I love how threads that start to disappear and fade away suddenly revive a month later, a year later, even years later.
Anyways, I'm now debating between Nova and Ben Gurion MSIH. I picked Nova over AZCOM and PCOM-GA but since I had already put in the deposit to Ben Gurion MSIH, I have spots at 2 places and have until about early June to make a final decision.
Yeah I know everyone in these threads says it's a slam dunk to pick any US DO> any Foreign med school but this isn't any foreign med school. One it has a collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center. This means getting to do electives at Columbia Presbyterian and St. Luke's-Roosevelt, which is a nice deal albeit small. Also, unlike most other foreign schools, there's a very small attrition rate....1 student out of the whole class so it's nothing like the Caribbean in that sense, and when you combine that with all of the class matching somewhere that's great. Plus, I love to travel and this would be the ultimate opportunity.
But still there are its concerns....most students match into primary care and I'm not 100% sold on going into primary care. I do worry about the changing landscape of residency spots for FMGs and so what might not be a problem now in Israel might be 4 years from now. Plus I'm iffy on the feeling of spending my entire 3rd year in Israel while I'd be doing my core rotations in Florida with Nova. And in one place I'm still in the US and the other I'm half way around the world.
I'm deciding between two different worlds in these two schools. The DO world is very tight knit and just based on a great shadowing experience, I already know that I can make great connections with osteopathic physicians given that I work hard and put in the effort. Going to Israel, it'd be a fun adventure with way more risks but I can literally explore the world. Complicating matters is that I really enjoy the international experience and I want to be involved in global health someday and the recognition of the DO degree is a concern. I think I fit both programs in very different ways--the DO world based on my flexible attitude and the Israel program based on my love for international medicine.
So it's really become a tough decision now that I've truly had some time to think about it. I was really thinking only about the 3 DO schools because I had to make a deposit decision but now I'm finding that this decision is something to think about.
