D.O. Specialization

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plzacceptme

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Hi there!

I'm looking for a little advice here. I'm strongly considering applying to DO schools because for all purposes the DO degree is exactly the same as the M.D. degree. Most people that I have talked to however, seem to disagree. They claim that most DO's go into primary care, while M.D. allows more room to specialize.

I'm wondering, does anyone here know if specializing as a D.O. is indeed harder than specializing as an M.D.? I'm interested in oncology, and would like to specialize in that field.

I have a 3.2 Sci GPA with a 3.2 Overall GPA as well. Planning on retaking a couple of classes which will bring my upper div science gpa to a 3.6-3.7. I took the MCAT and got a 27Q. Will retake MCAT in late January.

What are my chances into getting into a D.O. School? And if my goal is to specialize, would anyone here recommend doing a SMP and trying to get into an M.D. school, or just go to the D.O.?

Thanks guys
 
Thanks,
Sorry, I thought when I created a new topic they'd show me similar topics, and i browsed those.
I'm looking at the matches, i'm not quite sure how they work though. Would you mind explaining? I didn't see any oncology matches, actually i didnt see it mentioned at all. Would it be classified as something different?
 
plzacceptme said:
Thanks,
Sorry, I thought when I created a new topic they'd show me similar topics, and i browsed those.
I'm looking at the matches, i'm not quite sure how they work though. Would you mind explaining? I didn't see any oncology matches, actually i didnt see it mentioned at all. Would it be classified as something different?
Click to expand...
You become an Oncologist by doing an Oncology fellowship AFTER doing an Internal Medicine residency.
 
plzacceptme said:
Thanks,
Sorry, I thought when I created a new topic they'd show me similar topics, and i browsed those.
I'm looking at the matches, i'm not quite sure how they work though. Would you mind explaining? I didn't see any oncology matches, actually i didnt see it mentioned at all. Would it be classified as something different?
Click to expand...


It's all good.

Check out page 13 here:

http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2010.pdf

Here are DO options for Oncology Fellowships:

http://opportunities.osteopathic.or...essionid=f030b3283ec22374256c43f1a58663a5dc6d


Basically, with 0 DO students matching PGY-1 and only 5 matching PGY-2, you are starting to see that Rad Onc is a tremendously competitive specialty (if you are thinking Rad Onc, rather than Oncology Fellowship), which would be easier to attain as an MD. Bare in mind though, when I say easier, I mean you still better be a Michael Jordon of medicine.

I don't know how it works with a DO fellowship in Oncology, or whether you can just do a fellowship in Oncology in an MD program (I'm guessing you can though).

At any rate, all specialties are possible as a DO, but some are very very very difficult to attain whether you are an MD or a DO, Rad Onc being one of those.

Hope that addressed your question.
 
isn't DO like a PA or something?

/sarcasm
 
MightyMoose said:
It's all good.

Check out page 13 here:

http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2010.pdf

Here are DO options for Oncology Fellowships:

http://opportunities.osteopathic.or...essionid=f030b3283ec22374256c43f1a58663a5dc6d


Basically, with 0 DO students matching PGY-1 and only 5 matching PGY-2, you are starting to see that Rad Onc is a tremendously competitive specialty (if you are thinking Rad Onc, rather than Oncology Fellowship), which would be easier to attain as an MD. Bare in mind though, when I say easier, I mean you still better be a Michael Jordon of medicine.

I don't know how it works with a DO fellowship in Oncology, or whether you can just do a fellowship in Oncology in an MD program (I'm guessing you can though).

At any rate, all specialties are possible as a DO, but some are very very very difficult to attain whether you are an MD or a DO, Rad Onc being one of those.

Hope that addressed your question.
Click to expand...


That helps alot. Thank you so much. Greatly appreciated. What's the difference between a PGY-1 and a PGY-2?
Also, I would assume that an Oncology Fellowship would be easier to get into than a Rad-Onc.
What do you think?

Thanks again, sorry for being pretty new to this whole thing=\
Sincerely appreciate the responses though!
 
PGY 1 = Post graduate year 1

It actually refers to the first year of residency and so on for second (PGY2).
 
then does it really matter if u get into a rad/onc fellowship/ onc fellowship during PGD1 or 2?
 
plzacceptme said:
Hi there!

I'm looking for a little advice here. I'm strongly considering applying to DO schools because for all purposes the DO degree is exactly the same as the M.D. degree. Most people that I have talked to however, seem to disagree. They claim that most DO's go into primary care, while M.D. allows more room to specialize.

I'm wondering, does anyone here know if specializing as a D.O. is indeed harder than specializing as an M.D.? I'm interested in oncology, and would like to specialize in that field.

I have a 3.2 Sci GPA with a 3.2 Overall GPA as well. Planning on retaking a couple of classes which will bring my upper div science gpa to a 3.6-3.7. I took the MCAT and got a 27Q. Will retake MCAT in late January.

What are my chances into getting into a D.O. School? And if my goal is to specialize, would anyone here recommend doing a SMP and trying to get into an M.D. school, or just go to the D.O.?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

most people you have talked to must be *******es.
 
Pisiform said:
Med. Oncology is easier to get in than Rad. Oncology. Check out the thread below, it might help you.

But you are just a pre-med now, keep your options open and concentrate on what is important now

Peace

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=422719
Click to expand...

yeah, you're definitely right about that. Thanks for the thread help and the info! 🙂

@ wolverine, yeah your right too. the few people I have talked to are M.D.'s and we all know how MDs view DO's ><

FWIW my uncle who's an MD said that MD and DO is the same so not all MD's are complete idiots =]
 
plzacceptme said:
yeah, you're definitely right about that. Thanks for the thread help and the info! 🙂

@ wolverine, yeah your right too. the few people I have talked to are M.D.'s and we all know how MDs view DO's ><

FWIW my uncle who's an MD said that MD and DO is the same so not all MD's are complete idiots =]
Click to expand...


