DO vs Carib vs reapplying MD

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The Ross graduate who failed to match was listed as a contributor to a Step 1 teaching manual and played a big role within the school. All records of them ever being a part of Ross or being a Ross graduate have been erased from the school's directory and out of a sense of shame there are no social media updates. However, the two associates e.g. the ross student who landed an fp residency and another one from aua with a peds. residency have left a significant impact of their achievements. This is not surprising or a "shocker." But what often happens is that people are often lead into the Caribbean because of the success stories rather than the failures. The students go on to do other things, but that's way too much debt and time dedicated to medicine that could have gone to another field of practice and given them much better returns. I would not throw a minimum $200k+ investment lightly for a 2/3 chance assuming you make it that far. I know many people are desperate and think that getting to 4th year to have a 66% chance is fantastic. I am not a gambling man no matter how desperate socio-economic conditions are and pulled out before accruing major losses.

People like @Goro aren't dissuading students from the Caribbean because they want to stop you from becoming a physician. They want you to accept the DO nomination because you are making an analogous long term income investment with funds you fundamentally do not have. Why not put the resources into securing the DO where residency placement nominations have approximately a +45% increased chance of returning your investment.

@VegasSurgeon And schools like Ross play into the IM angle well by having M3 programs like Internal Medicine Foundations as a first rotation in Miramar. However, the reality of residency placement panned out drastically different despite all the investments made into expanding educational curriculum material. I wasn't standing behind them when they were prioritizing their match choices, however I can only presume that if you've made it to the end of M4 then you have a modicum of acumen to self-select the best choices to secure a residency opportunity. Then again reading all these informative posts about prospective doctors with MD/DO acceptances and choosing to go to the Caribbean makes me realize that perhaps the acumen for accurate self-assessment may be a chronic disability that Caribbean schools have an acumen for selecting especially when I'm updated on social media that several students who failed out are attending another Carib. school.
 
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VegasSurgeon said:
I honestly do not know how well the school did this year in the match overall. I will say though that it is harder than it used to be to match into general surgery coming even from one of the better schools in the Caribbean (but it is still doable). The OP said specifically that he wants to go into internal medicine. If one wants FM, IM, Peds, or psych, the Caribbean is much more viable option.
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More viable option than DO? Pretty unfounded. Unfortunately SGU had multiple grads fail to match Psych this past year alone. You need not search hard to find other Match/SOAP sob stories about the Caribbean . Besides the "Pay for reserved spot" places and work mills, there are far and few places that would prefer a Caribbean graduate to a DO graduate in today's Match and residency programs.

And even if the OP said he wanted to do internal medicine, preferences change. If you're an attending and have had students I am sure you know this as well. Makes no sense to leverage the rest of the future just because you think you want to do something now. That can very well change later.
 
I completely agree that preferences can change over time. Though I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to go into when I started medical school, not all students are like this. But if he has in fact decided he wants to go into internal medicine (which is a very broad specialty) he should be able to easily match into a low ranked university program so long as he can pass his boards.
 
PLEASE GO TO THE CARIBBEAN, give that DO spot to someone who's hungry to be a doctor. If you even consider going there instead of taking a DO acceptance because you want that MD then you don't want to be a doctor bad enough especially if the initials mean the most to you

Thats the problem with kids who's parents are doctors they get this notion that MD is always better and are blind to the fact that an applicant in 1980 could have got in with a 3.33 or a 3.4 but now a 3.7 is the norm, kids who's parents are doctors need to do their OWN research and not feel like they need to be what their parents are.

Good Luck to you, you'll need it in the caribbean.
 
PossibleDOC? said:
PLEASE GO TO THE CARIBBEAN, give that DO spot to someone who's hungry to be a doctor. If you even consider going there instead of taking a DO acceptance because you want that MD then you don't want to be a doctor bad enough especially if the initials mean the most to you

Thats the problem with kids who's parents are doctors they get this notion that MD is always better and are blind to the fact that an applicant in 1980 could have got in with a 3.33 or a 3.4 but now a 3.7 is the norm, kids who's parents are doctors need to do their OWN research and not feel like they need to be what their parents are.

