DO or Carribean?

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This has been asked alot before, but go DO. Always DO over carrib MD. Why? More residency spots, lower drop out rate.
 
I would reapply allopathic in both USA and Canada instead
 
I've posted this before but here's some wisdom:
MD>RN>DO>Suicide>Caribbean
 
coffeeeandtea said:
why is RN > DO? obviously everyone's entitled to his/her own opinion, but i'm just curious as to the reasoning behind this designation
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That's just based on my personal preference. If I hadn't been admitted to an MD school I would have chose to become an RN before a DO. Med school is too much work and sacrifice and time to come out with a degree that most people either don't know or don't trust.
 
DrSno said:
That's just based on my personal preference. If I hadn't been admitted to an MD school I would have chose to become an RN before a DO. Med school is too much work and sacrifice and time to come out with a degree that most people either don't know or don't trust.
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One that no one should ever listen to, or will ever learn from.
 
DrSno said:
I've posted this before but here's some wisdom:
MD>RN>DO>Suicide>Caribbean
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So you'd rather not be the primary clinician and decision maker before taking the alternative accepted american route to being the primary clinician?

To each their own.
 
DO.

I know I am bias and this is my reasoning. I'm a CDN citizen and if I go DO I will be considered the same as a CDN MD for residencies... if I went to the Caribbean, I would be considered a FMG and I would have to compete for the few FMG spots.

Some people may not like it, but they are gaining recognition. I guess it just depends on how much those letters matter to you.
 
If I can't get a MD, then I will probably get myself a DDS or seomthing.
 
Pirate>DO> A Lion>MD>Communist>RN>DDS
 
DrSno said:
That's just based on my personal preference. If I hadn't been admitted to an MD school I would have chose to become an RN before a DO. Med school is too much work and sacrifice and time to come out with a degree that most people either don't know or don't trust.
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so... you're basing your preference for a degree that YOU will be earning on what "most people" think of it?? have you ever seen Jay Leno's "Jaywalking," or "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader"? Most people don't know ---- about anything. but like i said, i guess everyone's entitled to their own opinions :shrug:
 
Caribbean. You'll go there, spend 2 years hanging out in a tropical paradise, then come back to the states to do rotations anywhere you like. Then, you'll get whatever residency you like and will have the same job as anyone else. Only snobs with low self-esteem will look down on you for going to a Caribbean medical school.
 
usermike8500 said:
Caribbean. You'll go there, spend 2 years hanging out in a tropical paradise, then come back to the states to do rotations anywhere you like. Then, you'll get whatever residency you like and will have the same job as anyone else. Only snobs with low self-esteem will look down on you for going to a Caribbean medical school.
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That's impressive... I'll just address a few points (some of this is from the post I linked above):

A trend in the match at the moment (which will only get worse as Allopathic class sizes increase) is the number of foreign (carib) and DO grads that are not matching into MD residencies.

This year 93% of US MD grads matched.
70% of US DO grads that applied for the MD Match matched.
48% of Students from Carib or other Foreign Schools matched.

http://www.nrmp.org/data/advancedatatables2009.pdf
match2009-1.jpg

USMD 93.1% (-)1.1% from last year
USDO 69.9% (-)1.7% from last year
USIMG 47.8% (-)4.1% from last year


As noted above, DO students have the option to match into their own match. This means that if the MD match eventually becomes prohibitively competitive for US DOs, they will still have an alternative, while foreign MDs will not have any fallback.


Another issue is that DO schools tend to have attrition rates on par with MD schools, roughly 95% of the entering class will graduate. Carib schools will start with a very large class that gets much smaller throughout the first two years. You must pass their qualifying exam in order to take the USMLE, then you must pass the USMLE to move on to clerkships. There are a lot of points where you can be pruned out along the way. Once you do get to clerkships, a lot of the legwork is left to you. The school may have some hospitals that have agreed to accept their students, but it is up to you to work out the nitty-gritty details of when you get to rotate through.

Finally, there's the subjective issue of accreditation. US Allo schools are accredited by LCME and US DO schools are accredited by the AACOM. Foreign medical schools may carry some accreditation by the WHO, but this is not as standardized as the LCME and AACOM accreditation. Part of the issue with residency match is that the USMLE is just a single gauge of one's training. It doesn't include the standardization of the curriculum that the LCME or AACOM accreditation assures. This may be why US DOs are matching in higher percentages than Carib MD grads.
 
WDeagle said:
Pirate>DO> A Lion>MD>Communist>RN>DDS
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Don't listen to these amateurs...the answer is obvious

eccentric billionaire who owns sharks with attached laser beams> MD & DO > Lara Bush > 24 Hour Fitness Sales Rep.
 
