Episode 143: Dr. Christopher Fullmer D.O. Integrated Plastic Surgery Resident- Can a DO match into a competitive surgical residency? You bet your Tram flap! Crossover from the Physicians Mind

D.O. or Do Not: The Osteopathic Physician's Journey for Premed & Medical Students

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Today’s episode is a crossover episode of an interview with Chris fullmer, a plastic surgery resident at Penn State. To start, our listeners should know that for plastic surgery there are two paths, the traditional which includes application to general surgery followed by a second match into a plastic surgery fellowship and a newer path applying directly to integrated plastic surgery.

Integrated plastics is one of the most competitive matches after medical school with a match rate 20 percentage points lower than the average every year. Applicants are required to have extraordinary Step Scores, high numbers of research papers and significant volunteer hours in addition to stellar audition rotations. Chris will discuss his journey starting as a soccer player in college and going on a Mormon Mission before deciding on medical school. He will discuss his decision to attend osteopathic medical school and how his DO student friend’s father, a renowned plastic surgeon helped to define his path. He will speak about the trials and tribulations including addiction and balancing his relationship with his wife throughout his quest with achieving his dream. Ultimately he inadvertently speak about the “secred DO handshake” and how finding a DO attending at Penn State may have ultimately helped him seal his fate.

We would like to thank Curtis Wilkerson Curtis Wilkerson, a rising first year osteopathic student at Michigan state, for the interview. An unedited version can be found

on the podcast the physician's mind.