anyone have thoughts on reapplying instead of taking DO A? I want to go into a very MD favorable specialty and with DO it just seems statistically insanely difficult to achieve.
this is the same thing i tell everyone who is in this situation:
1. what’s more important to you? being a doctor or matching into the specialty you’re gunning for? similarly, what’s more important to you? being a doctor or the letters after your name? would you rather be a doctor in a different specialty or not a doctor at all?
2. without knowing your situation, it’s hard to say. but unless you think you just genuinely got unlucky or did something majorly wrong this cycle (think submitting in february, not having LOR until super late, submitting a 1000 character PS, etc) and have a clear cut way to fix that, and your stats are stellar (515+, 3.8+, at the low end), is turning down the DO worth the risk of never being a doctor? because with average stats or below, that’s a very real possibility. it’s 40-50% chance of acceptance for an average stat applicant, and you’d be a re-applicant (in some situations that doesn’t necessarily hurt you, but i’m hard pressed to think of any situation where that would help you).
3. turning down the DO acceptance, regardless of the reason, will hurt you at at least some schools. some schools may understand the reason, some may not. wouldn’t matter for MD, but that’s not super relevant.
4. assuming the specialty of choice is something like ortho or similar: it is absolutely possible as a DO. it’s like 50% match rate, but it’s very possible if you do what you need to do to match and apply to realistic programs. it definitely won’t be easy, but many DOs do it every year and it’s becoming more realistic as the stigma (which does still exist for matching) gradually fades, as it seems to do each year. not to mention there’s always other specialities if you don’t wanna grind that hard.
5. being a DO isn’t a bad thing. the education is identical. both result in physician. is it annoying to learn extra material? sure. is it annoying to take 2 board exams? definitely. does it suck that the match rate is lower for competitive specialties? yeah. but we take what we can get. some people just genuinely don’t have much chance for MD. some people genuinely get unlucky. guarantee those 512+ applicants who are going DO this year are happy they got in somewhere. prestige is great, but let’s be real: most doctors are practicing clinical medicine in community hospitals. most of us want to learn medicine and help patients. it’s our dream. for some, it’s about prestige and money. most of all, it should be about the patients.
6. know your priorities and the decision shouldn’t be too difficult. you have to make the decision for yourself knowing the consequences of your actions either way. only you know how you feel and what’s gonna make you happy. it’s a big decision, so make the right one.
7. and lastly, if you want my “thoughts” as a direct answer to your question: it would be completely stupid.
best of luck.