NSA MD said:
Don't listen to these amateurs...the answer is obvious

eccentric billionaire who owns sharks with attached laser beams> MD & DO > Lara Bush > 24 Hour Fitness Sales Rep.
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I hate gym sales reps. The last one I dealt with pissed me off so bad his boss ended up giving me a major discount. I signed.
 
DrSno said:
That's just based on my personal preference. If I hadn't been admitted to an MD school I would have chose to become an RN before a DO. Med school is too much work and sacrifice and time to come out with a degree that most people either don't know or don't trust.
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So the entire point of all the work, sacrifice, and time is purely for being recognized as a Medical Doctor vs Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine...regardless of the fact that you're still addressed as a doctor, you do the same things an allopathic doctor does, you get the same pay, and you're eligible for the same residencies? :laugh:



The only real downside to osteopathic medicine is matching into a competitive residency, either because some allopathic programs discriminate against osteopathic applicants, or because there are comparatively less numbers of osteopathic residencies for a given field versus allopathic residencies (ex: there are only about a half dozen osteopathic integrated plastics residencies vs like 30 allopathic).
 
i would re apply and take as many years off as possible to make my dreams come true
 
C'mon guys and gals - why we hatin' on each other?
 
coffeeeandtea said:
so... you're basing your preference for a degree that YOU will be earning on what "most people" think of it?? have you ever seen Jay Leno's "Jaywalking," or "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader"? Most people don't know ---- about anything. but like i said, i guess everyone's entitled to their own opinions :shrug:
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You're playing ignorant. An MD at one of the schools I interviewed at straight up told me that DOs carry a chip on their shoulder and that they have trouble getting into good residencies. A DO himself told me that patients have actually said things like "can I see a real doctor" to his face. That would make me feel inferior (even if not true) and I wouldn't want to deal with it.
 
go DO, dude

I decided to perform a educational history search on my girlfriend's physician, turned out lady is a DO

In 5 years she's with her, my gf never had to find out.

You never had to face the "why DO" question if you just introduce yourself as Dr. so and so.
 
Handy388 said:
go DO, dude

I decided to perform a educational history search on my girlfriend's physician, turned out lady is a DO
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Yeah, google rocks.

Handy388 said:
In 5 years she's with her, my gf never had to find out.
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Never HAD to find out!!! Laugh. His dirtiest secret.

Handy388 said:
You never had to face the "why DO" question if you just introduce yourself as Dr. so and so.
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Thank god.


Go DO and then ask a mod to close this thread.
 
I'm currently in this dilemma as well. I mean DO is great with the residencies, but I would hate explaining to the general public what DO really is. One day, one of my patients will make ask, "Why are you a DO? What's a DO?" And some stupid doctors will be like, "So, DO is like a bone doctor?" Grr...

Man...I don't know... Either way, you'll have to carry the stigma of DO/IMG because you were a failure in undergrad
 
Ultimeaciax said:
I'm currently in this dilemma as well. I mean DO is great with the residencies, but I would hate explaining to the general public what DO really is. One day, one of my patients will make ask, "Why are you a DO? What's a DO?" And some stupid doctors will be like, "So, DO is like a bone doctor?" Grr...

Man...I don't know... Either way, you'll have to carry the stigma of DO/IMG because you were a failure in undergrad
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I'd rather explain what a DO is a hundred times a day in a well paying specialty I enjoy than never have to explain to people my sweet MD from SGU while working as an FP, post scrambling for that residency. Extreme example obviously - I'd say you'd get asked what a DO is approximately never (most DO residents etc say it just doesn't come up when you introduce yourself as doc).

Here is what it boils down to:
-US MD schools are increasing enrollment
-US DO schools are increasing enrollment and have new schools shooting up like weeds
-ACGME and AOA residencies are (with respect to inflation of new students) standing still
-This means that competition for ACGME is going to get rough, with most going to US MD and US DOs having to compete hard (even for PC fields), a lot of DOs are going to go into AOA residencies (DO only) and now what's left for FMGs??? Nothing. Somebody has to get screwed and unfortunately, this will be the foreign grads who can't even apply for the AOA residencies and have no real shot to match before US MD students.

There was honestly a time when it was better to go to Caribbean MD over DO. The DO degree as a real medical degree was new, there was still huge bias from the medical community who knew what the degree previously represented, and matching as an FMG was alright. Today, that just isn't the case and it's only going to get worse. Honestly, there is absolutely no reason to go to any Caribbean school over a DO school unless you goal is to simply have the degree to flaunt and you have no real intention of practicing.
 
Mystikal said:
If you guys did not get into any allopathic med schools would you go DO or Carribean to do MD?
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DO.. DO.. DO

With a DO you can apply to both DO and allo residencies. Carribean MD... 🙄 You might not get your desired residency.
 
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