This is very true. My PI is about as old school as they come and was actually excited when I told him that I was interested in pursuing a DO, not due to the fact that it was a DO, but because he wanted me to go to medical school and he didn't care whether it was DO or MD. There are still some general biases, but that will happen to MD's as well, especially if they pursue psych or any other field lay people or educated people don't understand.
 
MightyMoose said:
This is very true. My PI is about as old school as they come and was actually excited when I told him that I was interested in pursuing a DO, not due to the fact that it was a DO, but because he wanted me to go to medical school and he didn't care whether it was DO or MD. There are still some general biases, but that will happen to MD's as well, especially if they pursue psych or any other field lay people or educated people don't understand.
Click to expand...

Quote from my Biochem professor:
"DO, MD same Gawd Damn thing".

Quote from a PA:
"DO's kick ass"

Quote from my Pre-Health advisor:
"Only be a DO if MD doesn't work out, you can't specialize as a DO".

FACT:
About half the specialists in my town are DOs.

Don't trust people, most of them speak from their limited, selfish opinions. If you want to be a successful specialist as a DO or MD than you will be.
 
True.

kuanileqa said:
Quote from my Biochem professor:
"DO, MD same Gawd Damn thing".

Quote from a PA:
"DO's kick ass"

Quote from my Pre-Health advisor:
"Only be a DO if MD doesn't work out, you can't specialize as a DO".

FACT:
About half the specialists in my town are DOs.

Don't trust people, most of them speak from their limited, selfish opinions. If you want to be a successful specialist as a DO or MD than you will be.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks guys
Talking to you guys and realizing that there's more room to specialize than previously thought will both make me definitely apply to DO school.
I have a 3.2 sci gpa and a 27 MCAT and will probably end up doing an extra year of classes + retaking the MCAT.
Going to a DO school would indeed save me the headache of applying, interviewing, then completing a SMP program as well as 40+ thousand dollars in the process!

=]!
 
plzacceptme said:
Thanks guys
Talking to you guys and realizing that there's more room to specialize than previously thought will both make me definitely apply to DO school.
I have a 3.2 sci gpa and a 27 MCAT and will probably end up doing an extra year of classes + retaking the MCAT.
Going to a DO school would indeed save me the headache of applying, interviewing, then completing a SMP program as well as 40+ thousand dollars in the process!

=]!
Click to expand...


From what I've seen, you could get into DO school with your current GPA/MCAT, assuming you have some EC's, and write a good PS and secondaries.

I would invest your time elsewhere than adding a year of classes and an MCAT retake if you are planning to go DO.
 
I have 3 years of environmental toxicology research, I have 2 years of hospital volunteer experiences, a summer of shadowing some internal medicine doctors, and currently involved in a virtual cancer research opportunity.

I was hoping to get into Western in Pomona or Touro in Nevada. If it's possible I'd like to stay in California, or at the very least on the West Coast. Taking a year of classes with the DO grade replace system would boost me up to a 3.5-3.6 sGPA which I think should be competitive enough for Western.

Western's stats for this last year was something like a 3.5 sgpa and a 26-27 mcat i believe. Not sure about touro's though.
 
plzacceptme said:
I have 3 years of environmental toxicology research, I have 2 years of hospital volunteer experiences, a summer of shadowing some internal medicine doctors, and currently involved in a virtual cancer research opportunity.

I was hoping to get into Western in Pomona or Touro in Nevada. If it's possible I'd like to stay in California, or at the very least on the West Coast. Taking a year of classes with the DO grade replace system would boost me up to a 3.5-3.6 sGPA which I think should be competitive enough for Western.

Western's stats for this last year was something like a 3.5 sgpa and a 26-27 mcat i believe. Not sure about touro's though.
Click to expand...


Those sound like good experiences. Why not Touro-CA?

Well, the repeats/MCAT are up to you, but I think you would have a shot. Try to mix in some repeats this year, then apply this summer. You should be in good shape.
 
I'd be really open to going to Touro-CA

Yeah. My plan was to mix in the repeats this year and then apply in summer for the programs.

Do DO applications have any limit on how many classes u can retake? I'm thinking like 5-6 at the most.

@MightyMoose: do you currently go to a DO school? if so which one and did/do you like it?
 
plzacceptme said:
I'd be really open to going to Touro-CA

Yeah. My plan was to mix in the repeats this year and then apply in summer for the programs.

Do DO applications have any limit on how many classes u can retake? I'm thinking like 5-6 at the most.

@MightyMoose: do you currently go to a DO school? if so which one and did/do you like it?
Click to expand...


I don't think they have limits, but they will see all your retakes, so while they recalculate your GPA, it's not a complete wash. But I would rather retake the 5 or 6 classes and have a 3.5 than not and have a 3.2. Ultimately, this becomes a numbers game, regardless of how many people don't want to see it that way. The other stuff helps, EC's, personality, etc.. but they aren't even going to look at that stuff if you don't meet the cut for the school.

I'm not in DO school now, but I will be starting in the fall. I'm not sure yet as to whether I'll be enrolling in a DO program or an MD program, it all depends on how much I like each school and other circumstances that are going to factor into my decision. This next month of interviews is going to be very telling, but at least I know I'll be going somewhere. 😉
 
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