Good Luck to you, you'll need it in the caribbean.
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That's the thing I still can't wrap my head around.

For an applicant whose parents are both MDs.....are they really that short-sighted as to say "MD or GTFO"? Is it just the ego talking?

And as gullible/inexperienced as OP comes off, he's been level headed enough to keep calm and handle all of the comments on here with some serious patience.

MD/DO you serve the same damn purpose (using an expression here, please don't crucify with minute differences and ask me to step around egg shells) with the same responsibilities and patients on the line.
 
Kisangani said:
I applied to a few DO programs later in the game after not having much luck with the MD programs I applied to. One of my research mentors also suggested it.
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So you were pot-shotting for a chance to become a doctor....when you didn't even really want to be?

You sent in 40+ applications for USMD.

You received 1 acceptance DO

You received 2 acceptances Caribbean

Forget what your parents are saying and pay attention to these numbers for a second. It is YOUR life and YOUR responsibility. Not theirs. What makes you think a second round with a slightly higher MCAT will help?

I know its pretty frustrating to see people castrate you on here. But its time to buckle down and think logically Kisangani.
 
I would take the DO and RUN. Check out the Caribbean thread on this forum and see how many people with above average stats weren't even invited for an interview, let alone match. Many of them are returning home, living with their parents, and working as an MCAT tutor with $300k in debt. Going to the Carribean was a viable option a decade or so ago but not anymore. I also don't think an SMP will help your app out if you do "average" in the program. Swallow your pride, be more humble, and go DO.
 
Kisangani said:
I do not believe I have done so poorly in undergrad that I should need to "reinvent" myself. The lowest grade that I received in a class required to apply to medical school was a B. As for instant gratification, this process has been nothing but that. I know you work for a DO school, so I don't mean to offend you by not being enthusiastic about attending one, but saying I am gullible to consider another path is simply incorrect.
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your gpa is a 3.33
the average gpa for a student accepted is around a 3.7
 
gonnif said:
Factually incorrect.
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Not necessarily that graph has "matched/placed AOA" which leads me to believe that at least some of those were through the SOAP which means the applicant failed to match, and the poster you quoted specifically mentioned "match rate". I do think it is fair to say most DO schools probably have a lower "match rate" than MD schools(and if we are counting only NRMP this is fact as US MDs match at around 94% and DOs 80%), even if their overall placement is similar. Obviously DO is better than caribbean but I feel like sometimes people are unintentionally too optimistic about the DO path and that leads to bitter DO students who wish they reapplied MD. As for the OP I think he should take the DO acceptance as his 3.3 GPA would probably take a long time to fix.
 
I am a DO who matched into an ACGME competitive surgical subspecialty. For my intern year, I matched into a highly competitive prelim medicine program. The program is community based and very good from a prelim perspective - with the exception of me all US MDs from top 10 schools who matched into derm and ophtho. They have however not matched a categorical from a US school (MD or DO) in the last 3 years (funny how that works). This is relevant bc I've had an opportunity to talk to these FMGs and US Caribbean IMGs (SABA, SGU, Ross, etc) about their experience applying etc. Of my N =8ish or so, they all applied to greater than 150 programs and they all had no more than 5 interviews. From an application perspective they sound as though they would have done much better had they gone DO or US MD. Remember these guys I'm talking to were the lucky ones to match and my program is very IMG/FMG friendly. They are all excellent interns though and I'd definitely say that they are likely to be amongst the strongest from their school - which makes going carib even scarier in that case.

