What is the difference?

[smn]

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I am trying to sort out which branch of medical education to apply to. I am leaning toward Osteopathic, but still confused and a little discouraged over the internship. From what I have read, the internship for Osteopathic grads is required, making the total education 5 years. On top of that would follow 3 more years of residency just for Family Practice? I have not yet found a similar requirement for Allopathic education. Furthermore, what is the difference between a fellowship, a residency and an internship? Any knowledge concerning this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[mx_599]

I am trying to sort out which branch of medical education to apply to. I am leaning toward Osteopathic, but still confused and a little discouraged over the internship. From what I have read, the internship for Osteopathic grads is required, making the total education 5 years. On top of that would follow 3 more years of residency just for Family Practice? I have not yet found a similar requirement for Allopathic education. Furthermore, what is the difference between a fellowship, a residency and an internship? Any knowledge concerning this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

It's hard for me to answer this question because I haven't even started. However, I wouldn't base my decision of MD/DO on that internship technicality. I think it all pretty much washes out in the end. If you do an Allo residency you might not even need to worry about that.

you should probably post this same thread in another more appropriate forum.

 

[redwings54]

I will give you my thoughts on what all this stuff is. Osteopathic students can do what is called a traditional rotating internship. This is the year after you finish medical school where you rotate through many different fields and increase your understanding in a more broad sense. Then you go onto your specific residency. You can apply for advance standing and enter into your PGY2 year or you can start fresh and complete a full residency. This would mean you would do three years total for residency for say family practice if you did a TRI and then applied for advanced standing. Or you can just do a traditional residency without the TRI for 3 years. A fellowship is a way to specialize more after your residency. It last from 1-3 or 4 years I think. An example would be a sports medicine fellowship for FP. As far as internships, I am not certain what those are, but I know that often residents are reffered to as interns. Hope that this helps

 

[dr.z]

I thought first year of residency is called internship.

 

[Taus]

The "Traditional Rotating Internship" is only required in 5 states. Off the top of my head all I can remember is PA (I'm sure someone will chime in w/ the other 4). However, and this is the major take home point, even in such states you can petition your first year of residency to count as your "internship year" (through proposition 42). In the other 45 states, osteopathic grads complete residencies just like their allopathic counterparts, and the first year is sometimes referred to as your internship (though it is literally your first year of residency). One can still choose to go through a traditional one year internship if he/she really wanted to, regardless of state, however because one doesn't have to do it, I see no reason to be in school for another year. As mentioned in the above post by Redwings, you can go directly from your internship year to your 2nd year of residency (PGY2).

FYI, the term "internship" came about to just mean the first year of residency for osteopaths and allopaths because around 30 years it was required of MD's and DO's in all states to complete a traditional one (correct me if I'm wrong here). After completing this one year internship, one could practice as a General Practicioner (GP) and forego any further medical training. As this rarely happens anymore, the first year of residency came to be called the internship year, or alternatively the "transitional year". Hope that helps...

 

[DrWiggles]

This may be a stupid question but is this internship another year of school that we have to pay tuition for or do we get paid like a resident?

 

[mx_599]

I am trying to sort out which branch of medical education to apply to. I am leaning toward Osteopathic, but still confused and a little discouraged over the internship. From what I have read, the internship for Osteopathic grads is required, making the total education 5 years. On top of that would follow 3 more years of residency just for Family Practice? I have not yet found a similar requirement for Allopathic education. Furthermore, what is the difference between a fellowship, a residency and an internship? Any knowledge concerning this topic would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

See...it is kind of confusing. After what the above posters wrote, that is why I told you to not really consider that a negative for DOs. In other words, like I said before, I would base your decision off of other criteria.
I wouldn't think of DO as holding you back a year.

 

[LVDoc]

As a D.O., you can enter either an osteopathic AOA accredited residency or an allopathic ACGME accredited residency. Currently, some programs are also offering dual accredited residencies.

In an osteopathic residency, the first year is usually a "traditional rotating internship" year. This year is incorporated into osteopathic GME because it is believed that it makes for a physician with a broader scope of knowledge and someone with more experience than a traditional PGY1 (providing a greater level of confidence to handle cases in the second year of residency). If you enter an osteopathic residency, you will not be wasting a year by doing the internship year. If an ACGME residency of the same specialty is four years, the analogous AOA residency will be a 1+3 type program (internship + specialty training).

