Recommendations from the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors: Osteopathic Applicants

The Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) Advising Students Committee (ASC-EM) has previously published student advising recommendations for general emergency medicine (EM) applicants in an effort to disseminate standardized information to students and potential 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 data shows that their match rate lags that of their allopathic peers, with many citing a lack of access to knowledge EM advisors as a major barrier. Based on available data and experiential information, a sub-group of ASC-EM committee sought to provide quality, evidence-based advising resources for students, their advisors, and medical leadership. The recommendations advise osteopathic students to seek early mentorship and get involved in EM-specific organizations. Students should take Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam and complete two EM rotations at academic institutions to secure two Standardized Letters of Evaluation and consider regional and program-specific data on percentage of active osteopathic residents.