Medical MD applicant needing direction on next steps to take. How should I move forward?

[Mr.Smile12]

Question: What SMP's should I target given my stats and goal of attending an MD medical school? What SMP programs or steps moving forward would most increase my chances at an MD school?

Goals: Become a radiologist or not an FM/IM physician.
I know for a fact I would not be happy in these specialties.

This is predominantly why I DO NOT want to do DO. I understand DO can get into radiology residencies but my understanding is you are at a disadvantage. I'd prefer not to have this disadvantage and instead apply from an MD program. Yes, I'm willing to give up additional years and 100K+ to accomplish this.

I've decided to turn to here to hopefully get a better idea of what I should be considering and whats the best way forward without compromising my identity as my story is pretty unique.

MCAT: 507
GPA: ~3.5
Residence: Florida

- Some notes on my GPA: I have 6-10 W's (exact number unknown because I don't have access to my transcripts right now but I know its that or less) spread throughout my 1st year in school. This was due to working minimum wage and having no flexibility with changing work schedules.
- I have 1 gap year between junior and senior year due to taking time off to help my extended family apply for asylum.
I have 1,000+ clinical experience, non-clinical volunteering, and research.
- 1 F in a research course due to forgetting to make final changes to my thesis. I received a P later with the same professor in the second half of the courses sequence.

Synopsis of EC's:
- Suicide hotline volunteer and intern
- Scribing experience across 10+ specialties across several settings (ER, outpatient surgical, private office, urgent care, rural and urban hospitals)
- 2 poster presentations at the state and then the national level
- 3-4 years of research experience
- Supervised/managed/led/trained 50+ scribes across 7 urgent care sites

Synopsis of Background:
- 25/M/Hispanic White Venezuelan
- GED recipient
- Parents have received government assistance
- Worked full-time to 60 hrs throughout college

If more information is needed to have a more informed answer, please let me know and I'd be willing to provide it.

I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but, last time I checked, DO's can pursue specialties outside of FM/IM. I know quite a few (including students I have advised) who have gotten into non-FM/IM specialties. With the upcoming unification of residency selection processes, you should inquire about the impact on your intended specialty selection. I'll let others comment about whether it is worth going with MD only given your situation.

I'm not sure that with an sGPA of 3.5 (is that accurate) that an SMP is absolutely necessary. Have you networked with students, admissions officers, and alumni at medical schools that fit what you want (namely MD programs, probably specialist-nurturing, maybe in-state to save money)? Take a good hard look at academic services, especially if you are coming in with a GED and a strong but not necessarily stellar MCAT. How many students have the schools admitted who have backgrounds similar to yours? These are important questions to gauge the level of support you will have should you struggle (and everyone struggles at some point).

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[Goro]

Beggars can't be choosy, with your stats, you need to have DO schools on your list. Rads is a very DO friendly specialty, BTW.

There is no guarantee that having the MD will allow you waltz into specialties. That's 100% on you, not your school.

Suggest retaking the MCAT and scoring > 513.

 

[MusicDOc124]

It is accurate. I applied this cycle and my cGPA was 3.5, sGPA is 3.6.

I feel the same way but with 2 R's, 2 holds and absolute silence, I want to be ahead of the curve by having a plan B well thought out and in place should I not get in.

I did apply to all the schools in-state but im not sure what else to do.

To address your DO comment, its increasing the difficulty unnecessarily and honestly when I see match and placements the difference is absolutely night and day.

You pointed out my background, so im assuming my GED instills a sort of doubt in my ability to succeed. Wouldnt an SMP be beneficial then or am I misreading your response?

Thank you for your time.

I know numerous DOs in various competitive specialties (outside of surgical subspecialties) who are in residency in places like Hopkins, and I know MDs that have gone unmatched. You're not in a position to not apply DO, and your thought process is extremely naive and begs the question of if you even want to be a physician and what your reasoning even is. Why radiology, by the way? Most people change their minds during med school as it is, or in many cases don't have the board scores to do what they may have originally wanted.

I also know a current 4th year DO student who is actively declining offers for radiology interviews. It's not a limitation for anything other than derm and surgical subspecialties, and maybe a couple of locations, however the locations of which I'm referring here are also places that barely take MDs outside of a certain set/subtype of schools (read: the IVYs and research powerhouses, etc).

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Also bringing up as a reference... the unified Match begins in 2020

Information for DO Applicants

The AAMC has provided as much data as possible to support DO students and graduates as they research and apply to ACGME-accredited residency programs.

students-residents.aamc.org

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[MusicDOc124]

Thank you for your response. Whats your opinion on having to essentially take 2 exams? Is it something thats helpful for when you take the steps or completely irrelevant?

It's annoying. But you're studying the same material either way. Just add in OMM for COMLEX compared to the USMLE. I feel the USMLE is better written, but it's still not a big deal.

 

[MusicDOc124]

It will got an extra $1200 ish in total for taking both step 1 and step 2 in addition to level 1 and level 2, but if getting into a DO school this year rather than waiting for the POSSIBILITY of getting into MD another year... that $1200 is a drop in the bucket out of the $300k you'd be taking out regardless, and definitely a drop in the bucket when compared to a year of lost income which you have to consider from the tail end - thus 1 year less of your experienced attending salary.

 

[Goro]

I thought this was putting DOs at a disadvantage with the dissolution of DO only residency spots? I'm admittedly murky on details in regards to this but plan to read into it this week to make a determination from match statistics and other sources from governing bodies.

Every year there are some 8-9000 Do grads and ~21000 MD grads.

there were only ~3000 AOA slots, and on those, the uber-specialties were a handful.

hence, the merger isn't going to make anything harder at first. DO program directors will be more likely to favor DO grads. But let's say a Yale grad gets into a former AOA ortho slot. That frees up a slot for someone else where the Yalie would have gone..and a ripple affect will help boost some DO grads upwards int he food chain.

 

[MusicDOc124]

The old AOA/DO match was in feb with NRMP match in March. If you matched AOA as a DO you were required to withdraw from the NRMP. Many DOs would apply both, but rank AOA to be safe or because maybe an AOA program was their 3rd overall choice. If they matched there, even if they’d have matched at their true number 1, it didn’t matter, they were out of the NRMP.

Now, with the unified match, Using the same example, everyone matched in the same time, and thus that program can be ranked number 3 without worry for being pulled, giving them a fair shot at their number 1 and 2.

It has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

[MusicDOc124]

To give one example to what i posted above:

One resident I know had 12 interviews in total. Only 1 was AOA, with other 11 being ACGME.

He liked the 1 AOA program a lot, just not #1 a lot. Rather he’d have ranked it about #4-5 overall, so definitely liked it more than the majority.

He ended up ranking it because he’d rather be there than half of other programs and wasn’t sure if he’d match at his top 1-3 and was indifferent about his 4-6 ranks.

It was the only AOA program he ranked, and that’s where he matched.

Had he foregone the AOA, who knows - maybe he’d have matched at his number 1, 2, or 3. They were not an option because of the AOA.

With the new system, he could have ranked everything exactly how he wanted it and had a chance at his top 4 programs in this case, and evidently still would have at least matched at his number 5. This system was taking a lot of potential places away from DOs just to ensure they have a good chance at matching at a program they liked, even if it wasn’t their favorite.

The super competitive specialties are what they are, but for anything else non-competitive to intermediate (read: not derm, sub surgical, or IR), this is more of a win, IMO.