124 - Differences Between Allopathic and Osteopathic Schools in Producing Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residents from 2017-2021

Objectives: As the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) continues to grow, it is unclear if there is a difference between United States allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) schools in producing PM&R residents. The goal of this study was to identify the medical schools producing the most PM&R residents from 2017-2021. This study also sought to determine whether there is a difference between the number of allopathic vs osteopathic medical students pursuing residency in PM&R.

Design: This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The medical schools represented by matriculating PM&R residents from 2017-2021 were identified via publicly available data and a list of the medical schools producing the most PM&R residents was compiled. The number of students matriculating into PM&R residencies were compared between MD and DO schools to see if there were any differences between type of medical school and matriculation into PM&R residencies.

Results: The medical school that produced the most PM&R residents from 2017-2021 was New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. 9 out of 11 of the most productive schools were DO schools. There was a significantly higher percentage of DO graduates per total number of graduates pursuing PM&R residencies than MD counterparts (p< 0.0001; Z= -19.19), although there was a higher gross number of MD students pursuing PM&R residencies.

Conclusions: DO schools accounted for the majority of medical schools producing the most PM&R residents from 2017-2021 and produced a statistically significant higher percentage of PM&R residents per total applicants to residency than MD counterparts. Further studies are needed to determine what factors may have contributed to DO schools capturing the interest of medical students to pursue residency in PM&R.