What Vegas surgeon is saying may have been true in the past but that was a long time ago. If he completed a general surgery residency + a plastics fellowship, that means he finished med school 7-8 years ago at best assuming he didn't take any research years between residency and fellowship (extremely common) and assuming he is fresh out of fellowship. To assume that Vegas surgeon knows enough about the current climate of med school applications is completely irresponsible. He is way too far removed to contribute any meaningful advice (No offense meant, just hate to see a kid take a huge gamble on advice that is very outdated)

OP, if you do decide you want internal medicine (for the life of me I can't understand why anyone would want this/you will change your mind in med school many times most likely) you will be happy come residency app time that you went to a US school (MD or DO). You will match and on average, match to a much better program than an IMG (if they match at all). This will mean the world for fellowship placement (for example, my intern program has never matched a categorical into cardiology or GI).





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VegasSurgeon said:
OP, I was in your position many years ago as well. I had an acceptance to a well-ranked DO school and an acceptance to several of the “Big 4” Caribbean schools. After discussing the issue with my parents (who are both MDs as well) and several of my mentors, I decided to go the Caribbean route. I would take what you hear on this site with a grain of salt regarding DO being a better option than the Caribbean. While it will make it easier for you to match (particularly into competitive specialties) when you graduate, it comes with disadvantages as well. The reality is that few people outside of the medical field have any idea what a DO is. That is a BIG disadvantage! Think about that…..your patients will confuse you as a glorified chiropractor or nurse half of the time. Additionally, DOs are not recognized as physicians in many countries (though this may be changing slowly). By any means please do not listen to anyone on this site saying that there is no difference between MDs and DOs. Many of them seem to be involved with administration or are stern advocates for various osteopathic schools (some may be DOs themselves who are insecure with themselves and the added competition that IMGs cause when it comes time to match) and are thus biased in their responses. While they are similar (MD and DO) in their roles and responsibilities in medicine, saying that they are indistinguishable is a severe exaggeration. Osteopathic doctors still face a certain stigma amongst medical professionals and their schools tend to have match rates that are significantly below those of US MD schools. Though keep in mind that match rates at international medical schools as a whole are far below those of both US MD and DO schools. However, unless you truly believe in the osteopathic “philosophy,” you should not go to a DO school (especially if MD was your first choice). The best way to look at it is that you will have a chip on your shoulder regardless of whether you go to a DO school of an international MD school. But down the road it will be easier for you to conceal where you went to medical school as opposed to the two initials after your name. Also remember that as you go through this process (starting in you M3 year) it really becomes more of who you know than what you know. Once you get into your residency, nobody really cares where you went to medical school, and they will never know unless you tell them. However, if you go to a DO school, it will be stitched onto your jacket that you studied an alternative form of medicine and couldn’t get into a US MD school. The relationships that you build with the attendings supervising your clinicals as well as the letters of recommendations you get will have a great amount of influence in determining where you can do your residency, fellowships, etc (though board scores are VERY important as well). Many people on this site will also claim that Caribbean schools have incredibly high attrition rates and only exist to rob people with nothing to show for it. While I cannot say that all Caribbean schools have good student retentions, I can only think of one person who I was close to at my medical school who dropped out due to academic reasons. Though there were others who dropped out, I am unsure of the exact attrition. I would estimate less than 10% of those who started did not graduate in my year. Even though this is a higher attrition rate than all US MD schools, many DO schools have attrition rates around this. I would say that so long as you are dedicated and focused while you are there, you should be able to pass and get through it. In my opinion, medical school was FAR easier than being an undergraduate. I suppose it depends on what you majored in, but I found the material and workload to be significantly reduced in medical school (and I scored high on all of my Steps). The time I spent in the Caribbean went by very quickly and the accommodations for students are getting better with time. The clinical rotations I got in the US were all adequate in my opinion and taught me what I needed to know in order to prepare for residency. While I did have some good luck along the way, I was able to easily graduate on time and matched into a low-tier (but respectable) general surgery residency (categorical). I also recently completed a fellowship in plastics which is something nobody ever thought I would be able to accomplish as an IMG (though I did need to complete a year of research before I was accepted). The reality is that some specialties will simply be out of reach to you as an IMG and will unfairly go to US MDs/DOs before they are offered to you (even if you have superior grades/board scores). As a matter of fact, IMGs may be one of the last groups of people who can be legally discriminated against in our society. However, you still have many options if you pick a broad specialty (IM or general surgery) and subspecialize later (Ex. IM to pulmonology or GI, gen surg to colorectal ect) Anything is possible with enough hard-work, determination, and perserverance. I would choose the Caribbean again over DO in a heartbeat and hope that you consider doing the same. At the end of the day, an MD degree is more valuable than a DO degree even coming from a school outside of the US. Best of luck to you in your pursuits.

