MD/ DO patient attitudes for internationals

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currently getting into my 4th year of undergrad and my stats are not stellar. im an international student at a us 4 year college and thinking of applying MD and DO but my stats are realistically going to be competitive for DO.

im not very sure about residency so can someone explain if I can pursue all fields of medicine with DO as well?

im thinking of doing pediatrics. will good ranking residences in my field automatically remove me from consideration if I do DO?

do patients distinguish between MD and DO doctors? im a non-white non-American and sad that I have to ask this but I don't want to put more barriers that make my life and career harder. if this makes me severely disadvantaged then maybe better to think of other options. I want to be a doctor but also don't want to put myself so much in debt and then be discriminated against. no disrespect just trying to be careful with my planning

 

[ebno]

im an international student

im a non white American fenfem

Wait so are you American or not?

 

[sunshinefl]

Wait so are you American or not?

I had the same question. Also, what is a fenfem?

 

[fluffpop]

Wait so are you American or not?

I meant non- (white+American)

 

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whoops thanks guys typed this on my mobile app fixed those errors. also noticed there's another similar thread like this so going to look at that too for more answers

 

[fluffpop]

Yes


No. Some may not consider DOs but you can get into most with it



In day to day clinical practice, most patients barely notice anything beyong "doctor". Indeed most doctors dont care where you went to medical school. They do not refer to each other by degree but rather by specialty.

thank you for your advice. just curious, if DO in reality does not have so many barriers then why do so many us citizens choose to go abroad for MD since my advisor also said that DO's match better than those coming from abroad. is this because they are interested more in having that MD degree than career prospects? i'm personally not considering a foreign degree to add to my obstacles, but are these students usually not competitive for DO as well?

 

[fluffpop]

No. Some may not consider DOs but you can get into most with it

sorry for double ask, but could you point me towards any helpful resources to keep track of which residencies do and don't accept do's? just to keep track as i apply for next year

 

[smukke]

thank you for your advice. just curious, if DO in reality does not have so many barriers then why do so many us citizens choose to go abroad for MD since my advisor also said that DO's match better than those coming from abroad. is this because they are interested more in having that MD degree than career prospects? i'm personally not considering a foreign degree to add to my obstacles, but are these students usually not competitive for DO as well?

They aren't on SDN (ie working off bad/narrow advice), they are impatient, there's something in their history that precludes them from DO acceptances, etc. I saw it in many of my old college classmates; some are now attendings (it'll be interesting in the off chance I ever run in to them), others who seem to have fallen off the face of the the earth.

 

[candbgirl]

sorry for double ask, but could you point me towards any helpful resources to keep track of which residencies do and don't accept do's? just to keep track as i apply for next year

You need to spend considerable time reading threads dealing with DO . All of your questions can be easily answered starting with the hundreds of threads on DO residencies. You will learn of the DO/MD residency mergers happening in the near future. You will find out how these mergers may/will impact you. You will find out what you need to do to make yourself more competitive for residencies. You have time and developing a list of programs that accept DO students now probably won’t be helpful in 5+ years when you are applying for residency. What are your stats(GPAs and MCAT). How are your ECs? This is what you should focus on as you educate yourself on DO schools and the DO philosophy.

 

[fluffpop]

You need to spend considerable time reading threads dealing with DO . All of your questions can be easily answered starting with the hundreds of threads on DO residencies. You will learn of the DO/MD residency mergers happening in the near future. You will find out how these mergers may/will impact you. You will find out what you need to do to make yourself more competitive for residencies. You have time and developing a list of programs that accept DO students now probably won’t be helpful in 5+ years when you are applying for residency. What are your stats(GPAs and MCAT). How are your ECs? This is what you should focus on as you educate yourself on DO schools and the DO philosophy.

Thanks for this info. I'm going to look more into those threads

 

[Isoval]

You will be somewhat disadvantaged when applying to residencies, depending on the specialty and the school/location you attend.

All specialties - including neurosurg, derm, urology, etc. - are reasonably matchable as a DO, but more than half of PDs in some of these specialties “never rank DOs”.

It’s hard to determine how much this will change post-merger, if it will change at all.

In my experience, some people dislike DOs over MDs and some people highly regard DOs over MDs. It really depends where you are, who you treat, and how lucky you got that day. There is generally little difference in public perception.

 

[getdown]

currently getting into my 4th year of undergrad and my stats are not stellar. im an international student at a us 4 year college and thinking of applying MD and DO but my stats are realistically going to be competitive for DO.

im not very sure about residency so can someone explain if I can pursue all fields of medicine with DO as well?

im thinking of doing pediatrics. will good ranking residences in my field automatically remove me from consideration if I do DO?

do patients distinguish between MD and DO doctors? im a non-white non-American and sad that I have to ask this but I don't want to put more barriers that make my life and career harder. if this makes me severely disadvantaged then maybe better to think of other options. I want to be a doctor but also don't want to put myself so much in debt and then be discriminated against. no disrespect just trying to be careful with my planning

In my opinion the biggest you have besides the non-stellar stats is that you're an international student not whether you can go DO vs MD. Do you have a green card? Very few schools (MD and DO) accept international students and those that do are usually hypercompetitive and an international student will need to have very good stats. So, before jumping towards residencies maybe think if you can even get in first? Not to mention how are you planning on paying for medical school. International students will not qualify for federal student aid and hence will need to secure private loans which you'll likely need a cosigner for. Those loans likely will have variable interests rates and you're not eligible to defer them during residency. I'm not sure if you start accruing interest while in medical school so if someone can enlighten me that'd be great. Maybe you're independently wealthy and can pay your own way but the part most don't consider about medical school is the finances and debt you'll accrue.

 

[fluffpop]

In my opinion the biggest you have besides the non-stellar stats is that you're an international student not whether you can go DO vs MD. Do you have a green card? Very few schools (MD and DO) accept international students and those that do are usually hypercompetitive and an international student will need to have very good stats. So, before jumping towards residencies maybe think if you can even get in first? Not to mention how are you planning on paying for medical school. International students will not qualify for federal student aid and hence will need to secure private loans which you'll likely need a cosigner for. Those loans likely will have variable interests rates and you're not eligible to defer them during residency. I'm not sure if you start accruing interest while in medical school so if someone can enlighten me that'd be great. Maybe you're independently wealthy and can pay your own way but the part most don't consider about medical school is the finances and debt you'll accrue.

thanks! i'm well aware of this. it's actually the first and most common thing people tell international pre meds. i'm looking for this residency info not because i think it'll be smooth sailing but i want to gather as much information before i apply. some of these asks on future career paths are not as accessible to me as the information, on say, selectivity of schools or funding.

 

[Goro]

thank you for your advice. just curious, if DO in reality does not have so many barriers then why do so many us citizens choose to go abroad for MD since my advisor also said that DO's match better than those coming from abroad. is this because they are interested more in having that MD degree than career prospects? i'm personally not considering a foreign degree to add to my obstacles, but are these students usually not competitive for DO as well?

Ignorance
Lust for the MD degree
Inability to get into any US medical school