DO student Body

[Kliffmeister]

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I thought I'd start a new thread but I dunno if anyone has covered this yet.
I wanted to ask mainly to medical students and residents about their med schools.
1) Which schools are pass/fail (without ranking), pass/fail (with ranking), grade-based?
2) How are student's attitude generally in DO schools? In which I mean are they as cut-throat and extremely competitive as some MD schools. Are they helpful to one another?
I'm sure it differs from school to school, but I wanted to know overall which school generally has a 'nicer' and helpful classmates.

3) Just for fun: Do you think DO students are overall nicer than MD students? 😀

 

[MedicinaeDoctor]

but MOST importantly, how hot are they?!

 

[FrkyBgStok]

one of these reasons i am applying DO only (and has no evidence) is that DO schools are commonly more accepting of nontrads, which to me implies the student body may be older, which is more mature and more people are really interested in medicine versus wanting to be a doctor, which in turn lowers the cut throat atmosphere. I feel this way from a few interactions at the school I want to go to. There really isn't any good evidence for my thought. My own personal anecdote i guess.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

one of these reasons i am applying DO only (and has no evidence) is that DO schools are commonly more accepting of nontrads, which to me implies the student body may be older, which is more mature and more people are really interested in medicine versus wanting to be a doctor, which in turn lowers the cut throat atmosphere. I feel this way from a few interactions at the school I want to go to. There really isn't any good evidence for my thought. My own personal anecdote i guess.

Older = More interested in medicine as opposed to being a doctor? I actually assume this to be the opposite, especially since the recession, I've seen many non-trads looking to enter lucrative medical fields such as PA school. They usually enter not because they are interested in the theory of the career as much as they are interested in how to make the most cash. Most younger pre-meds are way more idealistic and come in thinking that they want to understand the entire human body and become a god of medicine. But that might just be my opinion given that I saw a lot of my intro classes mainly populated by non-trads looking for healthcare jobs to make a better living.

Though, I'm slightly inclined to hypothesize, that DO's and DO students are usually more conservative and more religiously affiliated than their MD counterparts.

 

[doingit9]

Though, I'm slightly inclined to hypothesize, that DO's and DO students are usually more conservative and more religiously affiliated than their MD counterparts.

Interesting. Please explain.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Interesting. Please explain.

Older, more populous in the the center of the US ( Bible Belt & Conservative Regions), AOA's stances towards certain things.

 

[patel2]

I thought I'd start a new thread but I dunno if anyone has covered this yet.
I wanted to ask mainly to medical students and residents about their med schools.
1) Which schools are pass/fail (without ranking), pass/fail (with ranking), grade-based?
2) How are student's attitude generally in DO schools? In which I mean are they as cut-throat and extremely competitive as some MD schools. Are they helpful to one another?
I'm sure it differs from school to school, but I wanted to know overall which school generally has a 'nicer' and helpful classmates.

3) Just for fun: Do you think DO students are overall nicer than MD students? 😀

1. NSUCOM is grade based (numerical preclinical grades show up on transcript i.e. biochem: 83.7, micro: 89.9), NYCOM is Honors/Pass/Fail. One thing to consider is that preclinicals mean jackshi* so don't only consider pass/fail schools. At the end of the day, never let schooling get in the way of education, since the point of first two years is to study to kill the boards, and nothing else. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. IMO what's far more consequential than P/F is mandatory attendance policies, as this can really be a bummer to have to be in class 6-8 hours a day when you could spend that time 3x more efficiently at the lib.

2/3 Depends on the school. Personally I think MD or DO it depends a lot on the city the school is in, and the incoming class. The class of 2014 at any given school might be known at a school of being a bunch of up-tight gunners, while the class of 2013 could very well be seen as much more fun, cooperative and DTF. Anyone who advises you that DOs or MDs are more friendly or less cutthroat than the other is giving a large generalization.

one of these reasons i am applying DO only (and has no evidence) is that DO schools are commonly more accepting of nontrads, which to me implies the student body may be older, which is more mature and more people are really interested in medicine versus wanting to be a doctor, which in turn lowers the cut throat atmosphere. I feel this way from a few interactions at the school I want to go to. There really isn't any good evidence for my thought. My own personal anecdote i guess.