-VegasSurgeon
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Jesus. That huge of a concern for how people think of you? "Conceal" where you went to medical school? Wow.

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Kisangani said:
GPA and MCAT both being borderline for MD consideration
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That's quite generous. Take the acceptance and run.

If you're enough of a fool to want to go to the Caribbean instead i won't try to persuade you otherwise.
 
Go to the DO school. There is literally no reason to delay another year just for an MD admission, and this is coming from an MD student.

Yes OMM is a bunch of a non sense and completely ascientific but its a very small part of their education, and everything else is essentially the same.

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Lawper said:
Do not go to the Caribbean.

In your case, take the DO acceptance and move on. Yes, US MD may be better than US DO, but what is important is that you are a US-educated and US-trained physician. And the only thing difficult to do as a US DO student is matching into the most competitive residencies (and even these are still difficult for US MD).
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Wont matter as much by the time he matches since the MD and DO match are being combined.

Theres no reason to delay for an MD admit. There are DO schools that are way better than some of the lower tier state MD schools.

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You also...don't have to be a doctor. There are plenty of other jobs in the health field that are less visible but just as important. For example, radiology technicians.
 
Weirdy said:
So you were pot-shotting for a chance to become a doctor....when you didn't even really want to be?

You sent in 40+ applications for USMD.

You received 1 acceptance DO

You received 2 acceptances Caribbean

Forget what your parents are saying and pay attention to these numbers for a second. It is YOUR life and YOUR responsibility. Not theirs. What makes you think a second round with a slightly higher MCAT will help?

I know its pretty frustrating to see people castrate you on here. But its time to buckle down and think logically Kisangani.
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Look, I understand that going to a DO school is a more secure career choice than going to a Caribbean MD program. I am a lot more pragmatic than many of the posters here think I am. However, I also cannot simply "forget" what my parents are saying. They are the one who will be funding my education and will not pay for me to attend a DO school. Their opinions also do matter to me. Whether you think that makes me inexperienced, or immature, or gullible (or a combination of three) that's what it is. I also agree that a slightly higher MCAT would not help me much in another cycle of applying MD (or if I would even be able to raise 1.5 years since I last wrote it).
 
The odds are 50-50 that you'll be flushing their money down the toilet, AND that you'll never, ever be a doctor.

At some point, grow a spine.

Kisangani said:
Look, I understand that going to a DO school is a more secure career choice than going to a Caribbean MD program. I am a lot more pragmatic than many of the posters here think I am. However, I also cannot simply "forget" what my parents are saying. They are the one who will be funding my education and will not pay for me to attend a DO school. Their opinions also do matter to me. Whether you think that makes me inexperienced, or immature, or gullible (or a combination of three) that's what it is. I also agree that a slightly higher MCAT would not help me much in another cycle of applying MD (or if I would even be able to raise 1.5 years since I last wrote it).
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If you want a US MD program; keep building your application and keep applying. If not, take what you have and go forward.
 
Mariolee said:
You also...don't have to be a doctor. There are plenty of other jobs in the health field that are less visible but just as important. For example, radiology technicians.
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Thanks for your sarcastic comment, but since you feel that way why don't you go ahead and become a medical tech. Or better yet, actually go through the application process before you comment on a thread like this.
 
