Hi.
I am the lone voice of DO ophthalmology in this forum.
I am happy to tell you what I know about the application process because I know that outside of asking current DO residents, there are no resources available to help you.
There are 2 kinds of programs:
Combined Internship/Ophtho Residency
Apply as an MS4 one time
Programs are Chicago & Tulsa
Ophtho Residency Only
Apply for internship as an MS4 (must be AOA approved)
Apply for residency when you are an intern.
Programs are Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Dayton, Columbus, & Philly
(There is a program opening in NY, I have not heard if they plan to become a combined program or not.)
Assuming you plan to do an AOA internship or combined program this is what you can do:
1) Call the sponsoring hospital directly and ask them to send you an application for internship, or
2) Go to DO-Online and download the Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Program Application. ALL AOA programs accept this application.
3) You must register for the National Matching Services Match by signing and returning the Applicant Agreement with the $90 fee. Your school should give you this form. If it does not, you can find the link to NMS on DO-Online.
4) Application deadlines are usually in October.
5) ROL are usually due in January and are completed online.
6) Match is usually in February.
If you applied to a combined program, then you match and you are done and your life is happy. But, this only happens for 2 people or you might not be interested in the programs in the first place!
If you are applying to the other programs and you are in an ACGME internship, you must file the Application for Approval of Allopathic Training as an AOA Approved Internship (avail on DO-Online). If you don't get approval, no program will take you because you would not be allowed to start the residency come July 1.
If you are in an AOA or dual internship this is what you do:
1) Call each hospital and ask for an app, or
2) Get the OPTP App as mentioned above.
3) Send the completed app and materials to each individual program. (FYI, for Detroit, send your app to POH. If you choose to send it to St. John, they will forward it to POH anyways, so save a stamp and a tree and just send it to POH)
4) Apps are usually due by October.
5) Check on your apps to make sure they were received and complete.
6) By November the programs decide to invite you to interview or not. The interviews usually happen over 3 weekends starting mid-November. One weekend will be for the 2 Ohio programs with one on Fri and one on Sat. One weekend is Flint on Fri and Detroit on Sat. And one is Philly on a Sat. Grand Rapids will interview you when you are rotating there or if you go visit them.
7) The match is usually the Friday around Dec 15. You receive a morning call from the PD. The MI PDs and usually OH coordinate their choices. Philly does their own thing. This means you could potentially end up with more than one offer, but your decision must be made by noon usually so that alternates, if any, can be called.
The materials you need are:
Application form with photo please
CV
Personal Statement
3 LORs
Dean's Letter
Letter from DME
Board scores (most places will accept copies or the report from your med school)
Original Transcript
You don't need anything from undergrad.
Philly usually requires an eye exam form from an ophtho. Yeah, weird.
You can call the programs to ask if there is anything special they would like (like the eye exam).
If I think of anything else, I will update later.
