what is osteopathic programs?and can IMG participate in it?what is the difference between regular residency and osteopathc?
There are two franchises allowed to accredit medical schools and graduate medical programs - the one everyone knows about, which produces MD's (and extends the MD designation as a courtesy to MBBS/MBChB/etc holders who complete an AGCME residency), and the osteopathic one that most people have never heard of (even if their physician is one!), which produces DO's. Unfortunately, IMG's and MD holders are ineligible for the DO match (eligibility for OGME requires a DO degree and completion of the COMLEX exam). Hopefully this will change as federal funding for graduate medical education is engaged as a serious tool in health care reform, but the osteopathic administration is very invested in keeping itself alive and its funding separate. Probably not anytime soon, I'm afraid. There is really no difference between DO and MD residencies, except that osteopathic residencies theoretically include a more traditional rotating internship year. DO students are eligible for the MD match, but they have to not apply to the DO match in order to match MD, and they have to pay to take a whole extra set of boards to have a shot at many of the MD residencies. Confusing, I know, for everyone! Pretty irrelevant to the IMG though, for the foreseeable future.
