Thank you for subbing! And please don't stress about the match process....honestly for me, the hardest part of this journey was getting into medical school! I plan to do more videos for premeds in the future, so stay tuned 🤗
Depends on the cause of your gap year, and I don't have enough experience to speak on that end, but as an IMG you can definitely go for plastics. There are a large number of IMGs in just my program alone. Plus, a lot of students take gap years in medical school for research to enhance their apps, so having one doesn't necessarily mean you won't match.
Thank you again for sharing Dr. Ward. I am currently a rising 3rd year medical student preparing for my STEP 1 exam. I have had to delay my clinical clerkships and I am in the grind of studying. I appreciate your honesty, encouragement and constant support for your viewers. Definitely needed this and I look forward to following you on your journey Dr. Ward!!
Thank you for watching! Just remember delay does not equal denial, and hit the ground running with your studying. You've got this, and I'm rooting for you!
Can you make a video going over your ERAS application so we can see how exactly it looks to be a competitive resident. I missed up alot in undergrad and i don't want to mess up again in medical school. I'm starting at Osteopathic school soon and want to make sure im setting myself up for success
Absolutely! Imo, the ERAS app was pretty bare bones compared to my CV, but I can definitely make a video discussing what programs look for in a competitive applicant
Hello ma'am how're you doing just came across your video now for the first time I'm a 200 level human anatomy student hoping to venture into osteopathic medicine Seeing your videos even makes it better plus you are sooooo beautiful
Great that you got in, but the statistics don't lie. While DOs can match into any residency, they are most likely not going to at anywhere near the same proportion as MDs. For example, this most recent match only had 3 DO (1.4%) match into plastics (integrated) compared to 188 MD (88.3%). In fact, no DO matched into plastics (integrated) last year. Like you mentioned, there could be some stigma against DOs. However, most DO schools cannot give the sheer amount of resources (committed rotations, research opportunities, notable/well known connections, etc) that MD schools can which gives them a huge leg up. A DO plastic surgeon is every bit as great as an MD, no question. However, the issue is for a DO student to get to be that plastic surgeon. Generally, if a pre-med wants to match into a competitive specialty, they should go to a MD school. However, this doesn't account for their preference or if they have the stats to get accepted into one (which is generally why they go the DO route). Moreover, there is an overwhelming trend for DOs to go into IM, FM, etc.
I think you're overlooking the fact that a lot of DOs simply aren't applying which could be why the numbers are so low as well. It is correct that no DO matched last year, but if you look at the numbers, only 5 DOs actually applied to plastic surgery. I hate that they count themselves out before they even start, but negative perceptions definitely don't help. I also absolutely don't believe you need to go to an MD school to match competitively. At the end of the day, the work needs to be put in whether MD or DO.
@@minoritydoctor I did state that most DOs go the IM, FM, etc route. 16 applied not 5. A large reason can be that those in DO schools already have a large preference for the aforementioned fields, don't see themselves as competitive based on their app and resources, and that DO schools' curriculum is largely family/internal/etc medicine focused by design. Like I mentioned, you don't have to go into an MD school to go into X specialty, but you have an overwhelming leg up be it bc those in MD are already higher achieving, resources from their schools, notable mentors, etc. That's what pre-meds should consider when deciding MD vs DO. For example, I am currently interested in neurosurgery (neuro-oncology and/or neuro-vasculature), and the resources and well known staff at my school will prepare me well. I have a research project that will hopefully lead to a patent and into a great journal as well as other research project opportunities in spades while I know that's not the norm in a DO school.
At the end of the day, programs want to make sure they don't go unfilled as well, so a lot of times they tell students anything to get them to rank. Major reason why I say don't trust the "love" these programs may give and only rank where you want to be
You're not telling the whole truth. There must be something very wrong with your background or interviewing skills if everything you've said in this video is true. Nobody applies to 300+ programs and gets one acceptance...lol Its actually not possible unless there is something very wrong with the applicant.
