs, and you could maybe rotate at one of them. Their site address is <a href="http://www.ohsu.edu/som-student/" target="_blank">http://www.ohsu.edu/som-student/</a>

Northen CA: The MD schools up here are Stanford, UCSF, and UC Davis. Each school has multiple affiliated hospitals, some with their own residency programs, that you could rotate at. I know that it's not that difficult to arrange for a visiting rotation at Stanford hospital or one of it's affiliates. Even though Stanford says that they will only accept students from LCME-accredited school, there are an increasing number of DO students that have been rotating through Stanford hospital now that Touro has been up and running. So they will likely make an exception if you ask them about it (or they might not even notice)
Here are the Northern CA websites:
Stanford: <a href="http://www.med.stanford.edu/osa/visiting/" target="_blank">http://www.med.stanford.edu/osa/visiting/</a>

UCSF: <a href="http://www.som.ucsf.edu/som/education/medstudents/elective/visiting/" target="_blank">http://www.som.ucsf.edu/som/education/medstudents/elective/visiting/</a>

UC Davis: <a href="http://medome.ucdavis.edu/ome/records/XTERN.htm" target="_blank">http://medome.ucdavis.edu/ome/records/XTERN.htm</a>

Last but not least, check the Touro website for it's affiliate hospitals.

Hope this helps!

 

[solie]

Thanks ajm!
I'm most likely looking at doing an MD residency. Your post helps out tremendously!

 

[docab]

All the community hospitals in Portland that have residency programs in Internal Medicine also accept 4th year DO/MD med students for rotations (i.e. St. Vincents, Providence and Good Sam/Emmanuel). The same is probably true for the programs in Seattle such as Virginia Mason. Although I can't say it holds for true all around, I found that university programs charge $$ to do rotations even if they set you up at a community hospital. However, if you contact the community programs directly, it's free (and probably less hassle too).