How much extra work is involved taking USMLE in addition to COMLEX?

[MCBDoc]

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Hi, I have a situation I hope you can help me with. My girlfriend and I have both been accepted to the same DO schools so we have the opportunity to go to the same school which would be great and exactly what I hoped for.

She recently got accepted into an MD school, but I have not been accepted there and not sure if I will. Now that she has been accepted to the MD school, she is considering going there instead of the DO school where we could go together. As far as the schools go, they are equivalent in facilities and almost every other aspect.

Her argument is that she does not want to have to prepare for both the USMLE and the COMPLEX, as she would likely do as a DO student. I understand that doubling the boards is no fun, but I was wondering how much extra work/time would be required to do both the USMLE and COMLEX? Would it really make life that much easier being an MD vs. DO when it comes to residency spots? (she wants to do anesthesiology and I wish to do ortho) We have to make a decision quickly because of the December 14 deadline on the deposit. Any input? Thank you

 

[thepoopologist]

Hi, I have a situation I hope you can help me with. My girlfriend and I have both been accepted to the same DO schools so we have the opportunity to go to the same school which would be great and exactly what I hoped for.

She recently got accepted into an MD school, but I have not been accepted there and not sure if I will. Now that she has been accepted to the MD school, she is considering going there instead of the DO school where we could go together. As far as the schools go, they are equivalent in facilities and almost every other aspect.

Her argument is that she does not want to have to prepare for both the USMLE and the COMPLEX, as she would likely do as a DO student. I understand that doubling the boards is no fun, but I was wondering how much extra work/time would be required to do both the USMLE and COMLEX? Would it really make life that much easier being an MD vs. DO when it comes to residency spots? (she wants to do anesthesiology and I wish to do ortho) We have to make a decision quickly because of the December 14 deadline on the deposit. Any input? Thank you

You're missing the point here. It's not just the "extra work." Not only do you have to take possibly two extra 8 hour standardized exams of a higher caliber (USMLE Step I and II), you also have to deal with a comparably higher tuition on average, go through two years of OMM, and deal with the fact that some patients may have no idea what your degree or training entails. You also ideally would want higher scores than your USMD counterparts to level the playing field.

If she has a USMD acceptance in hand, and she wants to do Gas, it would be insane of her to not head to that school. Yes she'll get Gas going to a DO school but it'll be easier for her to get it coming from a MD school.

You'd have to offer her something huge on a personal level for her to overlook the difference.

 

[thepoopologist]

If it were me I'd turn it around and ask her to put in a good word for you at the MD school. Cycles not over, hope things work out.

 

[MCBDoc]

Thank you for the quick reply.

We're very close so I see the positives of being together outweigh the negatives. We've been together for the past 2 years and lived with each this year (senior year of undergrad). Obviously we're not going to break up if we do go to different schools, but it I feel it would be a step backwards if we were separated. So I feel there are great personal benefits. Realistically, we won't see much of each other being 500 or possibly even 1500 miles apart.

Tuition is the roughly same and not an issue, so it really comes down to the boards in her eyes. Is there really much threat of not getting an anesthesiology residency if she goes DO?

I will definitely have her do that and mention the situation to the school.

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Hi, I have a situation I hope you can help me with. My girlfriend and I have both been accepted to the same DO schools so we have the opportunity to go to the same school which would be great and exactly what I hoped for.

She recently got accepted into an MD school, but I have not been accepted there and not sure if I will. Now that she has been accepted to the MD school, she is considering going there instead of the DO school where we could go together. As far as the schools go, they are equivalent in facilities and almost every other aspect.

Her argument is that she does not want to have to prepare for both the USMLE and the COMPLEX, as she would likely do as a DO student. I understand that doubling the boards is no fun, but I was wondering how much extra work/time would be required to do both the USMLE and COMLEX? Would it really make life that much easier being an MD vs. DO when it comes to residency spots? (she wants to do anesthesiology and I wish to do ortho) We have to make a decision quickly because of the December 14 deadline on the deposit. Any input? Thank you

What extra work? Study for Steps. Win Comlex for free. The only "extra work" is studying the manipulation questions. OMM makes you a MUCH better masseuse than I am.

 

[cliquesh]

Thank you for the quick reply.

We're very close so I see the positives of being together outweigh the negatives. We've been together for the past 2 years and lived with each this year (senior year of undergrad). Obviously we're not going to break up if we do go to different schools, but it I feel it would be a step backwards if we were separated. So I feel there are great personal benefits. Realistically, we won't see much of each other being 500 or possibly even 1500 miles apart.

Tuition is the roughly same and not an issue, so it really comes down to the boards in her eyes. Is there really much threat of not getting an anesthesiology residency if she goes DO?

I will definitely have her do that and mention the situation to the school.

It is easier as a US-MD. Anesthesiology is relatively DO friendly, but if she decides to do something else that isn't DO friendly, such as derm, it would be much easier as a MD. You two will likely break up if you spend that much time apart, so you shouldn't kid yourselves about that.

 

[MedPR]

IMO you shouldn't be trying to convince her to possibly sacrifice her career so you can go to the same medical school. I'm not saying going DO instead of MD is going to hurt her (or anyone's) career, but many specialties are much more MD friendly; facts are facts.

I've never been supportive of young couples following each other to school because majority of the time they break up anyway, and the one who sacrificed because the other couldn't get into the same program ends up regretting it.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

It's past December 14th. What happened?