Just some advice, I don't think this warrants only applying to DO schools. MD schools can be more non-traditional than some DO schools and vice versa. I'm not aware the age of entry of a DO student is necessarily higher than the 24 of MD schools. I think the mature/cut throat atmosphere has far more to do with the individual school than degree. When I interviewed at an MD and DO this cycle, I found the MD was substantially less cutthroat an enviornment since it has p/f grading and was in a 'party' city as compared to the more suburban DO that had an a/b/c/d/f system and the students seemed more stressed and less friendly.

So I think you'd be short-changing yourself if you limited schools based on a false notion of which degree would be inherently more non-traditional and laid-back

 

[willen101383]

Older = More interested in medicine as opposed to being a doctor? I actually assume this to be the opposite, especially since the recession, I've seen many non-trads looking to enter lucrative medical fields such as PA school. They usually enter not because they are interested in the theory of the career as much as they are interested in how to make the most cash. Most younger pre-meds are way more idealistic and come in thinking that they want to understand the entire human body and become a god of medicine. But that might just be my opinion given that I saw a lot of my intro classes mainly populated by non-trads looking for healthcare jobs to make a better living.

Though, I'm slightly inclined to hypothesize, that DO's and DO students are usually more conservative and more religiously affiliated than their MD counterparts.

My experience is that while most students arent cutthroat...they are very one dimensional: med school is their life and they have very little to offer me aside from talking about school. Actually...most of the "traditional" kids are extremely annoying and I tend to steer clear of them at all costs. I only am on campus one day a week for OMM lab (and im only mentally about 1/8th there). The rest of the time I watch my lectures online from the comfort of my home office...with my dogs at my feet and a cup o coffee in my hand. I am almost 28, had a previous career, am getting married in a few months, own a home, etc....so I have VERY little in common with most of the kids right out of college. I hang with my crew of 27+ year old people and we are way more laid back..and generally dont talk about school as much.


and Serenade...I dont even believe in god....lol. But than again PCOM probably isnt an accurate representation of all DO schools.

 

[Dissected]

My experience is that while most students arent cutthroat...they are very one dimensional: med school is their life and they have very little to offer me aside from talking about school.

+1. I agree. Pretty much no matter what med school you go to things will be this way to some degree. I imagine schools with smaller classes might be less this way..just a hunch though since DMU has like 220 per class

and Serenade...I dont even believe in god....lol. But than again PCOM probably isnt an accurate representation of all DO schools.

Yea, I would say that less people are religious than one might think. I don't think there is a huge difference from MD vs DO either.

I've found that at my school, it doesn't seem to be as dreary/cutthroat as it is at some MD schools my friends go to. More of a supportive atmosphere I guess. We are ranked according to our grades, so there is always a bit of underlying competition, but our class is big enough that most people are really nice and helpful.

 

[marke]

I thought I'd start a new thread but I dunno if anyone has covered this yet.
I wanted to ask mainly to medical students and residents about their med schools.
1) Which schools are pass/fail (without ranking), pass/fail (with ranking), grade-based?
2) How are student's attitude generally in DO schools? In which I mean are they as cut-throat and extremely competitive as some MD schools. Are they helpful to one another?
I'm sure it differs from school to school, but I wanted to know overall which school generally has a 'nicer' and helpful classmates.

3) Just for fun: Do you think DO students are overall nicer than MD students? 😀

Western/COMP is pass/fail/honor with ranking

the general student body is not very cut-throat.. but just like any other school, we have some crazy gunners as well

from my brief interaction with MD students at a couple different conferences.. MD students really aren't that different than DO students; we are ALL nice =D

 

[Goro]

I find that my DO students completely lack the pre-med gunner mentality. Having taught both DO and MD students, I prefer the former...they're just as bright, but are more dedicated, altruistic, and friendly. They go out of their way to help each other.