Initial disappointment

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MattSmith45

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I have been fortunate enough to receive a DO acceptance, and like many others, I applied to MD schools with no luck.

I am reaching out here because recently I have felt a wave of disappointment over how I did this cycle. Both my parents are doctors (MDs) and many of my friends got into allopathic schools this cycle or last cycle. I am the only person I know that is going to a DO school and that's probably because DOs are in a minority still in this country. I'm excited to become a physician, don't get me wrong, but there is a part of me that feels like everyone else achieved more than me.

For others who have been in my situation, did you ever feel this way initially? Is it just a temporary thing that goes away once you start medical school and realize you don't have time to think like this?
 
If you're obsessed with the "prestige" of those MD letters after your name, a DO will never make you satisfied and you might as well take another year to boost your app and reapply, because you'll always have that inferiority complex. If you want to be a doctor and dgaf what other people think of your degree so long as you're doing what you love, then go DO.

Stop comparing yourself to others. It's pointless. When your parents got into med school, requirements were substantially lower than they are today. The most average of DO applicants could have gotten in. As to your friends that got into allopathic schools, celebrate their victories, and celebrate your own when you get into a DO school, for you'll all be doctors in the end.
 
MattSmith45 said:
I have been fortunate enough to receive a DO acceptance, and like many others, I applied to MD schools with no luck.

I am reaching out here because recently I have felt a wave of disappointment over how I did this cycle. Both my parents are doctors (MDs) and many of my friends got into allopathic schools this cycle or last cycle. I am the only person I know that is going to a DO school and that's probably because DOs are in a minority still in this country. I'm excited to become a physician, don't get me wrong, but there is a part of me that feels like everyone else achieved more than me.

For others who have been in my situation, did you ever feel this way initially? Is it just a temporary thing that goes away once you start medical school and realize you don't have time to think like this?
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statistically, that seems improbable. About 25% of entering US med students are at DO schools.
 
If I were you, I would defer that acceptance and reapply again, especially to my parent's med school. You will always have those 2 letters hanging over you. I have friends in your exact situation, and it never ends well. They walk around like they got a small ***** and are subsequently angry at the world for no logical reason.
 
MattSmith45 said:
I have been fortunate enough to receive a DO acceptance, and like many others, I applied to MD schools with no luck.

I am reaching out here because recently I have felt a wave of disappointment over how I did this cycle. Both my parents are doctors (MDs) and many of my friends got into allopathic schools this cycle or last cycle. I am the only person I know that is going to a DO school and that's probably because DOs are in a minority still in this country. I'm excited to become a physician, don't get me wrong, but there is a part of me that feels like everyone else achieved more than me.

For others who have been in my situation, did you ever feel this way initially? Is it just a temporary thing that goes away once you start medical school and realize you don't have time to think like this?
Click to expand...

As Mad Jack said, stop comparing yourself to other people, you'll be happier.

Also, I would suggest looking a little farther than your pre-med friends that got into MD schools. When I was first looking into applying DO, I suddenly noticed all these people that I knew that were either in DO schools (and even in Carib schools) or actually had graduated from DO schools. I had no idea. I was definitely seeing DOs everywhere (probably because I was actually noticing it).

Anyways, I can't tell you if your feeling will disappear, but for your sake, I hope it does. The DOs I know that don't care about the difference are the ones in the big competitive ACGME residencies. Don't make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
 
In my experience, these feelings of inadequacy never go away, even if they do the same residency side by side with MDs. I would defer if I were the op.
 
Xenoblade said:
If I were you, I would defer that acceptance and reapply again, especially to my parent's med school. You will always have those 2 letters hanging over you. I have friends in your exact situation, and it never ends well. They walk around like they got a small ***** and are subsequently angry at the world for no logical reason.
Click to expand...
See, I know I've actually got a huge ****, so letters don't bother me much and I can walk side by side with my MD counterparts knowing I'm far closer to being a tripod than them :laugh:
 
Xenoblade said:
In my experience, these feelings of inadequacy never go away, even if they do the same residency side by side with MDs. I would defer if I were the op.
Click to expand...

