Applying this cycle- But have a small quandary with a DO physician! Please Advice.

[Jack-Kennedy35]

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Hello Everyone, @gonnif

I just want to preface by saying that I am no expert on the DO application process. I was considering MD for much of my time in undergrad but only recently realized how much more holistic osteopathic medicine is and this is a route I want to strongly consider. I have a gpa of 3.83 and bcpm of 3.77, no MCAT as the dates were cancelled; I am looking to be taking it as soon as it opens up. I also have my personal statement, activities in check and am ready to go besides the mcat.

Anyways, I recently approached an osteopathic physician for potential shadowing and he got back to me saying that he'd be happy to meet with me and that students are welcome to shadow him but that his patients right now may not be completely comfortable as things are not stable yet, understandably. He asked me:

1. What are my needs in regard to the timing of my application?
2. If I need a letter of recommendation by a certain date, what date would that be?

I was considering submitting my primary in July for DO schools, but at the same time I do want to have this experience and try to be relatively early in the cycle. So can someone please advice me on what dates I should provide him for both those questions, please?

 

[Allosteopath]

I think I would be remiss not to mention that the holistic approach to medicine is not necessarily exclusive to osteopathic physicians, and it is important to realize that before applying exclusively to osteopathic schools. You also should realize that there may be some uphill climb to matching some specialties, and there are residency programs that will never consider your application as a DO. Not to mention that you may need to spend a great deal of your valuable time working on OMM. Now that isn't to say you shouldn't apply to DO if you want to, as I'm sure that many on this forum would suggest, that is YOUR decision, but certainly make sure to think about if you would be happy in Family Medicine.

If you have considered all of these things, and still are interested, and want to pursue an osteopathic medical education, then certainly proceed.


To answer your questions.

1) Prior to November seems to be okay from what I've read on these forums
2) Get the DO letter as soon as you can, probably time it towards the beginning of AACOMAS opening, if that is where you are saving your letters to.

 

[m1microglia]

You can submit your letters after you apply. You only need one letter writer to submit your initial application. I only had 2 out of the 3 letters submitted and I was interviewed by a school. I got the third letter in after my interview.

 

[Cath Up]

DO schools are NOT more holistic than MD schools. It just comes down to how YOU decide to practice. Being "holistic" is lip service from DO schools. At many schools, at least some of your 3rd and 4th year rotations will be alongside MD students from other schools. The second half of training, residency, is merged now. The first two years offers 200-300 hours of instruction and practice in OMM. Much of it is not evidence-based and not effective. I guarantee at least a portion of it will frustrate you. Where's the holistic-ism in that?

You have an excellent GPA. Please apply to MD schools round one and if you don't get in the first cycle, apply to both MD and DO. This is conventional wisdom (as long as you do reasonably well on the MCAT).

MD programs afford you more opportunity, less bias in residency and professional opportunity, and better clinical education on average. That is worth a lot.

I am happy with most of my education at a DO program thus far, though it is mainly happy with excitement of having this incredible opportunity, not the services (and lack thereof) that my school provides. What with the USMLE going pass/fail, DO programs have increased uncertainty as to how students will match in a few years. That's not to be taken lightly. If you were a program director of a residency selecting students, would you select the MD student, with solid clinical training, that had a "Pass" or a DO student, from an unknown school with likely lower quality clinical training, with a "Pass"?

 

[DO_or_Die]

I think it's really contingent on your MCAT. I had the same GPA, several thousand hours as a registered nurse, well rounded application and received 0 MD interviews with my MCAT (502), but multiple DO acceptances. I wouldn't necessarily say that DO's are more holistic as I've worked alongside DO's in EM, pediatric critical care etc and have seen no real difference between them and the MD's.

 

[daffodildog]

I guess it depends partly on the school, but mine is very holistic and much better fit for me than the state MD school. My classmates are like family, very supportive, and overall we matched well this year. There are people who couldn't get into an MD school and carried a negative attitude into DO school and towards OMT and got nothing out of it, so I think that is why some DOs do not seem holistic.

 

[Cath Up]

I guess it depends partly on the school, but mine is very holistic and much better fit for me than the state MD school. My classmates are like family, very supportive, and overall we matched well this year. There are people who couldn't get into an MD school and carried a negative attitude into DO school and towards OMT and got nothing out of it, so I think that is why some DOs do not seem holistic.

Having a supportive class is great. It speaks to the people in that class. DOs are not more holistic physicians than MDs.

It sounds like your DO class is more supportive than at other schools.

OMT doesn't make one more holistic. It can improve your palpatory skills, and teach you a few techniques perhaps. But it comes at a cost of time and separating magical thinking from reasonable techniques. And what's to say that, for example, an MD class receiving more coursework on something else in that time, like nutrition, doesn't equal out on the "holistic" scale?

No, it's not that some students carry a negative attitude into DO school that makes them less holistic. It's students buying into the "extra tool on your toolbelt" argument not realizing that the "tool" has opportunity cost and things even out in the end. And I maintain that residency and the individual person is what decides how holistically one practices (it really is about taking the time with patients, not doing OMM on them).

Attending an MD granting institution on average provides a student: more support/resources per student, fewer standardized tests, better clinical education, more open doors for residencies.

I have been pretty happy with my education at a DO school so far, and incredibly happy to get to pursue this profession. But that doesn't mean I have to ignore the reality of MD programs having some benefits.

 

[Goro]

No, it's not that some students carry a negative attitude into DO school that makes them less holistic. It's students buying into the "extra tool on your toolbelt" argument not realizing that the "tool" has opportunity cost and things even out in the end. And I maintain that residency and the individual person is what decides how holistically one practices (it really is about taking the time with patients, not doing OMM on them).

Let's get a few things straight. Self-hating DOs are indeed a thing, and I have to teach them. It's NOT because they come in all starry-eyed, are ready to drink the AOA kool-aid and then find out it's mostly untested claims with some pseudoscience tagged along, it's because they're angry they couldn't get into an MD school and feel that they "had to settle".

To say that DOs are more holistic than MD is an insult to our MD colleagues. If holistic is defined as "we're willing to accept you even though your stats are below the MD median, we're OK with that", then yes, DO schools are indeed holistic.

OK, enough thread hijacking already.

1. What are my needs in regard to the timing of my application?
2. If I need a letter of recommendation by a certain date, what date would that be?

I was considering submitting my primary in July for DO schools, but at the same time I do want to have this experience and try to be relatively early in the cycle. So can someone please advice me on what dates I should provide him for both those questions, please?

1: OP, the DO cycle is indeed longer than MD, so you can apply by Thanksgiving and still be OK
2: Check with the schools you apply to.