This works in cases where the ACGME residency requires the PGY1 year to be an internship year; ie. Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology to name a few. Some residencies, like those of radiology, which are extremely competitive to enter, do not incorporate a rotating internship year at all.

When you enter the ACGME match (optional), you can either match for a PGY1 position or an advanced PGY2 position. If you fail to acquire an ACGME PGY1 spot, you will probably be forced to do an osteopathic internship year (assuming you can still find one, since the osteopathic match occurs 1 month before the allopathic match). In some cases however, you may have matched for a PGY2 spot, and you would immediately transfer into that year following completion of your internship. This works for residencies that will count your internship year as a traditional PGY1 year (or so I believe).

If you fail to match either ACGME PGY1 or PGY2, you can do an osteopathic internship year and attempt the match again for the following year. You may either match to a PGY2 position or you may be required to complete your PGY1 year all over again (in the latter case, you would be taking an extra year as opposed to the usual route).

There are five states that require an osteopathic physician to complete an osteopathic internship year (a traditional rotating internship) in order to acquire licensure and be able to practice lawfully. These are MI, FL, OK, WV, and PA. Under Resolution 42, you can petition your ACGME PGY1 year to be treated as an osteopathic internship year. From what I've read on here, it's more paperwork, but it's hardly ever rejected.

A fellowship is something you can choose to do after residency (ie. a cardiology fellowship after an internal medicine residency). The internship year, as stated in a previous post, is classically referred to as just the first year of residency.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. These things definitely look confusing at first, but I wouldn't really consider them to be negatives. Remember, D.O.'s can enter into either AOA or ACGME residencies. We have a lot of options. These misconceptions of the osteopathic internship year being an extra year only come into play if you consider transferring to an ACGME residency later on. In most cases, the place you transfer to will consider your OGME1 year equivalent to their PGY1 year.

 

[mx_599]

As a D.O., you can enter either an osteopathic AOA accredited residency or an allopathic ACGME accredited residency. Currently, some programs are also offering dual accredited residencies.

In an osteopathic residency, the first year is usually a "traditional rotating internship" year. This year is incorporated into osteopathic GME because it is believed that it makes for a physician with a broader scope of knowledge and someone with more experience than a traditional PGY1 (providing a greater level of confidence to handle cases in the second year of residency). If you enter an osteopathic residency, you will not be wasting a year by doing the internship year. If an ACGME residency of the same specialty is four years, the analogous AOA residency will be a 1+3 type program (internship + specialty training).

This works in cases where the ACGME residency requires the PGY1 year to be an internship year; ie. Internal Medicine and Anesthesiology to name a few. Some residencies, like those of radiology, which are extremely competitive to enter, do not incorporate an internship year at all.

When you enter the ACGME match (optional), you can either match for a PGY1 position or an advanced PGY2 position. If you fail to acquire an ACGME PGY1 spot, you will probably be forced to do an osteopathic internship year (assuming you can still find one, since the osteopathic match occurs 1 month before the allopathic match). In some cases however, you may have matched for a PGY2 spot, and you would immediately transfer into that year following completion of your internship. This works for residencies that will count your internship year as a traditional PGY1 year (or so I believe).

If you fail to match either ACGME PGY1 or PGY2, you can do an osteopathic internship year and attempt the match again for the following year. You may either match to a PGY2 position or you may be required to complete your PGY1 year all over again (in the latter case, you would be taking an extra year as opposed to the usual route).

There are five states that require an osteopathic physician to complete an osteopathic internship year (a traditional rotating internship) in order to acquire licensure and be able to practice lawfully. These are MI, FL, OK, WV, and PA. Under Resolution 42, you can petition your ACGME PGY1 year to be treated as an osteopathic internship year. From what I've read on here, it's more paperwork, but it's hardly ever rejected.

A fellowship is something you can choose to do after residency (ie. a cardiology fellowship after an internal medicine residency). The internship year, as stated in a previous post, is classically referred to as just the first year of residency.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. These things definitely look confusing at first, but I wouldn't really consider them to be negatives. Remember, D.O.'s can enter into either AOA or ACGME residencies. We have a lot of options. These misconceptions of the osteopathic internship year being an extra year only come into play if you consider transferring to an ACGME residency later on. In most cases, the place you transfer to will consider your OGME1 year equivalent to their PGY1 year.

great post 👍

 

[Taus]

I agree....LVdoc said it much better then me....he's dead on in his/her response

 

[DrWiggles]

Thanks so much 🙂