Right, I just dont agree with the concept that the only thing that can hold a DO student back is themselves. There are a significant amount of programs that dont even look at DO apps. That doesnt mean going DO is a bad idea, but one should know the things that are often glossed over on this forum.
Granted, I haven't really spent much time in pre-osteo over the past 1-2 yrs, but I don't remember DO limitations ever really being glossed over. Everyone knows US MDs match better. When I applied, I had absolutely no sense that going DO would mean I would have the same opportunities as a US MD. I knew that as far as residency opportunities went: US MD>DO>Carib MD, so I applied to all 3, got interviews from all 3, waitlisted at MD and in at DO and Carib. Most people in my classes had the same idea as well.
Maybe things have changed, but given how much more a couple people are posting on here, my guess is that if anything the sentiment is going the other way.
...This is certainly not true for IM and peds matches at AOA programs. If you look at the medicine specialty match stats the absolute number of DOs is quite small and the majority are in subspecialties that are not competitive (because they don't make much more, and sometimes make less than general medicine): endocrine, ID, nephro
The point was that they aren't all doing PC. The fact that they specialized in less competitive specialties doesn't really matter as far as that poster's point goes. Does it say something else about the competitiveness of DOs in academic medicine, probably, but says nothing about the "DOs only do PC" mantra.
My two acceptances were Midwestern and one of the Touros. When I was applying for medical schools, all I wanted is to become a physician without wasting too much time given my low stats. I figured that instead of wasting more time trying to boost my stats in order to become more competitive for MD schools, I would just go for a DO degree and start my journey. However, as I read more about how DOs are discriminated against by some PDs in ACGME competitive specialties, I start to question whether I should take more time to try to gain an acceptance to MD schools. I am only a premed; I don't know whether I will be attracted to the highly competitive fields when I go through medical school, and I don't want my degree to restrict me from going where I want to go. I know that DO schools don't restrict you, but the PDs who have the bias will. With the merger (or the hostile takeover), I am afraid that specializing will become that much more difficult for DOs.
I have nothing against primary care; in fact, I highly considered it for my career. But I also don't really want to be restricted in terms of what specialties I could get into...
I did apply to MD schools but I wasn't really realistic about where I applied to...
Chances are you will not get in if you reapply next year, because the biggest part of your app that you would need to fix would be your GPA, and that's not going to happen in a semester. You would also have to retake the MCAT, and that's risky, because you'd have to do better with the new format.
In any case, you'd be delayed at least 2 yrs. That honestly might be enough to tell DO schools, you really weren't ready then to start med school because of personal matters, so I wouldn't worry about how bad it would look if you declined an acceptance, that said, I wouldn't expect to get into those same schools again. Only you can really decide if that's worth a
chance at getting in to med school.
In all likelihood, you're probably going to be more limited by your own stats for Ortho than you would by the DO vs low-tier MD school (that will certainly limit you, but chances are its unlikely you'll even be in the position for it to limit you). Unless you're well into the upper quartile/quintile, both in terms of rank and Step scores - remember you're competing against people with essentially the same intelligence and drive as you, chances are you will have a tough time getting Ortho regardless. Obviously going MD will give you some moderate amount of an advantage, but if you don't have the stats (and 75-80% of students won't) it really won't matter.
PM&R will literally not matter at all whether you go DO or MD. IM is really where your concern will be. If your goal is academic medicine or a competitive subspecialty (e.g. Cards or GI), you will need to go to a mid-tier or higher university IM program, which will actually require you to have much better stats as a DO than as an MD, and you will be geographically limited. Again, its doable, but harder. An average MD will get looks at multiple solid mid-tier programs, whereas a DO with the same stats as that average MD might not.
Honestly, both ways are a risk, especially since you're thinking Ortho, and only you can decide, which risk is worth it.
