1 Year Master's With Guaranteed MD Admission (Loma Linda) or DO?

[DoneDone3451]

I’m looking for advice on my current situation and the decision I might make if nothing else works out this cycle. I was fortunate to receive two MD interview invites.

So I was fortunate enough to receive 2 MD II's.

One program is Loma Linda, they offer a master’s with a guaranteed MD spot if I maintain at least a 3.0 GPA within the program. The program is courses that the M1s take just at a lesser and slower pace; I’d start med school next year.

The other school I am waitlisted at (who knows what will happen, if I get in here, this is all a moot point)

Meanwhile, I also have a DO acceptance in hand and a WL at another. My current A and deposit are at ICOM, and I am waitlisted at KCU-KC (have heard not much movement here)

If I don’t get off the MD waitlist, should I opt for the master’s program with Loma Linda instead of a DO acceptance?

A few things I have considered are:
- The opportunity cost of one less year of attending school versus having to pay for the master's program
- The difference between MD and DO (saving on having to do more boards and opening door for more comp residencies and programs later, not sure what I want to do rn, but I like Rads and IM sub-specialties.
- The benefit of learning the material at a slower pace and then being a leg up when my actual M1 would start


Can anyone share some perspective or opinion? Also, anyone who has done the Loma Linda master's program, please share as well.
Is the 3.0 GPA requirement one that most in the program attain?

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[Isoval]

Rarely do I recommend DO out-of-hand over an MD acceptance.

However, Loma Linda is...Loma Linda.

 

[Rachapkis]

Take the DO offer and don't look back. Why take the risk, albeit perhaps not a major one, that things don't pan out in the master's program? Why take the risk of not making it through medical school given that Loma Linda's retention rate is around 75% (compared with 90% at many DO schools)? Why pay for an extra year of tuition and give up an extra year of salary? When you graduate from the DO school, you'll be a DOCTOR.

 

[hleama89]

But isn't there a sting against DOs comparing MDs?

 

[Hollow Knight]

I was going to suggest the Master's but that retention rate is....... wow. That's awful.

If the vast majority of ICOM's students pass boards and match, I'd take that DO acceptance over Loma Linda. But make sure you get good data. My med school admin lies their butts off about that stuff to prospective students....... ask current ICOM students how the sausage is really made

 

[Hollow Knight]

But isn't there a sting against DOs comparing MDs?

yeah, but if you borrow all that money for the MD school and don't match at all, you're cooked bro. 75% retention for a med school is atrociously bad

 

[DoneDone3451]

I was going to suggest the Master's but that retention rate is....... wow. That's awful.

If the vast majority of ICOM's students pass boards and match, I'd take that DO acceptance over Loma Linda. But make sure you get good data. My med school admin lies their butts off about that stuff to prospective students....... ask current ICOM students how the sausage is really made

Is the retention rate for the masters program? Where is the source of the low retention rate for the program or their med school?

 

[DoneDone3451]

yeah, but if you borrow all that money for the MD school and don't match at all, you're cooked bro. 75% retention for a med school is atrociously bad

Where did you see that?

 

[DoneDone3451]

Take the DO offer and don't look back. Why take the risk, albeit perhaps not a major one, that things don't pan out in the master's program? Why take the risk of not making it through medical school given that Loma Linda's retention rate is around 75% (compared with 90% at many DO schools)? Why pay for an extra year of tuition and give up an extra year of salary? When you graduate from the DO school, you'll be a DOCTOR.

Where did you see the 75% retention rate

 

[DoneDone3451]

Rarely do I recommend DO out-of-hand over an MD acceptance.

However, Loma Linda is...Loma Linda.

Can you elaborate ?

 

[Goro]

But isn't there a sting against DOs comparing MDs?

Only in elitist academic programs and the Uber specialties.

Most of the bias now is in ignorant pre-meds, and older doctors.

 

[Med Ed]

Can anyone share some perspective or opinion?

Let' see.

Loma Linda: 116-year-old non-profit medical school. Established academic medical center/teaching hospitals with over 1,000 beds. Level 1 trauma center. Children's hospital. Sixty seven ACGME-accredited residency/fellowship programs, including anesthesiology, dermatology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and radiology.

ICOM: 9-year-old for-profit medial school. Owned by a private equity firm and the company that manages Rice University's endowment. Clinical rotations at various sites scattered from California to the Dakotas. I'm sure some of them have GME programs, but I'm not going to look that hard.

