Right now I'm sitting at a 3.51 overall GPA and 3.71 Science, taking the MCAT next month but have been averaging 31-33 in all my practice exams, i have about 100 hrs shadowing 60 clinical and 40 in the OR but no research because I'm at a smaller D2 School and those opportunities are quite scarce. I'm pretty sure I want to do surgery, leaning towards Ortho but still not sure. I know I'm on the low end for MD programs but above average for DO. Since DO programs have a greater focus on the nervous and musculoskeletal system, would it be more beneficial to me to go a higher end DO school such as Nova or a lower tier MD school such as Mercer?
DO or MD based on Stats and direction of future
- Thread starter Cjohns30
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Let me end the thread by saying, MD will be easier route to take.
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If you want to do surgery then you will probably have an easier time getting into a decent program at an MD school. DO schools do have solid ortho programs however if you see yourself pursuing academic medicine in a tertiary medical center then go MD to make your life easier.
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I wouldn't say md is out of your reach. depends on the mcat tho. Gpa wise you're fine for most mid-low tier schools. You don't have any other volunteering ?
No, Ive been playing catch up on my classes since I quit nursing school to go pre-med so on top of a year round course load, spring/maymester/summer/fall I work 20-30hrs a week at night at a bar so my hours are pretty limited to do anything besides something directly school or work related
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Do a mix of both, depending upon how your MCAT shakes out.
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You can get to surgery through either pathway but you need to understand the basic differences between the two methodologies. I'd start with the 4 tenants of Osteopathic medicine. DO is not necessarily as "easy" to get into as you might think (I'll leave it at that because that would be a lengthy discussion/explanation). Your GPA's are decent enough for either DO or MD so pick the one you like and focus there. You can also apply to both DO and MD if you have the $$$ to do so. Ultimately either pathway is going to teach you the basics. Your future specialty will be decided by you based on your performance in school and what type of Doctor you choose to become (read money grubber vs. patient advocate). Best of luck!
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What you learn in residency will matter far more than what you learn in medical school. Thus it is important to go to the school that will give you the greatest chance to match into a good program. Your chances will go up by a considerable amount by going to an MD school.
DO will always be easier to get into than MD, especially considering the fact that so many new DO schools open, and the requirements to open a DO school are much lower than an MD school.
I went through the admissions process at both, the DO school process was a lot less strenuous.
I went through the admissions process at both, the DO school process was a lot less strenuous.
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why don't you apply to both and see where you get in.
In a few months perhaps you can start a thread about how you got into DO but aren't sure whether you want to go or give up the acceptance and apply to MD schools again
In a few months perhaps you can start a thread about how you got into DO but aren't sure whether you want to go or give up the acceptance and apply to MD schools again
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If you're not from Georgia, don't even bother applying to Mercer. Zero out of state matriculants.
Same for East Carolina. And some other schools.....I'm afraid I've forgotten their names.
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This is news to me.
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Compared to people in MD schools near me, this actually does seem to be the case, mainly because we have to ID sympathetics, landmarks, origin/insertion, major nerve paths, etc. constantly through the 2 years. That said, it's something that could easily be achieved through a little extra studying, and I know quite a few aspiring surgeons at MD schools who do this.
That said, OP, apply to both and see what you get. If you get into both, you really should go US MD, because ultimately you might want ortho now, but after a couple years, you might fall in love with something like ENT, which is so competitive, even as an MD, that you'll need every boost you can get.
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Go to Caribbean. Excellent Match rates and you'll get an awesome residency! What are you waiting for? APPLY! GO! You can most likely start this August!
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How many times are you going to make this joke?
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It's going to depend on your ECs and the way you portray your self in your essays, OP (given that you get at least a 30 on the MCAT). It's not just a numbers game for MD schools. I'm at the MD average (3.7 and a 32) and all my good luck has been from DO schools. Perhaps I actually am more of a DO? Who knows. But yeah everything besides your MCAT will matter more in my opinion since yoh will already have 'average stats'
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I was going to recommend Janitor. Took the wind out of my sails.
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Out of curiosity, why did you quit nursing school?
When I started clinicals and looked into the classes for the second year and how few sciences we would be learning and how limited our role was in the health field I had no desire to continue. In the classroom I loved (and aced) both pharmacologies and the anatomy/physiology portions and wanted to learn more about anything medicine related and knew I could learn it. Then far as clinicals go once i got on the floor, started reading charts, interacting with patients and talking to every doctor that came my way and wanted to teach and explain things, I became fascinated by the diagnostics, pharmacology, treatments etc... rather than just following orders, administering meds, taking vitals etc...and again, saw it as something l know I could do well. Im sure you're wondering why i even started nursing school in the first place with these sort of interests; for one I didn't learn that about myself until I was actually in the BSN program and exposed to everything, secondly I had ambitions to be a nurse practioner but when I began to think about continuing the program to do that or switching out to pursue pre-med, I thought id be selling myself short not shooting for the MD. So in a nutshell, I quit nursing school because I simply found the line work and the academics involved uninteresting while at the same time developing a passion for and wanting to learn medicine.Along with that, I realized my potential and the drive i have for it and didn't feel like staying in Nursing school would let me fuel that drive or let me have the opportunity to reach my full potential.
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i'm just going to come out and say what everyone here has been hinting at.... under no circumstance is there an academic advantage to going to a DO school instead of a US MD school.
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I asked you that because I worked with them as a rad tech and found them always complaining about their job. They said people give them no respect. One of them told me one day that she is just a glorified maid with a degree...Yikes!
Yeah, don't get me wrong its a tough career and tough education but what makes it that way is the sheer volume of work, personally what you needed to learn and how much you needed to learn didn't seem all that challenging. And yeah
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