DO school with full-tuition scholarship vs. MD school with no scholarship

[naway]

I wasn't sure whether to post this in pre-allo or pre-osteo, but I went with pre-allo since this section is a lot more active. Long story short, I was offered a full-tuition scholarship to a DO school a few months ago and was accepted off the waitlist at an MD program today. Now I have to make an extremely difficult decision and have no clue where to start.

I loved the DO school on interview day and am/was thrilled to be attending there. I love the location and very much enjoyed the overall atmosphere at the school. As an older applicant, I don't see myself doing anything with a long residency, so I also am not concerned about being shut out of the more competitive specialties. However, I can't deny that there are some reservations I have about the DO program. Probably my biggest concern is that the DO school doesn't have any time built into the second year schedule to study for boards, so students have to study alongside studying for their classes. There is also not an affiliated teaching hospital for rotation purposes, and the MD school has pass/fail grading that the DO school doesn't have.

That all said, a difference of about $100K vs. $300K in debt is pretty substantial, especially when I have a high likelihood of going into primary care. Any advice/thoughts?

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[el_duderino]

MD. The difference in debt is totally insignificant compared with not matching into the specialty you really want.

I'm someone who says choose MD school based almost entirely on cost, so I'm not a person who thinks cost isn't a big deal. It's a huge deal. But compared to DO vs MD, it's not.

Also no dedicated Step 1 time is stupid to the point of absurdity.

 

[JPmoleymole]

what DO school offers full tuition scholarships? Genuinely curious

Go MD regardless

 

[sadkmladkds]

OP i would say MD you want to keep your options open you don't know what speciality might win your heart over.

However, an older individual I would understand if you choose the DO school because you have a family nearby.

Good luck with your choice

 

[sadkmladkds]

Just to be clear the right answer is objectively go MD

 

[Medic741]

What’s the DO school & your career goals?

Avoiding that much debt is a big deal and could have a huge impact on your lifestyle/quality.

 

[naway]

what DO school offers full tuition scholarships? Genuinely curious

Go MD regardless

PCOM, but I think they only award a very small number of them. I wouldn't apply there with high hopes of getting free tuition or anything lol.

 

[naway]

I asked my dad for his input, and his main thought was, "It would really be a shame to lose that tuition deposit." lol so helpful

 

[DelayedGratification]

PCOM is among the best for DO with several home residency programs

Which MD?

 

[IdkwhatIshouldput]

I think it depends on the specialty but man graduating and not being poor would be pretty cool

 

[naway]

PCOM is among the best for DO with several home residency programs

Which MD?

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Georgia-PCOM. The MD is Mercer.

 

[878956]

MD hands down.

 

[DelayedGratification]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Georgia-PCOM. The MD is Mercer.

Going to have to say MD...thats a big gap

 

[Goro]

Mercer will open more doors for you. If you're OK with Primary Care, the lack of debt is enticing. Keep in mind that many SDNers offering advice project their desire for specialities onto people posting in WAMCs.

 

[Lawpy]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Georgia-PCOM. The MD is Mercer.

Mercer hands down no question

Even if you want to go to primary care, pick Mercer.

 

[maplecookie]

Personally, I would pick the MD.

However, the DO less debt situation would be probably be the most enticing for me if I have a family along for the ride and I have to worry about their living costs on top of my own debt. If it's just me and maybe a spouse especially if he/she is working, I would definitely go MD

 

[MedicalDoge]

Yeah Mercer's match list is quite impressive if I remember correctly

 

[MD-2022]

MD > DO. Don't limit your future earnings!

 

[bananafish94]

I think that you should go with the MD school. If this were about two MD schools of different "rank," the lower of which was offering you a full scholarship, I would take that and never look back. But unfortunately it does seem that DO graduates have less opportunities than their MD counterparts, and at the end of the day the overwhelming majority of people have to take out loans for tuition and live to tell the tale. Congratulations on obviously having an incredible application!

 

[naway]

Thank you for all of the replies! Ahh, when I first saw the acceptance email (which I was completely not expecting. I was checking my email for an update on a work situation and was like...wut's this? lol), I was so sure I'd wind up taking the DO scholarship as difficult as it would be to turn down Mercer, but now I'm starting to lean the other direction. This is impossible lol.

 

[el_duderino]

Trust me, this is an easy decision. Take MD and don't look back.

 

[maplecookie]

Either way, I believe DO and MD schools don’t cross communicate with their acceptances so you have time to consider both options without worrying about traffic day deadline

 

[deleted870424]

Unless you want to go into primary care, I'd have to vote MD as well. Trust me that isn't easy to say because 9/10 times I'd vote the cheaper option.

