IMG vs. DO

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brodaiga

brodaiga

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Which degree is better for US competitive residencies? (Plastics, Optho)
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Probably neither is better. You're going to have to be a top-notch student during MS1/2 and have great step 1 scores either way. (which, by the way, are the same kind of standards that the US MDs also need to meet to have a decent chance at a competitive residency spot)
 
Which degree is better for US competitive residencies? (Plastics, Optho)
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What's wrong with US MD schools. If you applied to every MD school in the country and can't get in it is very unlikely that a Osteopathic school would accept you either. If DO wasn't your first choice go foriegn that way you won't be a disgruntled DO student that bitches about every OMM class. Not saying you would but I see it all the time and I have heard some say that they wish they would have picked Ross or SGU b/c they hate OMM.
 
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DrMom said:
Probably neither is better. You're going to have to be a top-notch student during MS1/2 and have great step 1 scores either way. (which, by the way, are the same kind of standards that the US MDs also need to meet to have a decent chance at a competitive residency spot)
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I think it'd be hard too. But I do know there are some standouts each year from the Caribbean that match ophthalmology--there's an SDNer who recently matched LSU-New Orleans from Saba and SGU has a few matches over the past few years (I'm less aware of how other foreign med schools match with specialties like ophthalmology). Of course, these are extremely rare. And I thought I read somewhere that there are osteopathic ophthalmology residencies too (and maybe plastics???), but I'm not sure about that. At any rate, it probably makes the most sense to try to get into a US allo school if one wants an uber-competitive allo residency.
raptor5 said:
If DO wasn't your first choice go foriegn that way you won't be a disgruntled DO student that bitches about every OMM class. Not saying you would but I see it all the time and I have heard some say that they wish they would have picked Ross or SGU b/c they hate OMM.
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Well that's interesting. My best friend is an MS-II at SGU and he has a lot of friends who wished they had gone the DO route. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
 
Do what's right for you.
 
My recommendation would be to get an MD even if you have to go foreign. Whether it is warranted or not, there is a stigma attached to the DO degree, especially in surgical and subspecialty programs.
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If you believe there is a stigma go MD. If the stigma bothers you go MD. The people that believe there is a stigma only perpetuate it b/c of their own insecurities.
 
Of course, there's absolutely no stigma in getting a Caribbean MD degree.

:rolleyes:

I guess this debate will never go away.

Caribbean MDs will always be able to point at some graduates and say "See?! Those guys made it...so can I!!"

US DOs will always be able to point at some graduates and say "See?! Those guys made it...so can I!!"

I don't care how many SGU or Ross or DO graduates were successful in the match. If your GPA is low because you're lazy and not academically inclined, if your MCAT sucks because you can't take a standardized test to save your life, if all you're doing is getting a medical degree to satisfy your parents or your ego, it doesn't matter if the entire SGU graduating class matches in neurosurgery, you probably WILL NOT MAKE IT.

Stop looking at the degrees or the match lists and start looking at yourself.
 
You can hide the Caribbean MD degree in your closet and lie and say you went to Harvard and you are doing FP b/c you like it. With a DO degree you can't always hide it.
 
raptor5 said:
You can hide the Caribbean MD degree in your closet and lie and say you went to Harvard and you are doing FP b/c you like it. With a DO degree you can't always hide it.
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Anybody that hides his/her degree is a very pathetic person.

I'd rather have a proud DO than a Caribbean MD that goes around saying "Well, uh, yes...as a matter of fact I'm a Harvard -ahem- alumnus." That's sad.

If that's your reason for going to a Caribbean school, then good for you. Leave the DO spots to people without personal issues.
 
JAMMAN said:
My recommendation would be to get an MD even if you have to go foreign. Whether it is warranted or not, there is a stigma attached to the DO degree, especially in surgical and subspecialty programs.
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Actually I have heard a foreign degree has a larger stigma surrounding it than a DO degree. Talk to old MD's, and there's a stigma surrounding DO's. Talk to old DO's, there's a stigma surrounding MD's. Talk to the generation that is part of this new age of medicine, it doesn't matter, unless the person is an ignorant prick with something lodged very deeply up his/her rectum, possibly making its way to the splenic flexure.
 
Anybody that hides his/her degree is a very pathetic person.
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That wasn't exactly my point. My point was when everything is said and done your patients won't know where you went to school and there will be no stigma associated with where you went to school. The DO degree is always there so if there are any insecurities define them early so you plan you future carefully.

But your right, any person that would follow my proposed scenario truly is pathetic.
 
No matter what school you go to, there will be a stigma. As long as stigmas bother you, you better polish up your application and see if Harvard or Yale will admit you.

If you don't care about stigmas, I'll let you in on a secret. I daresay every US school, allopathic and osteopathic, will prepare you to be a competent physician. So will Ross and St. George's. And your patients will repond to your abilities, not your academic heritage.
 
when it comes down to it, if you're wearing the white coat, or if you have a suit and tie on, and patients are coming to you, chances are they have no idea where you went to school, or what degree you have....all they know is that you're a doctor and you can help them....ive talked to a lot of docs, as well as my brother who is in pharm sales and sees doctors all day....most say that patients dont even know whether they have an MD or DO.....this of course is the patient's fault, but maybe the fact is most patients dont care so much where their doc went to school as long as he's curing their ailments or keeping them healthy......its a sad fact but its true
 
thanks for all the replies, but I got two US md interview invites yesterday, wish me luck
 
awesome brod!!! good luck, shine in your ints!
 
I've been managing a medical office for the past year now. I haven't had any patients come by and ask to see any of our doctor's degrees. One studied in France and the other in Canada.
 
If you go to med school out of the country you will limit your options when it's time to apply for residencies.

IMGs tend to have a much lower USMLE pass rate (60%) versus US allopathic (90%) and osteopathic (75% - related to, in part, the fact that they have to take the COMLEX too). As an IMG, you would need to do VERY well on your USMLEs to compete with US applicants for US residency positions. Moreover, having a medical degree from an American school, whether it's MD and DO, is looked upon more favorably by residency programs.
 
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