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Kisangani said:
Look, I understand that going to a DO school is a more secure career choice than going to a Caribbean MD program. I am a lot more pragmatic than many of the posters here think I am. However, I also cannot simply "forget" what my parents are saying. They are the one who will be funding my education and will not pay for me to attend a DO school. Their opinions also do matter to me. Whether you think that makes me inexperienced, or immature, or gullible (or a combination of three) that's what it is. I also agree that a slightly higher MCAT would not help me much in another cycle of applying MD (or if I would even be able to raise 1.5 years since I last wrote it).
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Goro said:
The odds are 50-50 that you'll be flushing their money down the toilet, AND that you'll never, ever be a doctor.

At some point, grow a spine.
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Unfortunately, OP has no desire to be a DO. So what he should do now is to drop the DO acceptance immediately so that someone waitlisted can have it.

Whether OP goes to Caribbean is his prerogative. All we can say is, good luck.
 
Goro said:
The odds are 50-50 that you'll be flushing their money down the toilet, AND that you'll never, ever be a doctor.

At some point, grow a spine.
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I know that. But if I can't get into an MD school and my parents won't pay for me to attend a DO school (I'm also ineligible for need based loans) then my odds of becoming a doctor are 0%. Looking at some of your other comments on similar threads, you seem to give very generic responses to anyone who considers going to a foreign medical school. I'm curious, is there anyone under any set of circumstances who you would advise to attend a Caribbean medical program?
 
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Kisangani said:
I know that. But if I can't get into an MD school and my parents won't pay for me to attend a DO school (I'm also ineligible for need based loans) then my odds of becoming a doctor are 0%.
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I apologize if I missed it, but are you unable to get federal loans?
 
Kisangani said:
. However, I also cannot simply "forget" what my parents are saying. They are the one who will be funding my education and will not pay for me to attend a DO school. Their opinions also do matter to me. Whether you think that makes me inexperienced, or immature, or gullible (or a combination of three) that's what it is.
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Then you'll be wasting their funds and your time. By those conditions you should just go ahead and and take out the loans yourself and save your parents their money.

I have relatives like your parents who are MD's that despised the idea of DO school. But after they worked with DO attendings and residents and had their own children fail to get accepted to USMD schools and fail to match from Caribbean school, they began seeing DO school in a different light.

I suggest you heed the tales and warning from people with more experience than you in the current medical education system. Good doctors follow the advice of those with more experience especially with cautionary tales.
 
OP, go to the Caribbean. If you are not going to become a doctor at least you will have yourself a long vocation. I know a person who is in the Caribbean med school and posts pictures of the beach and ocean every day , looks pretty!!! 😉
And I am sorry your parents are so clueless about DO's, it's still mind boggling you even applied to the DO schools.... with your parents' money....?
 
Everyone is taking this WAY too seriously.

1) She/He believes ANY MD >> US DO.
2) OP's parents are "sending" him/her to an international MD.

Why is anyone wasting their time here? Let his/her parents blow +$200,000 on an international MD program -- it isn't your money! Spend your time convincing people worth your effort; This OP isn't.

You can lead a horse to water...
 
Syns said:
Everyone is taking this WAY too seriously.

1) She/He believes ANY MD >> US DO.
2) OP's parents are "sending" him/her to an international MD.

Why is anyone wasting their time here? Let his/her parents blow +$200,000 on an international MD program -- it isn't your money! Spend your time convincing people worth your effort; This OP isn't.

You can lead a horse to water...
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I think you're the one taking it too seriously bud.

I'm just saying, DO is way better than Carribbean. The match rate for US citizens from Caribbean schools was only about 54% this year.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...nts-and-46-of-usimgs-went-un-matched.1201053/

No idea if that match rate will go up or down by the time you are ready match in 4-5 years, especially with MD and DO's combining into a single match.
 
As a recent US MD grad who went through that match, go to a DO school if you do want to match in the US. I met with a bunch of applicants from DO and very few from Carib. Third and four year will be a pain for you if you do Carib. You'll have get out of the island and rotate around the country in your own. It's no fun...

They also weed people out like crazy.

Or, go to Carib MD and watch us say, "we told you so".




