Apply to just DO? Or MD&DO?

[the fairy]

I am going to be a junior in college this fall. Although I currently have a 2.99 cum. gpa, I am projecting about a 3.3-3.4, with a 3.2 sgpa by the time I graduate. My ECs are average.

I am trying to decide whether to stick to DO schools or do a SMP and apply to both MD & DO schools.

Do you think it would be worth paying the extra $$$ to do an SMP and try for MD schools? Although i understand that DO & MD schools both produce wonderful docs, I am worried that being a DO will place me at a disadvantage when applying for residency. I am hoping to specialize.

Honestly, I'm concerned more about how effective getting a 3.5+ at an SMP would be in making me competitive for MD schools than the high cost of a SMP's tuition. I plan on taking a year off after undergrad anyway in order to get my senior year grades in before I apply. During this gap year, I will either do an SMP or work as an EMT (if I stick to DO schools).

Btw, I am a TX resident, if this matters.

Much thanks in advance!

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[Shinken]

I am going to be a junior in college this fall. Although I currently have a 2.99 cum. gpa, I am projecting about a 3.3-3.4, with a 3.2 sgpa by the time I graduate. My ECs are average.

I am trying to decide whether to stick to DO schools or do a SMP and apply to both MD & DO schools.

Do you think it would be worth paying the extra $$$ to do an SMP and try for MD schools? Although i understand that DO & MD schools both produce wonderful docs, I am worried that being a DO will place me at a disadvantage when applying for residency. I am hoping to specialize.

Please don't think I'm trying to be mean, but this is meant to help you think a bit about your situation and about medicine in general.

Your question is a very common one, and the person asking it almost always does not look in the mirror to take a good assessment of the situation.

What is holding you back or placing you at a disadvantage is not the degree you hold, but your difficulty with academic achievement. I'm assuming you haven't done the MCAT yet either. It's always amusing to me to see so many people post on SDN something like "...my GPA is 2.8, my MCAT is 15, but I'm going to the Caribbean to get an MD...I don't want a DO degree to prevent me from becoming a neurosurgeon". Sorry, but the degree here is irrelevant. If you do not improve your study skills and test-taking skills, an MD or DO will be irrelevant when it comes to becoming a specialist.

Again, I'm not trying to be rude, but think about it. Also, realize that DO residencies are open only to DOs, and as a DO you might have the option to specialize in either an ACGME residency or AOA residency.

Speak to your pre-med advisor. With your GPA and "average" ECs it's going to take more than an MD degree down the road to get you to specialize, particularly in competitive specialties. As to SMP programs, I have no knowledge of those so I'll let others comment.

 

[Ahmed786]

To be blunt, your stats are not even all that competitive for DO schools, you will be slightly lucky if one of them takes you.

That said if your MCAT is like 34+ then you can do an SMP program to try and improve your GPA and MAYBE get into an MD school that being said, you still need a 34+ on your MCAT with your GPA.

But if I were in your position I would just be happy if any school in the United States took me. You are not really in a position to choose between an MD or DO degree. Sorry to be harsh, but its the reality.

 

[MrBigglesworth]

I would suggest to aim high on the MCAT and then retake your classes to improve GPA and then apply DO.

SMPs are super-duper hard and even if you do a one-year program, you usually have to apply for the next year (2 year process).

If your young, and your parents have money... then maybe you could try it, but its a big gamble if you're not on top of your game

 

[peppy]

If you're under the impression that DOs are only or mostly doing family medicine, I can assure you that DOs can specialize in all the same fields as MDs. In some specialties MDs may have an advantage (like rad onc - though it is still possible to be a DO in rad onc, you probably would be at a disadvantage) but there are other specialties where DOs are very common and very welcome (like emergency medicine and PM&R)

Peppy - DO in a psychiatry residency

 

[the fairy]

Hi everyone. I truly appreciate your replies, and they have helped me see the situation from other perspectives. I should have clarified in my post that I had health issues my freshman year. This is documented, and I plan to fully explain this to med schools when I apply. My cum. gpa is low because I failed a class and got 2 Cs my first semester, but after retakes, my DO gpa is a 3.26 right now. I plan to continue to raise my grades for the second half of college!

Peppy and others, thank you for quelling my fears about the DO disadvantage. I hope I did not offend anyone w/ my thread.

If anyone else would like to input their experience or advice, please keep them coming

 

[pancakesyrup]

Hi everyone. I truly appreciate your replies, and they have helped me see the situation from other perspectives. I should have clarified in my post that I had health issues my freshman year. This is documented, and I plan to fully explain this to med schools when I apply. My cum. gpa is low because I failed a class and got 2 Cs my first semester, but after retakes, my DO gpa is a 3.26 right now. I plan to continue to raise my grades for the second half of college!

Peppy and others, thank you for quelling my fears about the DO disadvantage. I hope I did not offend anyone w/ my thread.

If anyone else would like to input their experience or advice, please keep them coming

There seems to be a large disparity between your DO GPA and MD GPA, but if you want to go to TCOM, then it is irrelevant because TCOM uses its own Texas application that does not do grade replacement. Every other DO school replaces grades. And unfortunately, with the exception of LECOM, every other DO school is also very expensive.

Do well on the MCAT, and try raising that DO GPA to at least 3.4 or so.

 

[dragonfly99]

I'm afraid that shrinken is right.
It sounds like your academics are getting better, but I think you are putting the cart before the horse. How about pulling some more A's and changing your "average" extracurriculars perhaps. That would put you in a better position as a med school applicant. I do think US MD will be very hard, but it's really hard for people to give you advice without any MCAT score, as well. Being in Texas should be an advantage because of the large number of med schools there. But shrinken is right...your problem is the academics, not which type of school you want to go to. Instead of thinking of how you might "need" an SMP, don't assume you can do an SMP and then get your ticket stamped for med school. You could do one and get crappy grades and then you'd be really cooked. You need to figure out how to get A's in undergrad, because med school and SMP classes will be harder, not easier, than undergrad.