Recommendations from the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors: Osteopathic Applicants
Abstract
The Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) Advising Students Committee(ASC-EM) has previously published student advising recommendations for general emergencymedicine (EM) applicants in an effort to disseminate standardized information to students andpotential advisors. As the shift to a single graduate medical education system occurs by 2020,osteopathic students will continue to represent a larger portion of matched EM applicants, but datashows that their match rate lags that of their allopathic peers, with many citing a lack of access toknowledge EM advisors as a major barrier. Based on available data and experiential information, asub-group of ASC-EM committee sought to provide quality, evidence-based advising resources forstudents, their advisors, and medical leadership. The recommendations advise osteopathic studentsto seek early mentorship and get involved in EM-specific organizations. Students should take Step 1of the United States Medical Licensing Exam and complete two EM rotations at academic institutionsto secure two Standardized Letters of Evaluation and consider regional and program-specific data onpercentage of active osteopathic residents.