I was wondering if anyone could offer some wisdom on the topic of going to med school or osteopathic school, pros v cons, etc. I know there are plenty of other threads but I am mostly curious about the route for someone that wants to be an orthopedic surgeon. Is one significantly better than the other, is doing DO a good way to go if GPA and MCAT is not good enough for med school, where to apply etc. Hope someone can help me out!
If your GPA and MCAT aren’t quite ready for prime time at allopathic med schools, a DO program will probably be on your only chance of becoming a physician.
Orthopedics is an extremely competitive specialty – one where there are more applicants than there are training positions available. Currently only 2/3rds of US allopathic MDs who apply to ortho match.
Currently the AOA runs its own separate training residencies in orthopedics just for DO grads, but does not provide match data broken down by specialty. Assume that the percentage of DOs matching into ortho is lower than in the MD match simply because the AOA offers fewer ortho training spots than the ACGME does.
So far so good, but………
….starting in 2018 MD and DO Match unification will happen. This mean that all residencies will be open to all US med grads whether they are MD or DO grads. It means that standardized scores will become even MORE important and there will be an even larger number of applicants for the same (or more likely fewer) ortho training positions.
The most common assumption is it’ll be DOs who get pushed out of the competitive residencies, but really, no one knows what will happen.
Have we figured out yet if this means that formally allopathic only residencies are required to take DO students though? Like obviously they will be eligible but can they still have anti-DO bias?
The process is “on-going”–which no one knows how it’s going to shake out. I suspect some allopath PDs harbor/will continue to harbor an anti-DO bias, especially in regions where there is limited exposure to DOs. (Few practicing DOs and/or no DO schools.)
I missed this line
I assume it’s the foreign MDs who will be pushed out first, then the DOs, so if the decision is between US MD and DO, go MD, but if it’s between DO and foreign MD, go DO.
Things may be changing - there are two board certified DO orthopedic surgeons in my town (which I would have thought unimaginable 20 years ago).
Basically, if you manage to get in a residency and pass your boards, the pay will be the same regardless of whether you are an MD or DO.
Still, try for an MD first if you can.
Oh yeah, once you’re in residency, US MD vs. DO vs. Foreign MD is all wiped away. The bottleneck for ortho is definitely at the residency admission stage though and it will matter there.