what's the chance a DO will get a cardiothoracic residency?

[preludexl]

I'm curious as to how hard it is for a DO to get a residency in cardiothoracic surgery. I know there is nothing a DO isn't allowed to do, but then again I know that DO's don't necessarily get everything available that a MD might. And please post only if you know 1st hand or know someone who is a CT surgeon and is a DO doctor. Thx.

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[Atlas]

Although I have yet to see or hear of a CT DO, I must say it is not impossible. Here's why. By the time you apply for a CT fellowship, you'll have already completed 4 or 5 years of your surgical training. By this time, you are so far removed from school, it really depends on how well you did in your residency program, where you did your residency, letters of rec., any relevant research, etc and not so much on what school you went to. I think the cards of getting a super-competitive fellowship are in the hands of the individual. It is totally possible, but keep in mind that it is very difficult to get a fellowship like CT...even for MD graduates of Ivy league schools (which are highly over-rated! ). In the end, we are all doctors, DO or MD. As long as you are an excellent resident, the school you attended doesn't really matter, but may carry some weight when applying. Anything can be done, but it will be difficult.

 

[JS-UNMC]

I second what atlas has said. I recently went to the DO surgery convention and had the opportunity to talk to a lot of DO CT surgeons. Most had done their fellowships in MD institutions... ie, Cleveland Clinic, Texas Heart, etc.

 

[Jamier2]

I also second that emotion.

I know that the head of transplant surgery at Nebraska is a DO. He did a liver transplant surgery on my daughter five years ago, but I didn't find out that he was a DO until last spring. (I actually didn't know that there was such a thing until I found SDN)

I know it's not CT surgery, but I'm sure you can't just waltz into a position like he holds either.

 

[John DO]

Yes, I do know a DO completing a CT fellowship as we speak. He went to OSU-COM, not known as one of the best DO schools (although it is in my opinion), so name doesn't even matter by that point, just your performace on boards, residency, etc. I think you see less of them because CT surgery isn't exactly consistent with DO philosophy, so most DOs choose primary care (ie, they are not forced into primary care!).

 

[ts316293]

My classmate's dad is a CT surgeon in central Ohio. He went to a D.O. school and did a D.O. int/res in surgery and trained in Texas and Columbus for M.D. fellowship.

 

[kundun]

well, according to the aoa website 3 are currently in GME and 59 DOs in active status under the specialty of CT surgery...these are nation wide figures

 

[Atlas]

So let's say that there are 62 CT surgeons (DO) in the U.S. Although this number seems small, which it is, the field of CT surgery is also small. I would guess there would be about 60 or so CT surgeons that are DOs. This figure seems fair. But, it goes to show how difficult this field is in terms of getting into. It is by no means impossible for the "excellent" ones out there. Good luck.