There's A LOT of things that I feel need to be addressed in this thread, so I apologize for the massive post. I'll also say up front that I don't think this is the clear black and white decision some people are making it out to be, but I agree with those saying to try and get some scholarship money from Mercer but take the MD acceptance either way. Here's my reasons:
1. You don't know what you'll want to go into. I know you're pretty sure you want to do FM or psych now, but what if you decide you want to do something like derm later? If you were a 3rd year DO right now I'd say you'd probably be fine, but 4 years from now when the merger is complete will likely be a very different picture.
2. You don't know how the merger will affect DOs. My guess is that for primary care fields it will actually be beneficial, as those applicants who were solid but cautious and matched AOA will be able to rank ACGME programs at the same time, meaning solid applicants won't be getting pulled out of the ACGME match. At the same time, I think it will likely hurt DOs shooting for competitive fields like ortho, derm, or ENT. However, we don't know if that will actually happen or not. Whatever field you pursue, you'll be facing an uncertain match future as a DO which is not something you'd have to deal with as an MD.
3. Your odds in the match will almost certainly be better as an MD than a DO. This could be due to bias. It could be due to less resources at the DO institution. It could be a genuine difference in reputation and quality of the two schools. Whatever the reason, the chances that going DO will not have any impact on your choices are basically zero.
4. You're still young. Yea, you're a non-trad and you won't have as many years to make doctor money as some of your classmates. However, you'll still likely have 30+ years to make up for the difference in debt which will come from going MD over DO. If you were going to be finishing residency at 55, then this would be a completely different conversation. You're not going to be 55 though, at the very oldest you'd still be in your 30's. Yes, the debt is large and scary, but even 500k is still manageable with a 200k+ income if you know how to manage it.
5. MD opens up more career options than DO. If you end up in private practice or being employed by a community hospital, then it won't make a difference. What if you end up wanting to enter academia though? What if you decide you want to do research? What if you decide you want to go the IM route and then enter a fellowship? The DO route will likely limit your options for you as well as decrease the resources available to you while in medical school. I can tell you personally that my current career trajectory is absolutely nothing like I would have predicted 4 years ago when I was getting ready to enter med school, and it will likely change again over the course of residency.
I think there are very rare occasions when I would recommend going DO over MD. You actually meet some of those criteria (significant financial difference, importance of location to family, and strong desire to enter PC). However, I don't think the distance is so great between the two locations that I'd recommend DO over MD (it seems you're within 3 hours of family/where you want to be either way). I also am always hesitant to tell people that if you're planning on entering FM or another PC field, that DO is fine simply because so many people change their mind. So imo, the only real factor for DO over MD is financial. Which is a very valid concern, but I personally think having the flexibility and options of your MD choice outweigh the financial burden here. So again, I'd recommend going MD over DO though I certainly wouldn't blame you if you went DO because of financial burdens.
I'll also add that I am giving this advice as someone who chose to cancel MD interviews after gaining acceptance to a DO school. I can honestly say I have zero regrets about my decision and would make the same decision to choose DO over MD again, but my situation also had several other factors which played a role. If you've got questions feel free to respond or PM and I'd be happy to talk about why I made my decision.
Other points to address:
Y'all making it seem like OP's stuck in primary care with a DO...
If they were going into the match this year, I'd agree with you. However OP will be entering the match after the merger is complete and it seems likely that DOs will have a significantly more difficult time entering competitive fields than they do now unless they're on par with the elite applicants. Moderately competitive fields like EM, gas, and rads will still be wide open for DOs, but implying her options won't be significantly limited is just disingenuous.
You think you're going to pay off $100k in debt plus interest during residency?
If you're single and continue to live even a little frugally you can do it, especially if you moonlight. Even if she doesn't, paying off the interest on 100k in debt is a lot easier than 3ook worth of interest.
In terms of location, GA-PCOM wins 1000% hands-down. I did enjoy the atmosphere at Mercer, but most of Mercer's appeal over GA-PCOM comes down to those curriculum and scheduling factors I mentioned. Things like grading system and time to prepare for boards are pretty significant factors to consider, though, I think.
Here's something to consider about location. PCOM may be a more ideal location for medical school, but what about residency? If you go to Mercer, you'd be better off when the match comes around and more likely to match into a program in a location you want to be in. So while you may be in the location you want for med school, you may be hurting your chances of being where you want further down the road.
$200k is not that big a difference when it comes to matching into the specialty of your choice.
If she's going to go into PC either way though, 200k is a very big difference. It's an even bigger difference when you take into account interest (she'll likely end paying off $130k vs. 400k+) as well as lost retirement/investment funds (that $200k turns into $864k in 30 years at a 5% return rate). So it could end up being a 7 figure difference if she end up in the same field either way. That's assuming the OP doesn't end up in a field with much higher income of course, in which case she could likely make the difference up in 5-7 years pretty easily.
Even if he ends up as a primary care physician, MD will be conducive to a more successful practice. The general public still holds a stigma against DO and in private practice, you are highly dependent on your patients (customers). Now, I'm not saying you're gonna be struggling to find patients as a DO but you're dreaming if you think it'll be as easy as an MD. Most privately insured patients will go to MD. If you want a concierge practice that caters to the rich, they will go MD.
Already said, but unless you're in one of the very few geographic regions where the public is actually aware of this difference and has bias, this statement is baloney. As SLC said, most patients don't even know that there's a difference between NPs and physicians and are more than happy to see any PCP who will fit them in within the next week. Your statement about privately insured patients is also completely wrong, and it makes me think you have no idea how reimbursement and insurance networks actually work. Your point on concierge medicine is more valid, especially in certain cities like NYC (which is where I assume you're from based on your pic), but I also rotated with or know 4 DOs who practice either DPC or concierge and all pull in 300k+ working less than 40 hours a week. So it's certainly not a career path exclusive to MDs at all.
Also, just an anecdote. One of my friends wanted to do family med or psych.... then decided she wanted to do both. There are combined family med-psych residencies.
There are fewer than 20 spots in the country.
Yeah, it's primary care, but what if you decide you want to try for family med-psych? Primary care and psych are both on your list. How would you feel submitting applications to family med-psych as a DO vs MD?
2 problems with this line of thought. First is that it's a financially stupid decision to enter into any of the combined psych programs which are psych-med and I was advised by literally every psych and med physician I've talked to not to bother with that route. It's purely for self-satisfaction and almost never aids in your career or finances.
The other is that the actual programs are either not that difficult to get into or they are at programs that are very elite and out of reach for DOs anyway. One of my classmates actually matched into one of the stronger combined-psych programs as a DO and her overall stats were around average from what she told me. So while I see your point, I disagree with it on multiple fronts and don't think it should really be a consideration at this point.
