PNWU DO vs. Drexel MS-MD

[premed-dodo]

I'm making this thread because I'm wondering if an interview at the Drexel DPMS program is worth it. My interests are currently in internal medicine (IM) and general surgery (GS) (influenced by my IM and GS mentors) - but I want to do shadowing during medical school to definitively decide. I'm not too concerned about the prestige of DO vs. MD - but I am more concerned about the realities of residency matching.

PNWU 4-year DO
Pros:
• Established school
• True P/F, non-mandatory classes
• Very cheap cost of living

Cons
• Weak research opportunities
• Rural-based (not that big a con; I'm not too attached to the city)

Drexel MS-DO 5-year
Pros:
• Established, well-known school
• MS graded, MD P/F
• Stronger research opportunities
• Higher cost of living

Cons:
• Have to do an intense MS program before medical school, which is graded - need to make GPA cutoff (which I am confident in as I already have an MS with high GPA)
• 5-year program; I am SO ready to start medical school, and i'm not sure I want to put it off by another year
• Additional year of graduate school costs

Summary: I'm mainly concerned about matching into a good residency program. My current plan is to aim for GS as it's easier to switch back into IM instead of the other way around. Is it worth the extra year for an MD? Do DO's match well into GS?

DPMS has two tracks: GPA cutoff and GPA/MCAT cutoff. My MCAT is already higher than the cutoff, so I'll be taking the GPA track.

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[jvj24601]

Seems like PNWU has decent match results for GS - 6 out of 146 in 2020, don't know how many actually applied GS or if there's newer data. No top programs though.

Drexel - 20 / 226 in 2023. Better programs.

So it depends on what you value more. Frankly, I'd go with PNWU just because I wouldn't have to deal with an extra year and conditional acceptance.

 

[thefirerisen]

Drexel. The MD will help you match better for general surgery which is a pretty competitive specialty.

 

[jvj24601]

Drexel. The MD will help you match better for general surgery which is a pretty competitive specialty.

Yeh... but all sorts of **** could happen in 1 year. I'd rather be sitting in med school 4 months from now rather than 16 months. And OP already stated that they already have an MS and they don't want to "put it off by another year". This probably means OP has already taken one or more gap years. Frankly, I did 5 gap years and I was dying inside after 2.

But yeh... Drexel will match better.

 

[thefirerisen]

Yeh... but all sorts of **** could happen in 1 year. I'd rather be sitting in med school 4 months from now rather than 16 months. And OP already stated that they already have an MS and they don't want to "put it off by another year". This probably means OP has already taken one or more gap years. Frankly, I did 5 gap years and I was dying inside after 2.

But yeh... Drexel will match better.

I missed the part where they did not want to do an MS. And there is a cutoff.

It looks like OP only has an acceptance to the DO school and the MD school is a possibility if they get a certain GPA next year with a reapplication. Maybe there is a guarentee that they'll get in to Drexel or maybe not. It doesn't matter in the end. Essentially this is a situation of with a DO acceptance vs a reapplication. Obviously, take the DO.

 

[premed-dodo]

Hey guys! Thanks for your insight. I did decide to go with the DO but your guys' analysis helped as well. At this point, I am kind of sick of continually jumping through hoops - I want to be IN medical school and study advanced clinical medicine (and jump through those hoops).

I'm not completely set on GS, and even if I am, I'm okay with not going to a top program. I'm going to continue to work hard and try my best and become the best physician I can be .

 

[jvj24601]

Hey guys! Thanks for your insight. I did decide to go with the DO but your guys' analysis helped as well. At this point, I am kind of sick of continually jumping through hoops - I want to be IN medical school and study advanced clinical medicine (and jump through those hoops).

I'm not completely set on GS, and even if I am, I'm okay with not going to a top program. I'm going to continue to work hard and try my best and become the best physician I can be .

YAY!!! Now sit back and relax before you start