Ask me anything

[anonymouskoala28]

Hi everyone, I'm a MS1 at a well-known DO school. Completed a Master's program prior at the same school. Ask me anything.

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[zNoodlez]

How are you doing buddy?

 

[Gardenea]

Hi everyone, I'm a MS1 at a well-known DO school. Completed a Master's program prior at the same school. Ask me anything.

Why'd you choose DO instead of MD? Which do you prefer?

 

[anonymouskoala28]

How are you doing buddy?

Probably about as good as you are doing - go COVID for ruining most medical school anything currently lmao

 

[anonymouskoala28]

Why'd you choose DO instead of MD? Which do you prefer?

I didn't have a high enough MCAT to apply MD. I also liked the idea of DO ideology. To this day I still get a lot of people who tell me they're glad I went to a DO school because they've always had better experiences with DOs being more caring. I do know a lot of amazing MDs though that are fantastic but just something that made me consider it more.

Knowing what I know now - I want to go into a competitive surgical specialty - I would have tried A LOT HARDER to get a higher MCAT and go MD. I just didn't know the issues DOs have getting into things like that at the time of application. DO's have a lot of hurdles to get over and there is a lot of bias still that DO's are not as capable as MD students. Now in days we have the same education + we have to do manipulative medicine. We take DO boards and MD boards. It's really annoying but it's something we will continue to deal with for a while. If you want IM, FM, Peds, psych, neurology and even EM to an extent it doesn't really matter though. Gen surg is getting more DO friendly but the rest still aren't.

 

[ymmvdo]

I didn't have a high enough MCAT to apply MD. I also liked the idea of DO ideology. To this day I still get a lot of people who tell me they're glad I went to a DO school because they've always had better experiences with DOs being more caring. I do know a lot of amazing MDs though that are fantastic but just something that made me consider it more.

Knowing what I know now - I want to go into a competitive surgical specialty - I would have tried A LOT HARDER to get a higher MCAT and go MD. I just didn't know the issues DOs have getting into things like that at the time of application. DO's have a lot of hurdles to get over and there is a lot of bias still that DO's are not as capable as MD students. Now in days we have the same education + we have to do manipulative medicine. We take DO boards and MD boards. It's really annoying but it's something we will continue to deal with for a while. If you want IM, FM, Peds, psych, neurology and even EM to an extent it doesn't really matter though. Gen surg is getting more DO friendly but the rest still aren't.

Would you hypothetically regret going DO if you don't match into your specialty?

I'm interested in EM/gensurg and already have an acceptance, though not a top DO school. Would you retake the MCAT and reapply for MD next year?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Would you hypothetically regret going DO if you don't match into your specialty?

I'm interested in EM/gensurg and already have an acceptance, though not a top DO school. Would you retake the MCAT and reapply for MD next year?

GS is a reasonable goal for good DO students.

I’m awaiting match day and just went through the GS app cycle. Don’t want to hijack OPs thread, feel free to PM me.

 

[anonymouskoala28]

Would you hypothetically regret going DO if you don't match into your specialty?

I'm interested in EM/gensurg and already have an acceptance, though not a top DO school. Would you retake the MCAT and reapply for MD next year?

Gen surg/EM is very doable. EM is getting more and more competitive but that has nothing to do with being a DO. Just a nice specialty with decent hours a week. I had a friend apply GS this year as well and had no issues. They're getting pretty DO friendly. It's the subspecialties like NSG, Plastics, a lot of ortho programs, etc. that are not DO friendly. I would agree with @AnatomyGrey12 that GS is very reasonable. Also had a friend do ortho this year and wasn't as lucky - but it's also on an each person basis I'm sure someone with a higher STEP 1 score would have caught more attention. Since we will be step 1 p/f, step 2 will be looked at more heavily so.

If I go decide to go for one of the subspecialties and had similar numbers to my MD friends and didn't match I would probably regret my decision but that's still a bit down the road. In the end, medical school is medical school and better to take an A when you can get it rather than hoping for next year on a what if. Things might also be even more DO friendly by the time you're going for match.

 

[PapaGuava]

How is your school handling Covid for first-years?

 

[anonymouskoala28]

How is your school handling Covid for first-years?

I wouldn't say the best but with so many unknowns I can understand why they're handling it the way they are. Everyone is getting the option to become vaccinated. We are a school that still has mandatory attendance and they made it to where we could choose to be online OR hybrid and still come in 50% of the time. I chose the online option (still live in the area though) and I'll also have the option to still get the vaccine through the school.

The biggest thing was they took away our anatomy lab which really upset a lot of students including myself to keep from close unnecessary contact at the beginning of fall. All of our in person labs were moved to the end of the semester like history and physical and OPP (I ended up having a COVID exposure and have to do mine in the summer) so I'm sure they're doing the best they can but wish there was more transparency with students on why, when, how and set guidelines/protocols from the beginning and not just make things up as they go.

Overall I would say this will be the worst year to be a first year medical student or a 4th year medical student not able to do away rotations for quite some time. I'm sure other schools are handling it better but I do know some schools are handling it much worse.

 

[PapaGuava]

I wouldn't say the best but with so many unknowns I can understand why they're handling it the way they are. Everyone is getting the option to become vaccinated. We are a school that still has mandatory attendance and they made it to where we could choose to be online OR hybrid and still come in 50% of the time. I chose the online option (still live in the area though) and I'll also have the option to still get the vaccine through the school.