People talk a lot about the opportunity cost of delaying entry to medical school, but you will make many decisions over your life that will have a greater impact on your ultimate financial health. Your choice of partner (if any), their career, how many kids you have, where you live, your specialty of choice, the cost of your housing, what you drive, where your kids go to school/college, if you get divorced, how early and aggressively you start saving for retirement, etc.

If I were you I would take the spot in the Masters program, step up and do the work, and then proceed with my life knowing that I'm starting from the best possible position.

 

[DoneDone3451]

Let' see.

Loma Linda: 116-year-old non-profit medical school. Established academic medical center/teaching hospitals with over 1,000 beds. Level 1 trauma center. Children's hospital. Sixty seven ACGME-accredited residency/fellowship programs, including anesthesiology, dermatology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and radiology.

ICOM: 9-year-old for-profit medial school. Owned by a private equity firm and the company that manages Rice University's endowment. Clinical rotations at various sites scattered from California to the Dakotas. I'm sure some of them have GME programs, but I'm not going to look that hard.

People talk a lot about the opportunity cost of delaying entry to medical school, but you will make many decisions over your life that will have a greater impact on your ultimate financial health. Your choice of partner (if any), their career, how many kids you have, where you live, your specialty of choice, the cost of your housing, what you drive, where your kids go to school/college, if you get divorced, how early and aggressively you start saving for retirement, etc.

If I were you I would take the spot in the Masters program, step up and do the work, and then proceed with my life knowing that I'm starting from the best possible position.

Thank you for the perspective.

 

[Goro]

Let' see.

Loma Linda: 116-year-old non-profit medical school. Established academic medical center/teaching hospitals with over 1,000 beds. Level 1 trauma center. Children's hospital. Sixty seven ACGME-accredited residency/fellowship programs, including anesthesiology, dermatology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and radiology.

ICOM: 9-year-old for-profit medial school. Owned by a private equity firm and the company that manages Rice University's endowment. Clinical rotations at various sites scattered from California to the Dakotas. I'm sure some of them have GME programs, but I'm not going to look that hard.

People talk a lot about the opportunity cost of delaying entry to medical school, but you will make many decisions over your life that will have a greater impact on your ultimate financial health. Your choice of partner (if any), their career, how many kids you have, where you live, your specialty of choice, the cost of your housing, what you drive, where your kids go to school/college, if you get divorced, how early and aggressively you start saving for retirement, etc.

If I were you I would take the spot in the Masters program, step up and do the work, and then proceed with my life knowing that I'm starting from the best possible position.

I concur with my learned colleague.
I distrust for-profit med schools.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sharing popcorn to see how the Idaho legislature will "own" ICOM...

Idaho education funding shifts with ICOM acquisition and water research support

Idaho allocates $4M for universities and prioritizes water research funding and ICOM negotiations.

citizenportal.ai

 

[Hollow Knight]

Where did you see that?

I’m believing the other poster. I haven’t seen it anywhere. Maybe it’s false?

Medical schools aren’t going to tell you these types of things anyway. My med school’s boards pass rate is probably like in the 70s or 80s, but through some black magic with statistics we tell people it’s >99%. From what I hear of other schools they do the same thing….. but still.

A big part of admissions is getting the scoop from people who are currently there who actually feel comfortable to talk about it. Of course I’m never going to badmouth my medical school to anyone in person or online because I want to have a job after all this.

 

[Goro]

Sharing popcorn to see how the Idaho legislature will "own" ICOM...

Idaho education funding shifts with ICOM acquisition and water research support

Idaho allocates $4M for universities and prioritizes water research funding and ICOM negotiations.

citizenportal.ai

Interesting. Idaho wants to have ISCOM (S for State).
If the state can pull this off, and ICOM ceases being a for-profit school, then I can start recommending it to people.

 

[Isoval]

Can you elaborate ?

I would personally never attend a school so heavily steeped in religion as Loma Linda even if it was my only option. I would hate myself for all four years. In my mind, they are the same as a place like Liberty University.

This is in conjunction with the fact that their masters program does not seem to be an actual guarantee at a seat.

You may feel differently since you actually applied there, but I would never be able to stomach it even despite the fact that ICOM is a newer and for-profit DO medical school. With the options, I would honestly have chosen ICOM.