I don't think the craziest, die-hard DO would tell you to pass up a school that cost 1/3 private tuition and was located near your 'family.' These are the factors people continually repeat as important in choosing a school over, and over again. This thread is really starting to get useless because everyone, even if it is super valid, has an n=1 experience. You talk about places like UCSF and UCLA not taking DOs. However, don't you think there are also some ivory towers out there that hand pick people from Ivys and top 10s for their derm, neurosurg, etc programs? Just looked at UCLA's derm program, looked like almost everyone was from a UC school (ranked very highly), and really didn't see anyone from small state schools, no names, etc. Now, is this equal to absolutely no DOs in any FM, IM, OB at UCLA? No, but it just goes to show that there are ALWAYS going to be stuffy old men in white coats who discriminate, and unless you went to Harvard for undergrad, then JH, you'll probably find someone who isn't blown away with your credentials and will want someone else. However, at the end of the day, I guarantee that someone from an AOA derm residency has just as good of odds of setting up a successful derm practice as the guy who went to Yale then did his residency at UCLA.