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Reading threads like this, I imagine if SDN mandated one has to use @edu accounts from universities, the amount of troll posts / threads would go down significantly all around
 
Kisangani said:
I know that. But if I can't get into an MD school and my parents won't pay for me to attend a DO school (I'm also ineligible for need based loans) then my odds of becoming a doctor are 0%. Looking at some of your other comments on similar threads, you seem to give very generic responses to anyone who considers going to a foreign medical school. I'm curious, is there anyone under any set of circumstances who you would advise to attend a Caribbean medical program?
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I'm assuming you're eligible for federal loans (almost everyone is). You can pay for your DO education with federal loans like people who don't come from rich families and you'll be just fine. Or you can use your parents' money to take a 50/50 shot at the Carib. In the former, you'll almost certainly be a licensed physician. In the latter, you'll have no debt. I guess your priorities decide this.

However, you are foolish for thinking you can't go to school because your parents won't pay.
 
Kisangani said:
I know that. But if I can't get into an MD school and my parents won't pay for me to attend a DO school (I'm also ineligible for need based loans) then my odds of becoming a doctor are 0%. Looking at some of your other comments on similar threads, you seem to give very generic responses to anyone who considers going to a foreign medical school. I'm curious, is there anyone under any set of circumstances who you would advise to attend a Caribbean medical program?
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Why aren't you eligible for federal loans?


Edit: You are a Us citizen. Meaning you are eligible for federal student loans as long as the DO school offers them(Which they do)
 
Weirdy said:
That's the thing I still can't wrap my head around.

For an applicant whose parents are both MDs.....are they really that short-sighted as to say "MD or GTFO"? Is it just the ego talking?

And as gullible/inexperienced as OP comes off, he's been level headed enough to keep calm and handle all of the comments on here with some serious patience.

MD/DO you serve the same damn purpose (using an expression here, please don't crucify with minute differences and ask me to step around egg shells) with the same responsibilities and patients on the line.
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As a future DO, I kind of get why the bias exists. Even in the early 90s, DO schools were essentially open admission compared to what they are now. It was also common to have like an 80% first time pass rate for level one. Considering how easy it was to get into an MD school back then, you probably had some really weak applicants that went DO.

As much as people on this forum like to complain about facilities/research/clinicals/etc, DO schools are better than ever (except tuition).


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You said above that you know DO is the more pragmatic choice than the Caribbean. My two part question for you is (a.) do you really appreciate WHY this is, and (b.) have you tried your VERY BEST to educate your parents on these reasons? Make sure you can honestly answer yes to both of these. I think that should resolve your issue. You will see why this is a no-brainer and your parents may budge or they may not.

You asked whether there were any circumstances in which others would recommend the Caribbean. I could think of a few, but yours aren't among of them. And this is coming from someone who is far less anti-Caribbean than some others around here. Having your school paid for is a huge deal, but it is your parents' money you are gambling with here, not a scholarship.

On the financial situation: if you are not getting any support from the parents, I don't see why you wouldn't be eligible for student loans. Check with your FA office at the DO school.
 
Kisangani said:
I know that. But if I can't get into an MD school and my parents won't pay for me to attend a DO school (I'm also ineligible for need based loans) then my odds of becoming a doctor are 0%. Looking at some of your other comments on similar threads, you seem to give very generic responses to anyone who considers going to a foreign medical school. I'm curious, is there anyone under any set of circumstances who you would advise to attend a Caribbean medical program?
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Graduate plus loans are available for everyone, grad student loans are available to everyone.....as long as you have good credit you can get the plus loans, theres also private loan options too.....sooner or later you have to be a big person and not ride on mommy and daddy's coattails.....I wish you luck in the Caribbean though I figured if I could not do the MCAT the boards would give me a problem so I decided to forgo it and apply again this cycle, we all have our desires and values and we have to go based on that. If your parents like the idea of you possibly being unemployed with their coveted MD then go we can't guarantee you anything we just use examples and facts. Just remember certain specialties are out the window so if your parents are neurosurgeons tell them now it isn't happening.