Maybe I just don't know many people with that attitude, because when it comes to attendings, I know very few DOs that are insecure about not being an MD. Maybe its because I live in a state with one of the biggest DO:MD ratios...
 
Mad Jack said:
See, I know I've actually got a huge ****, so letters don't bother me much and I can walk side by side with my MD counterparts knowing I'm far closer to being a tripod than them :laugh:
Click to expand...
Good for you. Over compensating I can see 😉

It's like when cartman said he was ____ like a horse

 
hallowmann said:
Maybe I just don't know many people with that attitude, because when it comes to attendings, I know very few DOs that are insecure about not being an MD. Maybe its because I live in a state with one of the biggest DO:MD ratios...
Click to expand...
Don't point the finger at me.

People feel insecure for a variety of reasons. Ain't no body got time for that.
 
Xenoblade said:
If I were you, I would defer that acceptance and reapply again, especially to my parent's med school. You will always have those 2 letters hanging over you. I have friends in your exact situation, and it never ends well. They walk around like they got a small ***** and are subsequently angry at the world for no logical reason.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can defer an acceptance. Doesn't that mean you postpone going to the school for another year?
I would rather just start medical school, but was just curious on if anyone else ever felt this way before.
 
MattSmith45 said:
I don't think you can defer an acceptance. Doesn't that mean you postpone going to the school for another year?
I would rather just start medical school, but was just curious on if anyone else ever felt this way before.
Click to expand...
you can defer. but it better be for a good reason cuz they aren't stupid
 
MattSmith45 said:
I don't think you can defer an acceptance. Doesn't that mean you postpone going to the school for another year?
I would rather just start medical school, but was just curious on if anyone else ever felt this way before.
Click to expand...

The friends I had who felt like this got more and more miserable.
 
.
 
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costales said:
Decline your DO acceptance. Don't go to DO school if you feel it will bring discredit to your family or cause you psychological pain.
Click to expand...
I think the work you are looking for is dishonor.
 
You need to change your mindset OP. There are DOs who have been famous TV doctors in Beverley Hills (Dr. Will Kirby) where prestige-peddling and name-dropping is rampant. If you can make it there as a DO, you can make it anywhere. It's all about your confidence (that said, Dr Kirby takes the confidence thing a little too far). It's tougher to change your personality than get into medical school, but I reckon with enough introspection and motivation it can be done.
 
Oh, and how could I forget about the hundreds of thousands that you will be in debt for.

You're an idiot if you go into a degree and graduate program that you will be ashamed of for the rest of your life all while paying hundreds of thousands on something you didn't want in the first place.
 
MattSmith45 said:
For others who have been in my situation, did you ever feel this way initially? Is it just a temporary thing that goes away once you start medical school and realize you don't have time to think like this?
Click to expand...

I'm sure that feeling will go away after the first month or two. Then it will likely come back when you are on rotations and/or applying for residency. You'll learn to deal with it, probably. Medicine is filled with people who love to judge others. Just try not to overreact to any comments people make about your osteopathic degree.

You only live once. If you have a shot at an MD school you might as well try one last time.
 
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Lots of flak coming at OP. But OP, isn't your primary goal to be a physician?

And if it is, didn't you achieve that goal by getting into medical school?
 
OP, I'm a DO med student in an MD family as well. After sitting on multiple MD waitlists, I can relate.

Whenever I feel this way, I often ask myself why I am going into medicine in the first place.

So why are you going into the medical field? are you going into medicine for the prestige of being an MD? To please your parents? or for actually the benefit of patients and improving peoples lives?
In the end, YOUR PATIENTS are not going to care what letters are on your medical degree, they will remember you for how well you treat them as human beings.

