You don't need a 512 for MD... There are state schools with 508-510 as averages. 510 is equivalent to a 30. With your GPA, it shouldn't be hard to get at least 508 on the MCAT.
I mean if you must take a gap year to get a 510-512, then I would advise that you take the MCAT in January 2021 and apply in May when AMCAS and AACOMAS open for the 2021-2022 application cycle.
Here are some pros and cons to MD vs DO school:
MD:
-MD/PhD (full tuition + stipend)...512-515 with your GPA (and I assume you probably have research too) would make you very competitive
-Generally schools are cheaper. Some schools have IS tuition at about $30,000 per year. Factor in scholarships and taking out less than the calculated COL, then you can very likely graduate with about $100,000-$150,000 in debt (at the cheaper schools)...closer to $200,000 at the more expensive schools.
-Low tuition deposit (Maybe you would spend $500-1000 on tuition deposit upon acceptance to the COM)
-MD is preferred over DO when it comes to residencies, especially for competitive specialties. However, primary care does not seem to care as much if you look at the data. However, I have spoken with physicians and they say that there is a slight preference for MD over DO even in family medicine. However, there are more residency positions than US medical graduates, so you will most likely match somewhere as long as you are passing your courses and do okay on USMLE (or both COMLEX and USMLE if you are a DO student).
DO:
-DO/PhD isn't fully funded because they do not get MSTP (NIH funds MSTP for MD/PhD only). If you are interested in translational research, MD/PhD would be better. That isn't to say that you cannot do that with DO/PhD, but these programs are fairly new from what I understand and MD granting schools tend to have more established research centers than DO schools.
-DO schools are more expensive on average. Full COA at many schools is typically in the range of $279,000-$400,000. Of course, you can get scholarships and take out less than the calculated COL if you are frugal and only borrow what you have to borrow.
-HIGH tuition deposits ($2000-3000 is not an atypical amount). Not all DO schools have expensive tuition deposits, however. UIWSOM has a $1000 tuition deposit, which is more in tune with what you would pay at an MD school when you get your offer.
-Like I said, MD can be preferred over DO. However, it is very possible to get a competitive specialty even if you go to a DO school so long as you work hard (which you would have to anyway). Just be cognizant of that. More DO students go into primary care while MD students tend to specialize. That is fact.
-You may have to take USMLE in addition to COMLEX, which will make board prep very expensive. Be prepared to take COMLEX Level 1, COMLEX 2 (CS and CK portions), and COMLEX 3 in addition to USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 2 CS, Step 3. However, only COMLEX is required for graduation and licensure, but USMLE makes you maximally competitive.
-People rail against OMM, but I don't believe this should be a reason to choose MD over DO. You can choose not to use it in your practice, and in fact I believe over 90% of osteopathic physicians do not even use OMM. Just treat it as something interesting to learn, and then move on. Don't rock the boat. Don't be self-loathing.
As for quality of education (school-specific curricula), I would not be worried about it too much, if at all. Medical education is highly standardized since the goal of medical school is to train students to pass the boards. Period. You will rely on third-party resources throughout your preclinical education not only to prepare for boards but also to pass lecture exams and quizzes (in addition to going to class and using powerpoints, of course). Board prep is student-driven.
When researching schools I would put more focus on match rates (what % matched the first time, what % scrambled, what % did not find a position at all) rather than first-time board pass rates. While it is true that board pass rates can imply the quality of the curriculum, there are multiple factors that are at play here, and like I said, everything is student-driven anyway.
MD emphasizes the chief complaint and using the patient's symptoms (short of breath, pitting edema, clubbed nail, jaundice, etc. etc.) along with labs and imaging in order to determine a diagnosis among a list of differential diagnoses that you are coming up with as soon as you walk into the room and start communicating with the patient.
DO does the same as the above, however, there is a greater emphasis on lifestyle factors contributing to pathology. What is the patient's diet like? How often do they exercise? Are they smoker or nonsmoker, etc. While MDs do this as well, it tends to be less emphasized in school. They tend to focus much more on the chief complaint rather than also addressing longterm lifestyle factors that contribute to overall health. MDs are moving towards a more holistic approach, and one could argue that the difference between MD and DO training is very much negligible in the grand scheme of things considering that both allopathic and osteopathic approaches are converging. If someone says that DO is less prestigious because they teach you OMM, laugh at them and tell them that most MD schools teach alternative medicine in the fourth year as an elective.
In the end, you go to either an MD or DO school in order to become a physician. It is about personal preferences that you have, and ultimately neither is inferior nor superior.
If you want to be a primary care doctor from the outset, and you really like the holistic approach to medicine, then consider DO. I know people with 3.9+ GPA and good MCAT scores, multiple publications, etc. who ultimately chose to go to a DO school over an MD school. They still had a good outcome and were happy with their choice.
However, if you think you want to do a ROAD specialty and/or you are really, really interested in translational research, then consider the MD.