Good Luck to you
 
@ZezKaiEll
a) I understand why it is the better choice and appreciate it fully. (impending residency merger, near certainty in making it through, etc)
b) Trust me I have. They will not hear any of it. Part of the reason may be the fact that they were educated in Zimbabwe/South Africa where DOs are pretty much unheard of. I would be far more opened to going the DO route if I had my parents' support.

I know my stats aren't excellent, but do you really think they are so low that they would put me at risk from even being able to complete (i.e. failing out) a Caribbean program?
 
Kisangani said:
b) Trust me I have. They will not hear any of it. Part of the reason may be the fact that they were educated in Zimbabwe/South Africa where DOs are pretty much unheard of. I would be far more opened to going the DO route if I had my parents' support.

I know my stats aren't excellent, but do you really think they are so low that they would put me at risk from even being able to complete (i.e. failing out) a Caribbean program?
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Then you need to make the decision. Are you living your life or your parent's life ? Mom and dad wont be the one setting residency interviews for you or going through the experience in the islands. Medical school is an adult experience which starts with you making your own decisions.

So yes and no. 3.33 gpa essentially says 2/3 of the time you made B's and 1/3 of the time As( if b was really your lowest grade ) . Not chicken little sky is falling risk for flunking out but at the same merits a small sign of some struggle. Your MCAT says tests may be your issue. Unfortunately medical school for the first two years is a barrage of exams at MCAT equal volume caliber throughout culminating in the USMLE.

Even doing relatively well on your USMLE as a international medical graduate , you will have to score higher than the American school counter parts to even sniff the chance for residency invites and acceptances that your american medical school peers will get with more ease. And here is the real risk. Not matching. Read through the SOAP thread here on SDN. Every year those threads are filled with many FMG and IMGs panicking at the last minute. You don't want that to be you. Why put yourself in that position?? A smart person puts themself in the best position possible every chance they get. Even if it means roughing up other people's feathers
 
OP, there is another way...a far more...sinister path if you believe my colleagues. The military.

Your parents hold on you seems to be financial. You find another way to finance your DO education it really does not matter what they think and even if they cut you off completely the HPSP "scholarship" will still give you enough money for food and basic necessities. The plus side is that you will get to become a doctor in a few years without the crazy risks involved with the Caribbean.

Sometimes you have to listen to yourself but your parent's money and their pride is clouding your future. The options presented to you at this point are rather binary, I'm trying to show you another road you can take. I must admit that taking the military route has its own huge sacrifices as well though. Another discussion for another time when you are ready to research it.
 
Just go to the Caribbean already because that is clearly what you want to do. Give the DO seat to someone who wants it. With inflation you can come back in 4 years and be a USMLE tutor and write a blog entitled, "1.5 million dollar mistake".
 
OP can you try to make your parents read this thread?

Do you think your parents will completely cut you off if you go against their wishes? (More than just financially?)
 
Kisangani said:
@ZezKaiEll
a) I understand why it is the better choice and appreciate it fully. (impending residency merger, near certainty in making it through, etc)
b) Trust me I have. They will not hear any of it. Part of the reason may be the fact that they were educated in Zimbabwe/South Africa where DOs are pretty much unheard of. I would be far more opened to going the DO route if I had my parents' support.

I know my stats aren't excellent, but do you really think they are so low that they would put me at risk from even being able to complete (i.e. failing out) a Caribbean program?
Click to expand...

No disrespect, but who cares about what your parents think. While they may be loving caretakers for you, they are displaying a high level of ignorance. They should (but probably won't) get over their stubbornness regarding medical education in the U.S.. They assimilated here because they believed the United States to be a better country to live in. Osteopathic medical education is part of the United States. More than likely, the education that you'd receive at a DO school would be of higher quality than what they received in Zimbabwe.

If you'd rather go to a Caribbean school and possibly never become a doctor (think about how much disappointment mom and dad would feel then) instead of almost certainly becoming one, then give up your seat to someone who actually wants it.
 
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