Additionally, one year of physicians salary is NOT worth the time and money to reapply.
While personally I'm disappointed with the outcome of my app cycle, I am going to be a physician and that is what really matters.
Congrats on your acceptance! PM me if you have any other Q's or concerns
 
Honestly, I'm in the same position, and I'm just going to use it as motivation to be the best DO student I can be. My stats are more than competitive for MD, and, frankly, I feel slighted that I did not receive an acceptance and was wait-listed at the places I was wait-listed at. I'm absolutely going to have a chip only shoulder not out of derision to the DO degree, but for the fact that MD schools didn't want me. With that being said, I'm very excited to be attending a DO school this fall and just happy that someone wants me.
 
People on this forum, especially those that are DO, can get pretty defensive about this question and usually seem angry when giving advice. I have applied to DO schools so I am not at all suggesting one program is better than the other, but what I can tell you is if you are unhappy then take another year off and give it your best shot at an allopathic school. If another year will not be a hinderance, and you think you can actually improve your application, and you think realistically you have a chance at MD, then go ahead and take that year off. But also think to yourself why you did not get into any MD school this cycle? Did you apply to few schools, narrow range of top tier/region specific schools, PS was not good, LOR were not steller, not much clinical experience, low MCAT score, low GPA, etc. Some of these things may be changed in the year off where as some may take longer.

But understand that declining an acceptance at an osteopathic school will play against you when you reapply to DO programs. Hope this helps
 
Personally, I would be very anxious that if I turned down a D.O. acceptance just in the chance I could go M.D., that things might turn out really bad... like no M.D. acceptance for years or ever, messed up chances to attend D.O., and then I'd always be kicking myself for not matriculating. That's just me though. I do know of someone who turned down a D.O. acceptance, then decided to pay $60k to attend a SMP with a linkage in the chance of going M.D..... to me, that's just nuts.
 
Why would you waste money on the ridiculous DO app fees if you had cold feet about going this route? If you really give a ****, go do a post bac in one of the many Medical sciences programs (they are like the first year of med school anyways) and if you maintain a good GPA an MD school will take you.
 
This whole thread makes me sad.

OP I can't fathom how you're "fortunate for your acceptance" but then at the same time "feel that others have achieved more" than you. I don't want someone like you in my class, especially at an osteopathic school.

EDIT: looking at the 10 schools you applied to, I don't think being disappointed about not getting an interview at
U Chicago, Northwestern, Loyola, Pitt, TCMC is reasonable and shouldn't be a big shock to you with your GPA. Pitt loves research, TCMC is mainly for IS applicants, the others need no explanation.
Don't lose hope for Rush and UIC, they give late interviews. Temple and Drexel are still going, but have crazy high numbers this year.
 
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Matt, the only person you should be comparing yourself to is yourself.

What you should be asking yourself is "Will I be happy to be doctor in four years?"...because that's what you're going to be.

MattSmith45 said:
I have been fortunate enough to receive a DO acceptance, and like many others, I applied to MD schools with no luck.

I am reaching out here because recently I have felt a wave of disappointment over how I did this cycle. Both my parents are doctors (MDs) and many of my friends got into allopathic schools this cycle or last cycle. I am the only person I know that is going to a DO school and that's probably because DOs are in a minority still in this country. I'm excited to become a physician, don't get me wrong, but there is a part of me that feels like everyone else achieved more than me.

For others who have been in my situation, did you ever feel this way initially? Is it just a temporary thing that goes away once you start medical school and realize you don't have time to think like this?
Click to expand...
 
MattSmith45 said:
I have been fortunate enough to receive a DO acceptance, and like many others, I applied to MD schools with no luck.

I am reaching out here because recently I have felt a wave of disappointment over how I did this cycle. Both my parents are doctors (MDs) and many of my friends got into allopathic schools this cycle or last cycle. I am the only person I know that is going to a DO school and that's probably because DOs are in a minority still in this country. I'm excited to become a physician, don't get me wrong, but there is a part of me that feels like everyone else achieved more than me.

