AMedNews article on DOs

[bgibney]

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You guys may enjoy reading this article DO article

 

[DrMom]

Nice article. Thanks for posting the link. 🙂

 

[PublicHealth]

Nice article....thank you!

 

[doctorperez]

grand article!!


I could not help to notice the following from that article:


Percentage who passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination the first time:

1997 2002
Step 1
MD degree 95% 92%
DO degree 78% 70%

Step 2
MD 95% 97%
DO 79% 89%

Step 3
MD 94% 95%
DO 92% 97%



What in Step 1 may be attributed for the 70% passing score. There is not a similar challenge in Step 2 and Step 3 seems like a cake for DOs. Anyone care expand this?. Thanks.

 

[DrMom]

I was assuming that only those who did decently on step1 were likely to bother to take 2 & 3, hence the higher pass rates on those. Just my guess, though.

 

[JustD0it]

i thought you had to take all three😕

 

[PublicHealth]

Word of mouth indicates that Step 1 is MUCH HARDER than Steps 2 and 3.

 

[bgibney]

I would also guess that many DOs taking USMLE step 1 assume that the prep for the COMLEX is sufficient (maybe it is, but my guess is that it is not, esp. with things like biostatistics covered in the USMLE) which may lead to the rates we see in the article

 

[apass]

I understood that not all the students take step one and that all those who do are not as serious about the test as they are with the COMLEX. Some just take step one to see how things turn out.

regarding previous question - You don't have to take the USMLE as a DO student but you have to take the COMLEX

Plus it is my understanding that if the overseas medical schools are added in the passing % the MDs % would fall a great deal.

 

[Biodude]

Aw darn, bgibney beat me to posting this article up 😀

I received it in an e-mail and was debating on where to post it up. It is a nice article, though.

 

[MacGyver]

Originally posted by apass
I understood that not all the students take step one and that all those who do are not as serious about the test as they are with the COMLEX. Some just take step one to see how things turn out.

Or alternatively I could argue that those who take Step I are especially dedicated to the cause, or else why bother to pay the money?

Plus it is my understanding that if the overseas medical schools are added in the passing % the MDs % would fall a great deal.

why should overseas students be included for the comparison? They have different curriculum and are set up much differently than american schools; they also vary substantially from country to country.

the best, fairest comparison is American MD vs American DO.

 

[Dr JPH]

Originally posted by MacGyver


the best, fairest comparison is American MD vs American DO.

Agreed

But another interesting comparison would be for MD students to take the COMLEX 😉

A breakdown of US MD, US DO, and Foreign MD would be interesting as well

Will any of it mean anything? No. But interesting nonetheless.

 

[apass]

Originally posted by MacGyver
Or alternatively I could argue that those who take Step I are especially dedicated to the cause, or else why bother to pay the money?



why should overseas students be included for the comparison? They have different curriculum and are set up much differently than american schools; they also vary substantially from country to country.

the best, fairest comparison is American MD vs American DO.

I don't really agree that FMS are set up that differently - they learn all the same things. Ross University students come back to Miami to do clinicals for their 3rd and 4th years. Yes I know it is a faster paced program for the first 18 months or so. Why should these students not be included - whether it is DO or MD they are competing just like us for residency spots and they learn here in the states too.

what is $425 when you are tens of thousands of dollars in debt to take that second test(USMLE). I guess this is just what I heard and I know it may not be completely factual - I was just throwing it out. How about current DO students do you want to add your 2 cents here???

 

[Wrigleyville]

Originally posted by apass
Plus it is my understanding that if the overseas medical schools are added in the passing % the MDs % would fall a great deal.

How many overseas MD schools are we talking about? The number of caribean schools can be counted on one hand -- including them wouldn't change the results much unless they had some really crapulent scores. There are ~120 U.S. MD schools; bringing down the average pass rate would be tough because of the sheer number of students in those schools.

Wrigley