But keep in mind you posted this is the allopathic thread... so you will get some bias here. I recommend also posting this in osteopathic thread to see their side of the argument. The only way to get truly educated is to understand all points of view!

 

[Oso]

MD.

 

[naway]

Either way, I believe DO and MD schools don’t cross communicate with their acceptances so you have time to consider both options without worrying about traffic day deadline

I suppose this is true, although it feels kind of inconsiderate to both schools as well as waitlisted individuals to drag out my decision? idk.

Unless you want to go into primary care, I'd have to vote MD as well. Trust me that isn't easy to say because 9/10 times I'd vote the cheaper option.

But keep in mind you posted this is the allopathic thread... so you will get some bias here. I recommend also posting this in osteopathic thread to see their side of the argument. The only way to get truly educated is to understand all points of view!

Yeah, I knew when posting this that there would be a large amount of MD bias here. I just didn't know if cross-posting to both sections was allowed.

 

[gyngyn]

I suppose this is true, although it feels kind of inconsiderate to both schools as well as waitlisted individuals to drag out my decision? idk.


Yeah, I knew when posting this that there would be a large amount of MD bias here. I just didn't know if cross-posting to both sections was allowed.

Plenty of DO students post in this forum (as you can see).
Please do not cross-post.

 

[fourandtwo]

Personally I would pick DO for the debtless tuition. The cream always rises to the top.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

As an older applicant as well (and one with kids, though I don’t recall if you said anything about kids), I’d go for the DO school. And most of the time, I say MD>DO. But anyone who tells you that a $200k difference in debt doesn’t matter doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

 

[jurisburger]

Obviously I have my own biases but once upon a time I also thought I was dead set on family medicine prior to entering medical school. Now I'm deciding between EM/Anesthesia/Internal. Basically, I would be banging my head against the wall right now if I hadn't gone MD. Just food for thought. It really depends on how much conviction you have right now for primary care I suppose.

 

[deleted870424]

I suppose this is true, although it feels kind of inconsiderate to both schools as well as waitlisted individuals to drag out my decision? idk.


Yeah, I knew when posting this that there would be a large amount of MD bias here. I just didn't know if cross-posting to both sections was allowed.

Plenty of DO students post in this forum (as you can see).
Please do not cross-post.

I rescind that suggestion. Any way, I still recommend MD. But choose whichever is best for you!

 

[Medic741]

I'll be devils advocate here.

Ask yourself why you'd choose MD > DO in this position. Be *really* honest - is it your ego that's pushing you one way or another? Making decisions w/ the ego lands you in a bad spot every time. Avoiding that much debt also avoids *enormous* compounding interest during medical school and residency.

Consider that many grad program loan programs are on the chopping block. This is a really good time to avoid debt with such uncertainty on the horizon.

If I were in your shoes, I would carefully investigate your options. Ask the schools
-How will you teach me clinical skills? Who will be teaching these to me (PA/RN/MD/DO)? Class sizes for skills training?
-Research opportunities
-Clinical rotation sites for DO (not familiar w/ PCOM's other branch)

There's a lot of ego here, and if I could give 'younger me' any advice it would be to make rational decisions that don't give into ego. But ah well. Think carefully, definitely one of the most important decisions of your life.

 

[naway]

I'll be devils advocate here.

Ask yourself why you'd choose MD > DO in this position. Be *really* honest - is it your ego that's pushing you one way or another? Making decisions w/ the ego lands you in a bad spot every time. Avoiding that much debt also avoids *enormous* compounding interest during medical school and residency.

Consider that many grad program loan programs are on the chopping block. This is a really good time to avoid debt with such uncertainty on the horizon.

If I were in your shoes, I would carefully investigate your options. Ask the schools
-How will you teach me clinical skills? Who will be teaching these to me (PA/RN/MD/DO)? Class sizes for skills training?
-Research opportunities
-Clinical rotation sites for DO (not familiar w/ PCOM's other branch)

There's a lot of ego here, and if I could give 'younger me' any advice it would be to make rational decisions that don't give into ego. But ah well. Think carefully, definitely one of the most important decisions of your life.

I'd like to think that after not getting in anywhere last cycle and spending several months assuming that the DO acceptance would be the only one I would ever get this cycle, I've squashed down my ego a good bit over the past two years lol, but it would be disingenuous to say that there is none involved at all. I do think I could be perfectly happy as a DO, and I do also think that most of my concerns about the DO program are pretty rational. I'm a very laborious studier, so the thought of not having that dedicated time to focus just on Step 1 makes me very nervous. I've seen several enrolled students express dissatisfaction with the clinical rotation situation. There are aspects of the MD program that give me pause as well, though. There's unfortunately no perfect decision here, and I'm going to have to spend a lot of time weighing the pros and cons of each option. I wish it were a clearer-cut choice.