Hi, thanks for watching and for your comment! I can tell from your comment that you lack some basic comprehension skills and don't understand the residency process, so I'll try to help you out: 1) My major red flag was being a medical school graduate. Many programs will screen and only look at medical students...I was a couple of years out 2) When I applied to medical school as a student, I couldn't afford to apply to a lot of schools which definitely hurt my chances. I didn't apply to 300+ until I was working as essentially an attending physician and had the money to apply to a mass amount 3) I'm a DO, and unfortunately, we still receive some discrimination when it comes to competitive subspecialties. Out of hundreds to match into plastics my year, only 2 DO med students matched and I was the only grad to match. 4) You don't get an "acceptance" into residency, you "match" through a crazy lottery process. And you can only match into ONE program. If you watched my video, I said I received 2 interviews (which is a high number for plastics given the "red flags" noted above). 5) I was actually a very strong applicant which is how I eventually matched into plastics. I was med student of the year at my institution, received one of the highest awards given to a student at my school, served as National President of a major organization (so great communication and interpersonal skills), and honored my clinical rotations. Unfortunately, the match process is a lottery of sorts and excellent candidates go unmatched every year. So, in a nutshell, it actually IS possible, and obviously I'm proof of it. There's also nothing "wrong" with me (outside of not being able to refrain from calling out random people on the internet who say I'm a liar). If you're just now discovering me through RU-vid, feel free to check out my "Aspiring Minority Doctor" blog where my entire journey from premed to now is detailed. Also, feel free to Google me (Dr. Danielle Ward) if you don't believe anything I wrote above about myself. Wishing you all the best!
Black women medical students are more likely to have repeat attempts at being matched. It’s inspiring to know is possible though. It’s wild that after all of everything in order to become a doctor there’s still more hunger games like situations to fight through
This was awesome. I appreciate you making this video. I’m a brother from Boston and I want to study interventional cardiology and I was worried that going the DO would stop that you helped me so much I really appreciate it❤
Thank you for watching! You can definitely pursue interventional cardiology! The plus side is you would have to do an internal medicine residency which a lot of DOs can be found in :) Wishing you all the best on your journey and feel free to let me know if there's any other topic you want covered.
Hi doc, thankyou for sharing this. May I ask for your point of view if one has a failing history of step 1, would it be worth to continue pursuing the path? What would you advise?
Thank you for watching. While it would most certainly be very difficult, and there may be a few programs that screen out failing scores, I wouldn't say it would be impossible. I think now that step 1 is pass/fail anyway, they key would be of course to go back and pass it, but then really aim to score high on step 2 since a lot of programs still look at the actual score percentage. You'll also need to do extremely well on clinical/away rotations, research, and networking.
As a graduating pre-med matriculating into a DO school in the Fall, this was extremely great to hear and has taken a lot of weight off my shoulders. As a first-gen med student I have had the privelege of working as a CRC in Plastic Surgery at CHOP over the past 2 years and I've found a true passion for Plastics. I have been worried that the door would be shut by going the DO route but its really helpful to hear that it really is a possibility. I am similar to you where my scores weren't the highest but I heavily rely on my networking and leadership abilities to try and give me the best opportunity. Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
Congratulations on your acceptance into med school and happy to have you on the DO side! I'm happy to show you that ANY specialty you want is a possibility, and I'm glad you found my channel. Wishing you the absolute best success on your journey 🤗
Congrats!!! Looking forward to you getting to 1000🎉. Please discuss STEP 1 and clerkship tips on your blog or on this page please! Getting ready for both and would love to hear about how you got through it. Happy Holidays 🎁
Thank you so much and Happy Holidays to you as well!!!!! I'm almost 8 years out from taking Step 1, but here's a post I wrote about how I studied for it previously on my blog: www.aspiringminoritydoctor.com/2016/07/how-i-studied-for-comlex-level-1-and.html?m=1 I'd also be happy to make a video, but I'm not sure how much has changed since I last took it (other than it now being pass/fail). The "surviving medical school" tab on my blog has more useful tips as well. Hope this helps and thank you so much for watching 🤗
Thank you doctor for sharing. MATCH should be fixed. Medical students have been working so hard every single day in their four years. Each of them deserves a residency after graduating.
i am not in the medical profession but this gives me hope as someone that has a master's degree but has been unable to find work for almost 3 years now. how??? i live in a country where unless you know someone, you will be working in a shop.... and even working in the shop, i am over qualified, over educated
