Which school

[dramallama200]

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[OneTwoThreeFour]

Doors will most likely be closed by going DO over MD. That being said, there is more to life than your job. If you are willing to accept that your possible choice of residency could be limited then it seems better for your overall situation to stay in California.
As for your specific reasons: the COA difference is negligible. Why is it so important for your family to stay instate? Would they rather you take a worse job in order to be closer to them? You mention their preference, what about yours? Are you being expected to do things at home? Will you be expected to do them during med school? Because that is going to be difficult to keep up. As for the SO question...that's for you to decide.
I hope this helps...ultimately (as I'm sure you know) it comes down to you deciding what makes sense for you.

 

[TakemePRN]

CMU

Great school and they’ve had much success. Michigan and the area of the school are absolutely dreadful but going MD will give you a wider scope of options than DO. I think career wise, you should choose MD. I have friends that are DOs that would advise the same. CMUs school support is huge and i think you’ll really appreciate that. Since we’re still in our infancy of our career, i think it would be unwise to limit yourself on what you can acoomplish. You’ve made it this far and this is just the beginning.

MD and DO residencies are merging and you will most likely have to go through two testings (comlex AND step). That sounds like a hassle to me. DO schools won’t support you in taking the STEP. Although, I’m not sure if that would change once the merge happens.

Cost is neglible. And yes, you’ll be far from family and it will be inconvenient to move away from SoCal but you’re going on to further your career and there will be sacrifices you’ll have to make. It’s only for the time being until you get a quality education.

But despite realizing the reality of choosing DO over MD, i think it’s upto you and what you want out of this next journey in your life

 

[dramallama200]

Doors will most likely be closed by going DO over MD. That being said, there is more to life than your job. If you are willing to accept that your possible choice of residency could be limited then it seems better for your overall situation to stay in California.
As for your specific reasons: the COA difference is negligible. Why is it so important for your family to stay instate? Would they rather you take a worse job in order to be closer to them? You mention their preference, what about yours? Are you being expected to do things at home? Will you be expected to do them during med school? Because that is going to be difficult to keep up. As for the SO question...that's for you to decide.
I hope this helps...ultimately (as I'm sure you know) it comes down to you deciding what makes sense for you.

Thanks for replying. My parents are aging and have declining physical health, which sort of makes me their caretaker. Granted, I have family members that could pitch in if I left, but as an only child, I do feel guilt for wanting to choose career over family.

 

[sadkmladkds]

CMU easily

 

[Kingsmen2018]

One of the rare times i say DO.

 

[sadkmladkds]

Reasoning?

he doesn't want to close any doors and his initial interests of PM&R or Allergy/ Immunology are getting increasingly competitive.

The COA difference is literally trivial. The poster above is an adult and can handle making professional decisions the parents don't approve of. As well as the issue with significant other they are not married (correct me if I'm wrong) so it shouldn't be that big of a factor and long distance while not ideal is very doable. Since long term Op wants to be a specialist in California. It would be wise it attend the best medical school she can to make it happen

 

[sadkmladkds]

I hate to come off come off as rude but matching into cali in certain fields is hard for people in top 20 schools. You have to make this decision thinking about your long term aspirations and goals.

 

[TakemePRN]

Thanks for replying. My parents are aging and have declining physical health, which sort of makes me their caretaker. Granted, I have family members that could pitch in if I left, but as an only child, I do feel guilt for wanting to choose career over family.

Why did you apply to CMU all the way in MI if that was your concern? Even so, I understand and can sympathize with you. But you can always come back for short periods to visit. Again, I think it’s about what you want out of your career. It would make sense to me if you went with the DO in CA. Do some research and ask past students at the DO school. Will the school help you advance effectively in your career? And while I don’t think choosing the DO option will detriment the fact that you will be a physician, it’s just going to limit you in terms of fields you’re interested in. I do think that despite the practicality of choosing MD and DO is significant, it honestly comes down to the student themselves. One of my things was support. Will the school i choose give me support if i need it or will I find myself with no guidance...and idk about the DO but i do know that at CMU, you will certainly get just the kind of guidance you seek bc they will go out of their way. You can seek the same opportunity and work harder to reach your goals in your field of interest and at the end, be happy with what you choose. You have a concerning decision to make so i would just be honest with yourself here. If you’re a primary caretaker for your parents then the DO should be your choice and just go with that. But if you’re making this choice to save your relationship then maybe think twice bc there are other challenges that will come to you as a medical student or resident or physician that will give no option but to give medicine a priority and your SO will have to tolerate that.

 

[Magus5454]

Thank you for the advice- I want to return to CA, or at least the West for residency. Would going to med school in Michigan affect that negatively?

It will keep more doors open but realize that sometimes residency location is self selected.

 

[The Unburnt]

You have a lot of different factors to consider here and I think this is a decision only you can make once you decide what your priorities are. Some things to keep in mind/consider (that may or may not help you):

- Going DO will close some doors for you in terms of residency, especially in California where even people from Mid/high tier MD schools have a hard time matching. The MD school may give you a better shot, but it's still not guaranteed that you'll be able to match back to CA, so consider the worst case scenario of NOT matching into CA, can you survive not living in Cali for 8+ years? Going DO will give you 4 more years, but going MD may give you a better chance to match back. Short term vs long term gratification.

-As other people have said, MAKE SURE the DO school will give you support and guidance, you will need it especially if you're trying to deal with family health problems.

- The cost of attendance difference is pretty trivial in my opinion, especially given that you'll have to pay for two sets of licensing exams at the DO school which from what I heard is quite pricey.

- Try to explain to your parents the MD vs DO debate, they may not like it but if you present an argument with statistics and facts, they might be forced to listen. At the end of the day though, YOU understand the debate and it's your responsibility to make an informed decision since you do know and understand all the information and they don't. Not saying totally ignore their opinion but if they don't understand the full picture then yeah ignore their opinion.

-I would be weary to even slightly base my decision on a significant other that I didn't think would be understanding/make it work with me if I were to choose what's best for my future. If you are so quick to think your relationship would end being long distance, what's to say it won't end when you have no time to spend with them when studying? Idk just doesn't seem like you have much trust that you and your partner will work through hardships, which I think is important in a long term relationship, especially if you're going to consider the relationship highly when deciding on your future. I obviously don't know much about your relationship, but I would do some serious thinking about whether or not you think this is long term enough to warrant taking part in your decision. If you think this is the person you want to marry/be with forever then by all means take them into consideration but if not then that needs to not really play a role in deciding your future.

-If your family is going to expect you to constantly do things with them/take care of them then that might be hindrance to your education. At the same time, if you go to Michigan and are constantly stressed/guilty about leaving them, that will also take a toll on your education.

I don't know what the best option for you is, but I would advise you to think about what YOU want and what is important to you. Most of the reasons you listed for not wanting to go to Michigan were other people's opinions so I would think about what your goals are and what you want before what anyone else wants you to do. Good luck!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

which sort of makes me their caretaker

I’m always a proponent of MD over DO but you need to decide what is best for you and if the career cost is worth it.

I do want to point out however that you should not expect to do this even if you go to Western. Medical school is time consuming and it will be very detrimental to you to be the caretaker of elderly parents while you are going through it.

 

[gensurghopeful]

I've heard CMU is trash...
Also, PM&R or allergy/immuno specialities are quite DO friendly so no problem there...
Now if you want to do ENT or ortho, MD may be the route for you

Wherever you go, it is what you make it