D.O.s in Dermatology Residency Programs Post-Graduate Medical Education Accreditation Merger

According to ACGME public reports, there are 143 dermatology residency programs for the 2024-2025 academic year. The number of DOs and MDs enrolled in these programs were identified from residency program websites, program coordinators, social media pages, and residents and graduates from respective programs. Six newly accredited programs since 2017 and three military programs were excluded. In the included 23 formerly AOA programs, there are 21.9% MDs and 78.1% DOs, whereas in the included 111 ACGME programs, there are 1.9% DOs and 98.1% MDs in 2024-2025. This shows that since the merger, historically AOA programs have admitted a greater proportion of MD residents compared to the limited number of DO residents admitted in traditionally allopathic programs.

Using the NRMP match data from 2020 to 2024, we analyzed the match rates of DO and MD applicants to dermatology residency programs . Over this period, senior osteopathic medical students had lower odds of matching into dermatology compared to their allopathic counterparts (OR = 0.37; 95% CI = 0.30, 0.46).

USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) performance data from 2020 to 2023 showed comparable passing rates between DO and MD students, with no statistically significant differences observed for Step 1 (p=0.343) or Step 2 CK (p=0.114).