Side note since others brought this up: There are no kids involved in my situation, unless you count one admittedly very attention-demanding dog lol.

 

[Osminog]

Going to GA-PCOM would close a lot of doors. Even if you're leaning toward primary care, having those doors open is worth more than $200K in the grand scheme of things.

Go with Mercer.

EDIT: FYI, according to AAMC data, approximately half of entering US MD medical students who initially prefer FM end up switching specialties (53%) -- same with IM (47%).

 

[wonder12]

You mention being an older applicant, as well as being interested in primary care. I think that matters. If you're 40 and have enough life experience to know with a reasonable degree of certainty that you will enjoy FM, then skip $200K of debt and take the DO acceptance.

 

[naway]

You mention being an older applicant, as well as being interested in primary care. I think that matters. If you're 40 and have enough life experience to know with a reasonable degree of certainty that you will enjoy FM, then skip $200K of debt and take the DO acceptance.

Not that much older haha. I'll matriculate at 29.

 

[fourandtwo]

Y'all making it seem like OP's stuck in primary care with a DO...

 

[maplecookie]

Considering the no kids and your age, I would stick to MD. I think the extra debt is worth the more open doors and devoted step time

 

[DrStephenStrange]

I'd take the full ride and run with it because first nothing is certain, and second coming out med school debt free also opens many doors for you. But then again I'm a very stubborn, dedicated, and persistent guy who really believe in my ability to rise to the top despite the odds sooo...

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[mw18]

The step study time and pass/fail curriculum may have been worth the debt to me. Not even considering the degree prestige and doors opening.

 

[wonder12]

Not that much older haha. I'll matriculate at 29.

I figured as much, but was just making a point that it's overly simplistic to say "always MD." Good luck with your choice OP.

 

[naway]

I figured as much, but was just making a point that it's overly simplistic to say "always MD." Good luck with your choice OP.

Ah gotcha. Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. This would be a much easier decision were I looking at coming out of residency approaching 50.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

I don’t know if this would be appropriate since this is DO vs MD but can you politely contact Mercer and tell them that you really would like to accept their admission offer, but you have this full tuition offer from pcom georgia. Ask them if there’s any chance that you could get some sort of tuition reduction...say 10k per year....not necessarily full tuition scholarship. Obviously, your point would be the desire to have much less debt at graduation. They may ask to see the full tuition offer, so be prepared to show that. Let them know that if they can offer some sort of award, you will enroll. Schools don’t want to go thru any financial gymnastics only to have the student decline after their efforts.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

29 isn’t that old. MD for the open doors it will offer. But I agree with what was said above about trying to get some sort of scholarship out of Mercer.


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[CyrusHabs7695]

Id probably also pick the DO offer, I cant imagine how nice itd be coming out of residency with zero debt


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[el_duderino]

Id probably also pick the DO offer, I cant imagine how nice itd be coming out of residency with zero debt

You think you're going to pay off $100k in debt plus interest during residency?

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

Y'all making it seem like OP's stuck in primary care with a DO...

My chem professor's brother went DO so he could go a year or two earlier instead of applying MD, and is now an orthopedic surgeon in TX.

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

I don’t know if this would be appropriate since this is DO vs MD but can you politely contact Mercer and tell them that you really would like to accept their admission offer, but you have this full tuition offer from pcom georgia. Ask them if there’s any chance that you could get some sort of tuition reduction...say 10k per year....not necessarily full tuition scholarship. Obviously, your point would be the desire to have much less debt at graduation. They may ask to see the full tuition offer, so be prepared to show that. Let them know that if they can offer some sort of award, you will enroll. Schools don’t want to go thru any financial gymnastics only to have the student decline after their efforts.

Adding onto this, ask about scholarships available once you're part way through m1. My program has 1-2 recruiting scholarships, but once its spring of m1 you can apply for way more and I have been told almost everyone gets one.

 

[Lucca]

MD

 

[863168]

@naway I think everyone accepts they are going to be a primary care physician until they get their Step 1 score. A DO with an amazing board score sees their limitation as being a DO student which has led to some degree of DO students loathing secondary DO status when it comes to competitive residencies. So much of this situation, if any of it is to be believed, is completely tenuous.

 

[SLC]

Debt free at graduation? You’d be stupid to pass up the DO. I’m honestly appalled that so many people here think otherwise. But doctors never were famous for financial literacy.