For others who have been in my situation, did you ever feel this way initially? Is it just a temporary thing that goes away once you start medical school and realize you don't have time to think like this?
Click to expand...

It will go away after a while, I went through two admissions cycles, I went through one cycle where I applied MD only got two interview invites out of 14 secondaries, got rejected by both, then applied DO the next year, got more love. I was just happy the DO schools showed me some love and gave me a chance to become a doctor.

Some people obsess about the DO vs MD degree and the difference in philosophy and curriculum, there are many DOs who like to emphasize that they are different from MDs, some MDs also see this as well, it can either hurt us or help us depending on the situation.

Honestly have a positive attitude that you were given a chance to become a doctor rather than obsess about some letters that are going to be on your lab coat and hospital ID in the future.
 
Xenoblade said:
Don't point the finger at me.

People feel insecure for a variety of reasons. Ain't no body got time for that.
Click to expand...

No need to get defensive, nowhere in my post was I pointing fingers, just saying it's not what I observed, and perhaps an explanation for why you and I have differing experiences in that regard.
 
I actually feel a lot better after reading this thread. I had no one to take these qualms to, because as I mentioned, there are really no people from the osteopathic world in my life. No one I knew could give me the perspective on this profession.

To address some of the posts in this thread that basically said "why did you apply to that school if you don't want to go" ....it's not black and white like that. You apply to a number of schools and some would make you happier to attend than others.
 
hallowmann said:
No need to get defensive, nowhere in my post was I pointing fingers, just saying it's not what I observed, and perhaps an explanation for why you and I have differing experiences in that regard.
Click to expand...
I am not defensive. Diction is hard to communicate via plain old text.

The finger is pointed at the op. He is the one that has limited exposure to DO's, not me.
 
MattSmith45 said:
I actually feel a lot better after reading this thread. I had no one to take these qualms to, because as I mentioned, there are really no people from the osteopathic world in my life. No one I knew could give me the perspective on this profession.

To address some of the posts in this thread that basically said "why did you apply to that school if you don't want to go" ....it's not black and white like that. You apply to a number of schools and some would make you happier to attend than others.
Click to expand...
And I understand why it isn't black or white. You get pressured. You want to succeed. You get desperate. You get tunnel vision. You apply to do school. You get in and then you suddenly realize the very real hurdles you will have to face....for the rest of your life, and a part of your aspirations will never be realized.

Sound familiar?

You are not the only here like that.
 
I think there are valid issues people have with going DO, but worrying about the letters is not one of them. Some are: (1) cost of admittance - DO schools are often more expensive than MD schools since such a large proportion are private, (2) research and campus presence - DO schools are often not paired with large research universities and therefore often suffer on both research opportunities and campus presence (i.e. many DO schools are a single building), (3) extra commitment - DO schools require OMM instruction which is additional training some may not want to spend time on, and (4) location - DO schools are often located in more remote locations.

For me, cost of admittance and location are very important, and honestly, I'm pretty flexible with other considerations so I'd make a decision almost on those alone. Obviously, these considerations change significantly depending on the schools you're accepted at (e.g. maybe it's an urban DO school and a rural MD school rather than the inverse). So, if you find yourself not happy with some of these things then I think it's entirely reasonable. Otherwise, I'd really question why you want to be a physician.
 
kalat said:
I think there are valid issues people have with going DO, but worrying about the letters is not one of them. Some are: (1) cost of admittance - DO schools are often more expensive than MD schools since such a large proportion are private, (2) research and campus presence - DO schools are often not paired with large research universities and therefore often suffer on both research opportunities and campus presence (i.e. many DO schools are a single building), (3) extra commitment - DO schools require OMM instruction which is additional training some may not want to spend time on, and (4) location - DO schools are often located in more remote locations.

For me, cost of admittance and location are very important, and honestly, I'm pretty flexible with other considerations so I'd make a decision almost on those alone. Obviously, these considerations change significantly depending on the schools you're accepted at (e.g. maybe it's an urban DO school and a rural MD school rather than the inverse). So, if you find yourself not happy with some of these things then I think it's entirely reasonable. Otherwise, I'd really question why you want to be a physician.
Click to expand...

