<p>Back in the day, 10+ years ago, when I began doing research on CC, it seemed like every year a thread would be started regarding this being the worst year ever for applications. Apparently qualified kids not getting in anywhere, or being denied everything from Ivies to their state flagship (anyone recall the excellent thread about Andi's son). Pretty much every year since, threads are begun in that same vein.</p>
<p>I have, unwisely perhaps, been reading on SDN about the match and in a many threads there is discussion of, you guessed it, the "worst year ever." Even when I check the dates and realize some of the threads are several years old.</p>
<p>However, it appears that our lucky kids, this year and over the next few years, will be in the bubble with the newly added medical schools increasing the number of US students in the match. Woo-hoo. Of course, there are more spots than their are US graduates, at least for now, so it is mainly the IMG/FMG kids who will struggle.</p>
<p>Well, that is a little refreshing to know. This might help a little with the shortage of doctors in this country.</p>
<p>No. The bottleneck step is residency, not medical school (since you can import incoming residents, but not incoming practicing physicians). Increasing medical school spots increases the proportion of physicians from the US, but does not increase the number of physicians.</p>
<p>From what I hear from psychiatrists I have shadowed, psychiatry isn’t that hard of a residency to break into for a good student and I’ve always known that I wanted to be a psychiatrist. So the whole finding a residency thing has never been much of a concern for me.</p>
<p>Psychiatry as a field is not competitive but the top programs are still very competitive</p>
<p>BDM- I get it, my Woo-Hoo was sarcastic. It would appear that there really will be a few ‘worst years’ coming up. Also, something about blending the MD/DO match into one? I have not researched the details, we’ll let the professional comment on that (WOWmom, that’s your cue), but that would be interesting.</p>
<p>If they are actually joining up DO/MD into one match, I assume that means any one could scramble/SOAP into either? Does that mean the 450 MD students who did not match or SOAP could possibly pick up a DO residency?</p>
<p>I was responding to mav #2. :)</p>
<p>I’m not completely familiar with all the details of the upcoming MD/DO match merger.</p>
<p>However, the merger agreement will permit DO residency programs to require that all match applicants to former AOA program be in compliance with their requirements for training in OMM and OPP. This means all allopathic applicants must take and successfully complete a course in OMM/OPP before they can begin a DO residency. Or perhaps before they can apply. This has not yet been fully worked out.</p>
<p>Sooooo…in theory MD students who didn’t match to an allopathic residency program could apply to osteopathic residencies during SOAP; in practice… maybe, maybe not.</p>
<p>It’s also still a matter under discussion whether osteopathic programs will continue to require a full year of rotating internship (rather like a transitional year for MDs) as part of their residency programs.</p>