How do you know which path (MD or DO) is the right one for you? If anyone has ever chosen between acceptances, how did you decide? And for those that simply decided to go DO from the beginning, why? Thank you!
How to decide
- Thread starter Chyea
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An MD is a physician, and a DO is a physician. I am assuming you aspire to become a physician. Past that, choose the school atmosphere that you feel most comfortable at, the best location, the price, the feeling you get inside about where you want to spend 2-4 years, the type of people you will be in class with.....
*this is my opinion, at least.
*this is my opinion, at least.
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I agree with the previous post, but to add my opinion, I also think that it's about the philosophy and ideals you hold toward patient care and health care in general. Yes, when you look at it, DOs and MDs really do the same things and the line is really blurred when it comes to both actually practicing, but I think that it takes a different set of ideals to really want to learn the DO philosophy. You can do anything you want as a physician with either, but for me it was the fact that as a current health care provider I always practiced, even unknowingly at first, in the mind set of osteopathy, in the sense that I care more about my patient as a whole person and aim to make a difference in their lives as opposed to treating symptoms and diseases as seperate entities. But like I said, once in practice, most of the philosophy is also blurred.
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i agree with the mango lover. . .choose the school/path that best "fits."
It took me a while to not get caught up in the different philosophies of the two professions. I will not let my degree determine/change the way I feel medicine should be practiced. If you want to practice a holistic approach to health care, then you will do so--regardless of degree designation. For all intensive purposes, each professional has equivalent rights and privileges, and MDs can learn manual medicine if they grew so inclined upon graduation. So the only thing left to do is pick the school which fits best...which is easier said than done.
Granted, it is difficult to discern which places are going to work out the best for you so you really just gotta go by your stats and see which places you are competitive at landing an interview. Once you get the interviews, THEN you can start getting nit-picky about which school/path fits best.
It is just because so many of them are VERY similar when it comes to curriculum and clinical experiences.
Things to watch out for could be:
1) location
2) cost of attendance
3) class size
4) how comfortable you were during your visit as an interviewee
5) delivery of curriculum (didactic/PBL/Systems/online-material/etc.)
6) special programs of interest like research opportunities or community experiences
I am having a helluva time deciding which school is going to work the best for me right now...I only hope that I make the right decision in the end.
It took me a while to not get caught up in the different philosophies of the two professions. I will not let my degree determine/change the way I feel medicine should be practiced. If you want to practice a holistic approach to health care, then you will do so--regardless of degree designation. For all intensive purposes, each professional has equivalent rights and privileges, and MDs can learn manual medicine if they grew so inclined upon graduation. So the only thing left to do is pick the school which fits best...which is easier said than done.
Granted, it is difficult to discern which places are going to work out the best for you so you really just gotta go by your stats and see which places you are competitive at landing an interview. Once you get the interviews, THEN you can start getting nit-picky about which school/path fits best.
It is just because so many of them are VERY similar when it comes to curriculum and clinical experiences.
Things to watch out for could be:
1) location
2) cost of attendance
3) class size
4) how comfortable you were during your visit as an interviewee
5) delivery of curriculum (didactic/PBL/Systems/online-material/etc.)
6) special programs of interest like research opportunities or community experiences
I am having a helluva time deciding which school is going to work the best for me right now...I only hope that I make the right decision in the end.
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I agree with mango and everyone else on here. I had to decide between MD and DO, and honestly i didnt even consider what degree i would be getting at end of my 4 years. Taken from my MD apps:
I will choose a school based on the following factors, in no particular order.
1) location/weather
2) campus/student atmosphere
3) global health opportunities/rotations
5) curriculum
4) financial aid (UC schools are basically free for me)
5) interview day (overall impression, facilities, interview, interactions, etc.)
6) class size (dartmouth has the edge on this one)
7) interaction with other interviewees
If at the end of the day, the school that fits me best based on those critera is a DO school...then that is where I will go. If at the end of the day, the school that fits me best based on those criteria is an MD school...then that is where I will go. I WILL NOT go to an MD school just because it is an MD school, and I WILL NOT be dropping all DO acceptances just b/c I have an MD acceptance. If I do happen to go to an MD school, I know that people will immidiately say things like 'I told you if you got an MD acceptance you'd forget about DO.' and I'm telling everyone right now that that is not how it is at all. If I go MD it is because the school that I feel fits me best happens to be an MD, it has nothing to do with the degree, prestigue, residency, or whatever. Of course, people will ignore this and talk **** to me anyway, but whatever, there is really nothing i can do to stop that.
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honestly, most people apply to where their stats match up
i'm sure that some people will reply to this post saying "yeah well i have a 34 and a 3.7 but i applied only DO", but the truth of the matter is you apply to schools where you think you have a decent shot
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Sure, but there are PLENTY of people who applied to both MD and DO because they had a good shot at both and just made their choice based on which school they liked best. People whose stats were "OK" not amazing by any means, but also not "...I'm sorry, you want to do what with your life?" bad...
I applied to both (at the same time) and then decided based on what I learned/observed about each school which schools I liked better. I happened to wind up at Nova, and I love it. My advice for the OP is to go with your gut. Find the school where you feel the most comfortable. Look for things that matter to you (which may be different things that matter to someone else).
For instance, for me, a big class size 230 wasn't a big deal at all, but for others, it might be. Dissection vs. Non-Dissection anatomy is a big deal for some people. Oddly, it was a HUGE deal for me, and when I found out that NSU did prosection, I nearly pulled out and went somewhere else. I'm really glad I didn't though, I found that I actually really liked prosection. Other things you might consider looking at have been mentioned in this thread already.
The only one I caution you against is "interaction with other interviewees" chances are if you meet someone abrasive that you absolutely can't stand, that they aren't gonna be able to completely hide that from the admissions committee! This goes both ways in that you may meet someone you really get along with well in your interview group (this happened to me at LECOM-B), but there's no guarantee you'd both choose to go there or you'd even both get in there.
Talk to 2nd years at the schools you're looking at MD or DO as much as you can, they have VALUEABLE insights for you as to class dynamics (though they change from year to year). Talk to students about the kind of SUPPORT the school offers (so, really, what does happen if you fail a class? two?) these are important questions that need to be asked...but for the love of God, NOT to the people interviewing you (just a word of caution...I've seen it happen is all).
Location can be a factor for some people. Nova edged out another school for me BARELY because of location. It was closer to home and I like being able to go home some weekends (like this one...for the playoff game GO STEELERS!........anyway...sorry).
I guess what all this rambling comes down to is pick a school, not a degree. You might fall in love with an MD school, if you do GO THERE for goodness sake. If you find a DO school that you feel like is "home" (like I and many of my class mates did) go there! If you have options, consider yourself fortunate and take best advantage of them look at as many places as you get invited to/can afford to see.
Take you time, do your research and make an informed decision. THAT'S how you decide. That's what I did anyway, and it worked out great
Good luck!