The DO students I talked to said OMM is easy and not much of a time drain. And lots oof schools are in urban locations.NY Philly Miami Chicago LA San Fran Denver. Lots are rural too though that's true.
 
OP...you're not going to get much sympathy here.

If you are that depressed about becoming a DO...don't do it. Strength your résumé and apply MD next year. There are tons of pre-meds on this site who would kill to be in your shoes. Let one of those guys/gals have your spot...they will be better docs.

I question someone's commitment to medicine if they are hesitant to go DO. You really need to make sure you are going into medicine for the right reasons. And no...because all of your family are doctors is not a right reason.
 
Lots of negativity in this thread. Does Burnett's Law require that someone says "you'll be a terrible doctor," or does someone saying others will be better doctors suffice?

I'm in my fourth year at an osteopathic medical school. I was excited to get accepted, but there was a part of me that was bummed that it was through the "second rate" option. But I knew that it would likely be a few years of taking undergraduate courses that would have no bearing on my future career to boost my GPA to have a shot at allopathic schools, so I took my acceptance and ran with it. Then there were some periods where I was irritated by having to spend time learning OMM, and with absurd policies of my school surrounding clinical rotations and the prospect of having to spend time at some of our inadequate rotation sites, and I again wished I was at an allopathic school.

On the bright side, I did use the concern of being seen as a guy who couldn't hack it in college to get to an allopathic school to push me to study harder. Now I'm a few months from being a doctor and I've had the opportunity to interview for residency in my chosen field at some of the finest ACGME programs in the country. I've rotated with MD students and never felt like they were better than me, or that they were looking down on me because I was a lowly osteopathic medical student. It all worked out, and things are looking better than I would've ever imagined.

I don't know what the OP's application looks like and what his odds are at an MD acceptance if he applies more broadly, gets some better LORs, or whatever. I can't tell him that he should absolutely go DO. But I can say that I really don't feel things could have gone much better for me than they have. Match day hasn't yet come, so maybe I'm speaking too soon, but I have no regrets.
 
Druggernaut said:
Lots of negativity in this thread. Does Burnett's Law require that someone says "you'll be a terrible doctor," or does someone saying others will be better doctors suffice?

I'm in my fourth year at an osteopathic medical school. I was excited to get accepted, but there was a part of me that was bummed that it was through the "second rate" option. But I knew that it would likely be a few years of taking undergraduate courses that would have no bearing on my future career to boost my GPA to have a shot at allopathic schools, so I took my acceptance and ran with it. Then there were some periods where I was irritated by having to spend time learning OMM, and with absurd policies of my school surrounding clinical rotations and the prospect of having to spend time at some of our inadequate rotation sites, and I again wished I was at an allopathic school.

On the bright side, I did use the concern of being seen as a guy who couldn't hack it in college to get to an allopathic school to push me to study harder. Now I'm a few months from being a doctor and I've had the opportunity to interview for residency in my chosen field at some of the finest ACGME programs in the country. I've rotated with MD students and never felt like they were better than me, or that they were looking down on me because I was a lowly osteopathic medical student. It all worked out, and things are looking better than I would've ever imagined.

I don't know what the OP's application looks like and what his odds are at an MD acceptance if he applies more broadly, gets some better LORs, or whatever. I can't tell him that he should absolutely go DO. But I can say that I really don't feel things could have gone much better for me than they have. Match day hasn't yet come, so maybe I'm speaking too soon, but I have no regrets.
Click to expand...

Youbring up legitimate concerns for being a DO. The OP is upset because his daddy is an MD, and his mommy is an MD. He feels inferior and his perceived lack of acceptance is the driving force of his depression. People are questioning whether he went into medicine for the right reasons. He is acting like a little bitch and he needs to man up. Sorry for my French.
 
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