The biggest thing was they took away our anatomy lab which really upset a lot of students including myself to keep from close unnecessary contact at the beginning of fall. All of our in person labs were moved to the end of the semester like history and physical and OPP (I ended up having a COVID exposure and have to do mine in the summer) so I'm sure they're doing the best they can but wish there was more transparency with students on why, when, how and set guidelines/protocols from the beginning and not just make things up as they go.

Overall I would say this will be the worst year to be a first year medical student or a 4th year medical student not able to do away rotations for quite some time. I'm sure other schools are handling it better but I do know some schools are handling it much worse.

I'm sad to hear about the anatomy lab being taken away because I feel like that experience is definitely worth it. Yeah I agree with you, it is not an ideal time for anyone entering medical school or applying to residencies.

 

[DO2015CA]

I didn't have a high enough MCAT to apply MD. I also liked the idea of DO ideology. To this day I still get a lot of people who tell me they're glad I went to a DO school because they've always had better experiences with DOs being more caring. I do know a lot of amazing MDs though that are fantastic but just something that made me consider it more.

Knowing what I know now - I want to go into a competitive surgical specialty - I would have tried A LOT HARDER to get a higher MCAT and go MD. I just didn't know the issues DOs have getting into things like that at the time of application. DO's have a lot of hurdles to get over and there is a lot of bias still that DO's are not as capable as MD students. Now in days we have the same education + we have to do manipulative medicine. We take DO boards and MD boards. It's really annoying but it's something we will continue to deal with for a while. If you want IM, FM, Peds, psych, neurology and even EM to an extent it doesn't really matter though. Gen surg is getting more DO friendly but the rest still aren't.

How do you know you want a competitive subspecialty as an MS1?

 

[anonymouskoala28]

How do you know you want a competitive subspecialty as an MS1?

I worked in a level 1 trauma center for a couple years prior to being in medical school. Though I can't say FOR ABSOLUTE certainty of course - anyone can change their mind at anytime and people even sometimes change in residency which is wild to me. But for the most part I already knew I disliked most of the IM, FM type of specialties and I prefer to be around people and have a lot of patient interaction which takes out rads and path. We had a psych hospital I had to go to frequent and that just wasn't my cup of tea. My least favorite place to be was the PICU and NICU so I simply know I couldn't spend the rest of my life there. It's simply too sad. I basically know what I don't want to do everyday of my life and where I feel happiest in the day to day. I also dated a couple surgeons in my lifetime and the work life balance doesn't bother me. I can't rule out EM because I do like it a lot and spent 50% of my time there, but I would rather cater my app to the more competitive of the two if that makes sense. I could be surprised and absolutely love OB - only place I rly haven't had experience in but overall you know.

Basically from my work and life experience that is the MOST likely - granted I don't tank the STEP 2-CK after we go p/f for STEP1 LOL

 

[DO2015CA]

I worked in a level 1 trauma center for a couple years prior to being in medical school. Though I can't say FOR ABSOLUTE certainty of course - anyone can change their mind at anytime and people even sometimes change in residency which is wild to me. But for the most part I already knew I disliked most of the IM, FM type of specialties and I prefer to be around people and have a lot of patient interaction which takes out rads and path. We had a psych hospital I had to go to frequent and that just wasn't my cup of tea. My least favorite place to be was the PICU and NICU so I simply know I couldn't spend the rest of my life there. It's simply too sad. I basically know what I don't want to do everyday of my life and where I feel happiest in the day to day. I also dated a couple surgeons in my lifetime and the work life balance doesn't bother me. I can't rule out EM because I do like it a lot and spent 50% of my time there, but I would rather cater my app to the more competitive of the two if that makes sense. I could be surprised and absolutely love OB - only place I rly haven't had experience in but overall you know.

Basically from my work and life experience that is the MOST likely - granted I don't tank the STEP 2-CK after we go p/f for STEP1 LOL

It’s a good thorough thought process for your stage of the game. More well thought out than most MS1 claiming they want a ortho, ent, derm, etc.

One thing I will say is go into every rotation with an open mind. Because even if you end up hating it, there is something to learn from every rotation that will help you in your specialty. Being a physician in a specialty is way different than working allied health in the same field. There were certainly some rotations that surprised me for better or worse. My example is OB, I thought for sure I was doing OB. Had worked in it, shadowed, had multiple OB mentors. Once I did my core, I was no way in heck doing OB.

 

[anonymouskoala28]

It’s a good thorough thought process for your stage of the game. More well thought out than most MS1 claiming they want a ortho, ent, derm, etc.

One thing I will say is go into every rotation with an open mind. Because even if you end up hating it, there is something to learn from every rotation that will help you in your specialty. Being a physician in a specialty is way different than working allied health in the same field. There were certainly some rotations that surprised me for better or worse. My example is OB, I thought for sure I was doing OB. Had worked in it, shadowed, had multiple OB mentors. Once I did my core, I was no way in heck doing OB.

I completely agree. I'm definitely going in with an open mind and a will to learn. I hope I'm surprised and fall in love with more than one specialty and see I can be happy in different types of medicine. Mind if I PM you?

 

[DO2015CA]

I completely agree. I'm definitely going in with an open mind and a will to learn. I hope I'm surprised and fall in love with more than one specialty and see I can be happy in different types of medicine. Mind if I PM you?

Ya with your outlook and introspection I’m sure you’ll find some specialties you’ll be happy in. Always open to PMs