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Hi,
I dont intend to strike a flame war here, but I do have a serious question that I hope someone can offer me feedback on. I was accepted to two osteopathic schools here in the states, and waitlisted at two others the one I was originally planning to attend, Ive already paid my deposit for. Up until now, I was all set to venture out and start looking for housing, that is until I received my acceptance to St. Georges University.
As you can see from my name, I am very confused about what to do right now. Ive already tried to rate the pros and cons of each, but I still cannot decide completely. The bad thing is that I need to turn in my SGU deposit by tomorrow morning so that it reach there by the 29th of April (its $1000.00).
From my own perspective, I would rather go to the DO school, since it is close to home, has modern facilities, small class sizes, the rotations are done locally, the attrition rate is nearly zero, and it is becoming more widely accepted nowadays, especially with the new schools that are opening up. I talked to a program directory of an internal medicine residency in my area, as well as a plastic surgeon, and both told me to stay in the states. The PD specifically told me that his program does not look at IMGs at all, but they would accept a DO any day, and that he nor anyone else considers them less qualified than their MD counterparts.
What I am concerned about, and I know this may sound superficial to some of you, but I am concerned about the stigma from patients or other professionals that dont know any better, as well as the fact that the DO degree is not recognized outside the United States, with the exception of 40 countries or so. I doubt I will ever practice internationally, but I think it would be very unfair to work that hard to not be recognized outside of your own country, or to be confused with the European osteopaths that are not physicians. Although I believe in OMM and have seen it work, I also think that learning OMM would take away time from my other studies, and I may end up in a specialty in which I will never use it. I also do not want to learn craniosacral therapy, as it has been continually refuted by other medical professionals and very much scrutinized even within the DO profession. Other things include having to take more board exams (COMLEX + USMLE), and also that I do not want to partake in the AOA Match, despite the notion that it gives graduates better residency opportunities. As far as I am concerned, the consensus is that that the AOA needs to increase the quality of its graduate medical education programs.
So, naturally, some of you must be saying to yourself by now, why doesnt this person just go to SGU then? Well, I have no qualms about the quality of an SGU education, but as a person who has never stepped foot into an undergraduate dorm or lived off-campus, I am awfully concerned about the living conditions there. I know that living in Grenada would not be like living in a resort, but I keep hearing about how quality goods are hard to obtain on the island, the locals appear to be somewhat lazy and fail to do their jobs properly, such as taking 2 hours to make a burger or the bus drivers taking breaks whenever they want to, many of shopkeepers often raise the prices of goods as soon as they see an SGU student, everything that comes into the country is taxed (sometimes heavily) by the customs officers, the locals carry machetes, and the entire island, even the campus dorms, swarms of numerous insects, spiders, palmetto bugs, roaches, and the likes, something of which I heavily despise. Other minor things include the large class sizes (300+), and the notion that the SGU USMLE pass rate could be skewed due to attrition or largely decelerations; they maintain that the attrition rate is less than 10% however. Also, the dorms are awfully cramped for the first term (mandatory on-campus housing), and the idea of watching cable, getting on the internet, or listening to some radio stations like back at home, are pretty much gone (unless you want to dish out a lot of money per month).
The truth is, I would probably go to SGU, but I am a little bit scared about the quality of the living conditions on the island (food, water, bugs, housing, locals, etc.), especially considering the fact that I have never really moved away from home except to travel out of the country during summers (to India).
I know this post is really long, and I am sorry about that, but I am looking for some advice or opinions that I hope some of you may be able to offer me. I would really be grateful for any feedback! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
I dont intend to strike a flame war here, but I do have a serious question that I hope someone can offer me feedback on. I was accepted to two osteopathic schools here in the states, and waitlisted at two others the one I was originally planning to attend, Ive already paid my deposit for. Up until now, I was all set to venture out and start looking for housing, that is until I received my acceptance to St. Georges University.
As you can see from my name, I am very confused about what to do right now. Ive already tried to rate the pros and cons of each, but I still cannot decide completely. The bad thing is that I need to turn in my SGU deposit by tomorrow morning so that it reach there by the 29th of April (its $1000.00).
From my own perspective, I would rather go to the DO school, since it is close to home, has modern facilities, small class sizes, the rotations are done locally, the attrition rate is nearly zero, and it is becoming more widely accepted nowadays, especially with the new schools that are opening up. I talked to a program directory of an internal medicine residency in my area, as well as a plastic surgeon, and both told me to stay in the states. The PD specifically told me that his program does not look at IMGs at all, but they would accept a DO any day, and that he nor anyone else considers them less qualified than their MD counterparts.
What I am concerned about, and I know this may sound superficial to some of you, but I am concerned about the stigma from patients or other professionals that dont know any better, as well as the fact that the DO degree is not recognized outside the United States, with the exception of 40 countries or so. I doubt I will ever practice internationally, but I think it would be very unfair to work that hard to not be recognized outside of your own country, or to be confused with the European osteopaths that are not physicians. Although I believe in OMM and have seen it work, I also think that learning OMM would take away time from my other studies, and I may end up in a specialty in which I will never use it. I also do not want to learn craniosacral therapy, as it has been continually refuted by other medical professionals and very much scrutinized even within the DO profession. Other things include having to take more board exams (COMLEX + USMLE), and also that I do not want to partake in the AOA Match, despite the notion that it gives graduates better residency opportunities. As far as I am concerned, the consensus is that that the AOA needs to increase the quality of its graduate medical education programs.
So, naturally, some of you must be saying to yourself by now, why doesnt this person just go to SGU then? Well, I have no qualms about the quality of an SGU education, but as a person who has never stepped foot into an undergraduate dorm or lived off-campus, I am awfully concerned about the living conditions there. I know that living in Grenada would not be like living in a resort, but I keep hearing about how quality goods are hard to obtain on the island, the locals appear to be somewhat lazy and fail to do their jobs properly, such as taking 2 hours to make a burger or the bus drivers taking breaks whenever they want to, many of shopkeepers often raise the prices of goods as soon as they see an SGU student, everything that comes into the country is taxed (sometimes heavily) by the customs officers, the locals carry machetes, and the entire island, even the campus dorms, swarms of numerous insects, spiders, palmetto bugs, roaches, and the likes, something of which I heavily despise. Other minor things include the large class sizes (300+), and the notion that the SGU USMLE pass rate could be skewed due to attrition or largely decelerations; they maintain that the attrition rate is less than 10% however. Also, the dorms are awfully cramped for the first term (mandatory on-campus housing), and the idea of watching cable, getting on the internet, or listening to some radio stations like back at home, are pretty much gone (unless you want to dish out a lot of money per month).
The truth is, I would probably go to SGU, but I am a little bit scared about the quality of the living conditions on the island (food, water, bugs, housing, locals, etc.), especially considering the fact that I have never really moved away from home except to travel out of the country during summers (to India).
I know this post is really long, and I am sorry about that, but I am looking for some advice or opinions that I hope some of you may be able to offer me. I would really be grateful for any feedback! Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.
