So either I’ve been under a rock for the past few years or as dense as Osmium (or under an Osmium rock…)
I digress, anyways…
RVU-COM is in Parker, Colorado, I did not know this. However, I also did not know that this school is considered a “for profit” university. According to Wiki, they have received large sums of Federal grant money to educate and train the next generation of primary care physicians.
My question is this:
Is there any truth to the claim that most DO schools specialize in churning out primary care physicians and have a negative lean towards those applicants that wish to do something other than primary care say emergency medicine, critical care, Gen Surg, etc…
I don’t know but given the founder of this site and a Dartmouth educated anesthesiologist, AND a DO, I’d say no.
Most DO schools are for-profit institutions. DO schools train for all specialties.
Cheers,
Judy
- jcolwell Said:
Most DO schools are for-profit institutions. DO schools train for all specialties.
Cheers,
Judy
Cheers,
Judy
The only DO school that is for profit is RVU. Most DO schools my be private but that doesn't make them for profit.
As afar as mentioning that you want something rather than family practice, I always said I wanted EM but that I didn't know what med-school would bring. As a matter of fact most of the DO's I interviewed with weren't FP, one that I interviewed with was the first DO plastic surgeon.
Julio,
I can’t speak for DO schools in general, but I can speak from experience as a 3rd year DO student. I know that many of my classmates were admitted with great desires for fields other than primary care. I know people who aspire to be specialty surgeons, opthalmologists, dermatologists, etc. It did not seem to be a problem for them getting in to this DO school. Nor did I feel any pressure to direct myself towards a primary care field from my school. But it is important for you to be realistic and realize that many residencies do discriminate against DO students, assuming that you are only there because you couldn’t get into an MD school. I have also seen members of my class who know that realistically, they aren’t good candidates for exclusive specialties, and have chosen instead to go into a primary care field that will still fill their individual desires. If you want a career in some field that is hard to break into, you have to be sure that all your board scores and LORs are impeccable, and that you are a shining example of the person everyone wants to work with. Good luck!
Sincerely, Jean
Remember as well that primary care covers Family Practice, Internal Med, Peds and OBGYN. You can also do a fellowship after an IM Residency for example and end up as a Pulmonologist or Hematologist/Oncologist.
There are regularly surveys of the all residency directors in each specialty (ACGME allopathic) that I have read. One series of questions I have seen across several of them, particularly EM and IM is listing the top 20 factors, in order of importance, when considering a candidate for residency.
Usually the top are USMLE/COMLEX score, audition rotation, etc. In the 3 or 4 that I read, the “school type” (MD or DO consistently was 14 to 16 in factor, so in the bottom 25% of importance.
However, looking at from as a sociologically, you, residency selection has the effect of small group dynamics (ie, small number of people involved in both selection and function of group) which typically amplifies any informal or structural bias.
By informal I mean, letters of recommendation and networking. If the residency director your being reviewed by was a classmate, residency-mate, or in the same hospital as say your med school dean or department head, he/she may give an LOR much more weight. Since it is more likely an MD who knew another MD, that would give MD candidates an advantage.
There can be speculated some “bias” (mostly unintentional) on USMLE over COMLEX, though I have no data to show that. Certainly, those DO who decide to take USMLE in addition COMLEX have some structural disadvantage, such as preparing for a second exam, going to a school that emphasizes a different exam, etc, which to me explains more of the typical lower score on USMLE by DO then any inherent less knowledge or skill factor. Perhaps a better way to say it the “culture” of allopathic school indoctrinates students with the style of the USMLE. DO school does the same with COMLEX. Subtle difference perhaps but affects students more than they realize.
One thing that med students should be aware is the networking, LOR, audition rotations, how to be successful in clinical rotations, etc all matter greatly when applying to residency. These are items that both DO and MD can work on to help their chances of getting into residency.
All primary care specialties have fellowship tracks, and many primary care residents, DO and MD alike, go on to subspecialize. I wouldn’t base a decision to choose allopathic over osteopathic solely on concerns of getting into a competitive residency. As with everything else you do in your OPM journey, you have to look at the bigger picture.
Richard alluded to bias toward USMLE scores vs COMLEX and I have to agree; therefore I still recommend DOs take both exam series and apply through both matches, unless you’re absolutely sure you’re only going to family med in an AOA-only residency.
Both allopathic and osteopathic schools are “churning out” students. US residency positions are largely funded by Medicare, so you can see where we’re all headed…many more med school graduates going for the same number, if not fewer, residency positions. Even primary care is not a done deal without good board scores, transcripts, LORs and PS.