CAA vs DO

[girlnextdoor23]

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So I recently received acceptance to both an AA school and a DO school. My dream was always to go to medical school and become a psychiatrist however, after working in the workforce for two years and turning 26 I am left confused. My main concern is finances and future payoff: The DO school I got into is quite expensive (55K a year in tuition though typical for DO) and it is brand new (does not even have a graduating class). I worry that I would go through four years of medical school, accumulate a lot of debt (estimated 450K with undergrad included), and because of the residency merge and going to a brand new DO school, I will be at a severe disadvantage of getting into residency. Is this a reasonable concern? Does going to a brand new DO school put me at a severe disadvantage when applying to psychiatry residency. Another thing to note is that my DO school is focused on primary care/rural medicine which is what I am interested in anyways, I'm not sure how that will affect my chances as well. On the other hand, the AA school is less expensive (estimated debt 200k with undergrad included), two years, and starting pay after school is 140k with a maxing salary of 200k. The downside to AA is that there is a lot of politics associated with it, I can only practice in a handful of states, and I think career growth is limited. I would love to attend medical school, but I am just worried if I am making a financially sound decision considering the debt and potential income ratio (especially since I wouldnt go into a surgical specialty).

Would love to have any input!

 

[Doctoscope]

Well if you want to max out your lifetime income potential, the smartest financial decision would be to not go to medical school at all, lol. I believe it has a much lower lifetime earning than people think due to opportunity cost + debt. Plus all the stress that comes with your job essentially being studying for 3-4 years, and then residency, which is a whole other beast.

I think the question is how badly do you want to become a physician (the more qualitative stuff). If it has been your lifelong DREAM to be a psychiatrist, then you should go to the DO school. As cliche as it is, there really isn't a "price tag" on your personal fulfillment (within reason, of course, and I think med school debt is reasonable enough), and if becoming a psychiatrist has been your calling, then you should 100% pursue it.

The doctor I work for told me med school debt isn't really as a big deal as premeds make it out to be. According to him, he paid it off within 3 years (lived like a resident during first 3 years as attending). He now owns an outpatient surgery center, an imaging center, and 2 private offices... god knows how much he makes off all that. The debt's definitely a significant factor, but being 200-300k in debt is a very solvable issue if your income is at that level. Invest your money smartly, and you will be fine.

 

[Lucca]

If you want to be a psychiatrist the only way to become one is to go to medical school and enter psych residency. If that's what you want to do, you should go to medical school. Financially, it will pay off, but eventually and the sacrifices leading up to the pay off are significant, as you are already well aware. If you do manage to match psych, financially you will not have to worry about paying off the debt or having good job security.

Psych is an increasingly competitive specialty. About 15% of current NRMP psych residency positions go to DOs, which probably places it around average for share of spots going to DOs among specialties.

Now the question with this new DO school is hard to answer. Because of step 1 going p/f and the match process being somewhat in flux because of the new trends the pandemic introduced, it's very difficult to know ahead of time what the state of the match will be when you apply. That said, I think it's safe to say that "there's a chance" you can match psych is a safe statement and "there's a very good chance" you could match into FM-psych or FM and then do a psych fellowship through FM to practice primary care psych in addition to FM.

I think current DO students who are more familiar with the state of things would be better poised to answer that more specifically.

 

[seanfrommemo]

140k not including overtime. Remember, unlike a lot of physicians, AAs are paid hourly. I know if many that make/approach physician-level compensation 250+ range with lots of overtime, and a few outliers 300+. For just a little over 2 years of school. Sounds like you have a lot to think about. Good luck!

 

[SonGoku751]

140k not including overtime. Remember, unlike a lot of physicians, AAs are paid hourly. I know if many that make/approach physician-level compensation 250+ range with lots of overtime, and a few outliers 300+. For just a little over 2 years of school. Sounds like you have a lot to think about. Good luck!

The range for starting salaries are typically 140-180k. And if you go work in an “undesirable” area, it can be a good bit more. New grads in smaller towns in Indiana, some parts of Ohio, and Tulsa are pulling in 210k W-2 for 40 hours with multipliers added for OT hours. That’s a lot of money in some very low cost of living areas for a non physician who just got done with their training and only completed a masters. If you’re trying to be financially pragmatic about your decision, especially considering that the most likely outcome for attending your new DO school is that you land a FM residency, definitely give CAA a good look.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Psychiatry isn’t that hard to match so you should be all set

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Psychiatry isn’t that hard to match so you should be all set

This isn’t really the case anymore, and won’t be by the time op graduates.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Well if you want to max out your lifetime income potential, the smartest financial decision would be to not go to medical school at all, lol. I believe it has a much lower lifetime earning than people think due to opportunity cost + debt. Plus all the stress that comes with your job essentially being studying for 3-4 years, and then residency, which is a whole other beast.

I think the question is how badly do you want to become a physician (the more qualitative stuff). If it has been your lifelong DREAM to be a psychiatrist, then you should go to the DO school. As cliche as it is, there really isn't a "price tag" on your personal fulfillment (within reason, of course, and I think med school debt is reasonable enough), and if becoming a psychiatrist has been your calling, then you should 100% pursue it.

The doctor I work for told me med school debt isn't really as a big deal as premeds make it out to be. According to him, he paid it off within 3 years (lived like a resident during first 3 years as attending). He now owns an outpatient surgery center, an imaging center, and 2 private offices... god knows how much he makes off all that. The debt's definitely a significant factor, but being 200-300k in debt is a very solvable issue if your income is at that level. Invest your money smartly, and you will be fine.

Assuming you do anything that makes over 250k, even with 500k of debt you will beat out a 125k earning CAA over your lifetime quite easily. Becoming a doctor 9/10 times makes financial sense.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Yes make a timeline of cash flows (cost and then earnings for 35 yrs for each) then discount at the 30 year treasury rate (~2.05%). Doctor will be much higher

Assuming you do anything that makes over 250k, even with 500k of debt you will beat out a 125k earning CAA over your lifetime quite easily. Becoming a doctor 9/10 times makes financial sense.