Another DO to MD post!?

[MatthieuXD]

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Hey all
My friend is a canadian who will be going to a DO school. Her family is moving to US and so she applied to US DO schools (not MD due to her low mcat 27 as a Canadian).
Without diving too deep into details, her mother has mental health issues for the past few years and is severely depressed. Her family will be moving to a state in US where the rest of her family (aunt and uncles) are. They have no family in Canada.
She is considering switching to another med school in order to be closer to her mom and family. As of now her DO school is 10 hours away. The closest options for her to be closer to her family are MD schools, although she will also apply to a somewhat close DO school for transfer.
All that was a prelude to explain why I am posting yet another DO to MD transfer thread and to explain her backstory.
So I'll dive into the questions now:
- if a US school is to accept a transfer would they look at your mcat or just med school performance, step 1 score, Dean letter, etc? The reason she didn't initially apply to the MD schools near her family in US is due to her mcat as a Canadian applicant.

- when should she start talking to her Dean and the dean of the school she wants to transfer to? We read it happens usually after 2nd year but should she be in contact way before?


If tranferring does not work out she would like to take the option of graduating from her DO school then applying to one of these schools near her family and hopefully entering as a 3rd year (someone graduated a DO school and entered U of Chicago med as a 3rd year so it is possible). So is this more likely for her? That way she has a better chance of matching into a residency in the same place to stay near her family. She wanted to graduate from the DO school then apply for residency at the schools near her family but as a DO it's unlikely she will match, looking at previous match info at these schools. So this option of entering 3rd year as a DO grad is what she is also considering for her future if transfer doesn't work.



Please if anyone has done this sort of transfer pm me and get in touch. Please provide any info or help you can and keep this thread helpful

Thank you in advance

 

[cbrons]

You can try to transfer. Talk with the school you want to transfer to, first to see if there is even an open spot. Transferring medical schools is extremely rare, at least in the U.S.

 

[OnePunchBiopsy]

So I'll dive into the questions now:
- if a US school is to accept a transfer would they look at your mcat or just med school performance, step 1 score, Dean letter, etc? The reason she didn't initially apply to the MD schools near her family in US is due to her mcat as a Canadian applicant.

- when should she start talking to her Dean and the dean of the school she wants to transfer to? We read it happens usually after 2nd year but should she be in contact way before?

1.) I'm not a medical school administrator, but I would think that a medical school would review a transfer's application more diligently than a standard applicant. This means things like MCAT, college performance would be weighed IN ADDITION to medical school performance, Step 1 score, etc.

2.) Over-communication is better than no communication. I say she should talk to the proper administrators ASAP if she is considering a move. However, moving is not the only option. Her school may offer her a leave-of-abscence or something similar.

 

[ScottTenorman54]

Here's a recent thread that's actually eerily similar to your friend's situation: Transferring Medical Schools?

Other posts: Transferring DO to MD?
is it easy to transfer between DO schools?

The general gist of it seems to be that it's rare to see a DO-DO transfer, and extremely rare to see a DO-MD transfer. And graduated DO-MD transfer, probably near unicorn level.
My unexperienced two cents - it'd be counterproductive to try any of these pathways for the simple reason that your friend would be much more likely to end up in her desired location if she just performed well in her DO school, got good STEP scores, and matched. It's not as much of a handicap as she seems to think it is.

 

[MatthieuXD]

Thanks everyone for all your help! Really useful info
She knows DO is not that much of a hindrance except to very few places, and unfortunately the place her family is happens to be one of these places.
Got in touch with someone who gave names of DO grads who matched there (it's Ivy) so there is a possibility at least. Her school is a high tier DO school so she will use her resources and work as hard as possible for good residency matches.

Thank you all again!

 

[LutGholein]

If tranferring does not work out she would like to take the option of graduating from her DO school then applying to one of these schools near her family and hopefully entering as a 3rd year (someone graduated a DO school and entered U of Chicago med as a 3rd year so it is possible). So is this more likely for her? That way she has a better chance of matching into a residency in the same place to stay near her family. She wanted to graduate from the DO school then apply for residency at the schools near her family but as a DO it's unlikely she will match, looking at previous match info at these schools. So this option of entering 3rd year as a DO grad is what she is also considering for her future if transfer doesn't work.

I find this hard to believe--why would any LCME school accept someone as a 3rd year transfer AFTER they already completed medical school?
Honestly your friend is creating hurdles for herself and taking a spot from someone who actually wants to be there--- hopefully she comes to accept and enjoy her school.

 

[MatthieuXD]

She was only exploring that as an option. She contacted a DO school closer to that location today, and they told her they don't accept transfers from other DO schools. She wanted to know about the MD schools (they are much closer than that DO school as well). Overall she doesn't want to transfer but wanted to gather the info just in case. Now that she heard the DO school won't accept transfers she will likely will not pursue the transfer route. She has no problem with the school she is at now, except the location being so far from her family.
Thanks for the help

 

[bannie22]

It will probably be very difficult to transfer. Its like changing your field of study. DO is not equivalent to MD.

 

[LLCoolK]

It will probably be very difficult to transfer. Its like changing your field of study. DO is not equivalent to MD.

uh oh

 

[DrfluffyMD]

uh oh

It's not. DOs know how to perform osteopathic manipulations 🙂

My gf was just telling me that she wish I was a DO xd

 

[ACSurgeon]

Something to consider:

As a medical student and even resident, you have very little time and mental energy to take care of a sick loved one. In a way, she's the perfect distance away, where if there was a once in a year must be there ASAP type of problem, she can make it happen. Otherwise, she can focus on her studies and let other family members deal with this challenge on a day to day basis. Sounds selfish, but she'll be more useful in 7 years as a stable adult and be able to contribute a lot more.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Something to consider:

As a medical student and even resident, you have very little time and mental energy to take care of a sick loved one. In a way, she's the perfect distance away, where if there was a once in a year must be there ASAP type of problem, she can make it happen. Otherwise, she can focus on her studies and let other family members deal with this challenge on a day to day basis. Sounds selfish, but she'll be more useful in 7 years as a stable adult and be able to contribute a lot more.

totally agree

I would even suggest that this is all your friends idea and not her family's. They probably want her to do as best she can during school which she would be unable to do if she were committing all of her free time to caring for an ill family member. I'm sure they knew what she was thinking about doing they would discourage her as well if they knew what this entails.

finally a 10 hour distance by car is only a couple of hours by plane so she should be able to manage that every few months.

 

[Goro]

Something to consider:

As a medical student and even resident, you have very little time and mental energy to take care of a sick loved one. In a way, she's the perfect distance away, where if there was a once in a year must be there ASAP type of problem, she can make it happen. Otherwise, she can focus on her studies and let other family members deal with this challenge on a day to day basis. Sounds selfish, but she'll be more useful in 7 years as a stable adult and be able to contribute a lot more.

totally agree

I would even suggest that this is all your friends idea and not her family's. They probably want her to do as best she can during school which she would be unable to do if she were committing all of her free time to caring for an ill family member. I'm sure they knew what she was thinking about doing they would discourage her as well if they knew what this entails.
finally a 10 hour distance by car is only a couple of hours by plane so she should be able to manage that every few months.

I would like to follow up these wise comments with the mention that I have seen medical student's careers destroyed because they allowed family issues to intrude upon their schooling, and they felt that they to run home every time Uncle Heshie was sick, or mom's roof needed repairing. As med student, one has to be somewhat selfish.