Midwestern (CCOM) vs. Rosalind Franklin (CMS)

[bitternsweetxo2]

Hi there! With the 12/14 deadline coming up, I need to make a decision about whether to submit a deposit to CCOM or CMS. The MD/DO residency merge will affect my med school class and I will discuss the pros/cons of each school below. If you go to either of the two schools, please let me know your opinion. Thanks for your help in advance!!

CCOM
Pros- 30 min from home (close to family + friends), one of the best DO schools in the nation, good rotation sites/residency match lists, exams are all taken in a Prometric Center to get familiar w/ Step 1 exam environment
Cons- not all classes have lecture recordings, old style curriculum w/ exams every week, letter grades

CMS
Pros- 1.5 hours from home (still pretty close), inter-professional focus/mission, good rotation sites/residency match lists, combined exams every 3 weeks, systems-based P/F curriculum
Cons- ppl I've talked with consider it a below avg MD school, campus not as nice as CCOM

I don't want to make this into an MD vs. DO debate, but ultimately, which school do you think would open more doors for me for my future career, whether it be in primary care or a specialty? Thanks again for your input!

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[claduva94]

Which did you like better? I will say I've never heard of someone choosing DO over MD.

 

[67552931811]

Which did you like better? I will say I've never heard of someone choosing DO over MD.

I know of, personally, multiple people who chose a DO school over an MD one (Yes, they had acceptances to both).

At any rate, go to Rosy, OP.

 

[GomersGoToGround]

Rosalind Franklin is a fine school. I know a handful of students there who did (and are currently doing) extremely well. They used their resources, smashed their boards), and had a good time.

And don't look at match lists. You're pre-medical (as much as I hate that title...). There're simply too many variables in a match list that you DON'T see. As a pre-med, you have no way of knowing what is considered a "good" residency. Every school has students match some into name brands. Don't worry about that. Also, as much as people hate hearing it: depending on which residency, DO can close some doors for you, or, at the very least, make it more difficult to match. That's the reality, whether you like it or not.

By how much? Case-dependent, as always. But why gamble, when Rosy is absolutely just fine? I suppose when comparing DO vs MD schools, match lists only may help in seeing the number of DO students that match into those residencies with MDs. Either way, MD is going to have more.

And Rosy also has good rotation sites. They are not really located near any hospitals (except for the VA), so you move downtown during third and fourth year to rotate at the big hospitals with other Chicagoland medical students (from other schools, obviously).

 

[raiderette]

Rosalind Franklin is also cheaper than CCOM. I would not spend the extra for the DO school. I know it is a good school, but I also think the rotations are better at RF.

 

[notbobtrustme]

CMS sends more kids into competitive specialties than all DO schools combined.

If you have an inkling you want to do anything competitive, go MD.

source: 3rd year @ CMS.

edit: probonus, some ppl think you go to Pritzker

 

[deleted436726]

Chicago Med

The new NBC series, inspired by Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.

P.S. I'd totally watch the **** out of that.

 

[bitternsweetxo2]

Thank you all so much for your input! 🙂 I really appreciate it.

 

[JimmyB123]

I know of, personally, multiple people who chose a DO school over an MD one (Yes, they had acceptances to both).

At any rate, go to Rosy, OP.

Hm, interesting point. I think in some cases I can believe it. Someone picking CCOM or maybe PCOM over some MD school somewhere rural. In that case I can see why living in Chicago or Philly, which are desirable cities, can make it a tough decision. But otherwise, I'm quite surprised when I hear someone picking DO over MD

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

Hm, interesting point. I think in some cases I can believe it. Someone picking CCOM or maybe PCOM over some MD school somewhere rural. In that case I can see why living in Chicago or Philly, which are desirable cities, can make it a tough decision. But otherwise, I'm quite surprised when I hear someone picking DO over MD

4 reasons to pick DO over MD
Location: I would say if you can go to a DO school in nyc/philly/Chicago vs say north Dakota many would pick DO. This is fairly common
Cost: If the DO school happened to cost less it could make sense to go over MD. This is fairly rare

OMM/mission: if you are one of the few who wants to use omm it makes sense. If you want to do primary care in rural areas it makes sense. If there might be something specific about the school it could make sense. There is more to a medical school then the degree they give.

Time: if it would take longer to be competitive /reapply it could make sense to go DO.

If none of these apply go MD I would say.

 

[WillburCobb]

4 reasons to pick DO over MD
Location: I would say if you can go to a DO school in nyc/philly/Chicago vs say north Dakota many would pick DO. This is fairly common
Cost: If the DO school happened to cost less it could make sense to go over MD.

I actually did turn down Chicago for NoDak😉. However I would've turned down 2 of my other MD acceptances for 2 of my 3 DO acceptances for cost and location(though the latter was a VERY minor factor).

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

I actually did turn down Chicago for NoDak😉. However I would've turned down 2 of my other MD acceptances for 2 of my 3 DO acceptances for cost and location(though this was a VERY minor factor).

Just goes to show you its an individual thing. Some may choose UPenn over Harvard some may choose Harvard over upenn. Its not like everyone is going to choose the same school given the same choice. It depends on YOUR situation and what fits you best.

Maybe for someone its ND maybe for someone else its ccom or pcom. These threads all depend on the person which is hard to judge from these threads since we don't know you.

 

[DrEnderW]

CMS sends more kids into competitive specialties than all DO schools combined.

While I completely agree with your recommendation, know what you're getting at, and agree the match lists aren't at all comparable, I think you should specify current ACGME competitive specialties.

There are over 100 AOA ortho spots alone - I think it's disingenuous to not note that distinction.

 

[sazerac]

In the cons for CMS, don't forget "gets put on probation every 10 years". You feeling lucky?

http://www.lcme.org/directory.htm

 

[notbobtrustme]

While I completely agree with your recommendation, know what you're getting at, and agree the match lists aren't at all comparable, I think you should specify current ACGME competitive specialties.

There are over 100 AOA ortho spots alone - I think it's disingenuous to not note that distinction.

ya, that's true, I was talking more in relation to ACGME residencies.

 

[WingedOx]

The new NBC series, inspired by Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.

P.S. I'd totally watch the **** out of that.

They stopped using "lakeshore" as the name of the hospital in the series...
...probably because it's the name of a real psych hospital in Uptown.

The fact that RFU managed to get put on probation twice in a decade (for totally different reasons this time) is impressive. The last time it involved finances and partially involved shady real estate deal gone bad.

Oh, and telling people who are MDs/DOs that you go to the "The Chicago Medical School" is usually cause for an instant eye roll. Sure, it's the technical name of the school, but it makes people think you're trying to fool them into think you go to "Pritzker"

...though I would still choose RFU over Midwestern.