Need your opinion

[cure4cancer]

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Hi, I'm a first year student doing my BSc right now and I'd like some Mature advice please. I don't want to start some sort of MD vs DO war over here at all, so if you have nothing nice to post, don't post at all.

I'm just wondering why you guys don't choose to get a DO instead of a MD?
and why do you think so many people would rather have a MD?

 

[dr.z]

I re-applied, and I applied to both schools. I have been accepted by DO schools. For me it doesn't matter whether I have a DO or MD as long as I am a physician, and I did not want to go overseas.

I think some people would rather have MD since it is more recognized and has some prestiege associated with. Also people often think DO schools are back up for MD schools which is true to some extent, but not always. I do get discouraged when I hear people looking down on DOs, but I try not to think about it much.

 

[ShyRem]

For me, two reasons:
1. Unfortunately, there is still a HUGE stigma associated with DO, mainly in places without a DO school (like where I am). I also didn't know much about why DO is different.
2. I did not have the shadowing experience necessary to get a DO LOR. As this is an admissions requirement for many DO schools, I did not find it cost-effective to pay $150 for one DO school ACOMAS app vs. $30 for another MD school AMCAS app.

If I don't get in this year (I applied late in the cycle due to August MCAT and late LORs), I plan on a) applying early next year, and b) spending some time shadowing a DO or working in a DO office to get a DO LOR and apply to osteo schools as well. What I've learned since AMCAS has strengthened my confidence in a DO school and to h*ll with what the old stuffy MDs may still think. Most of my family goes to DO for a primary doc, and they have been fabulous.

 

[stoic]

For me this was a really hard choice that became a lot easier when i got into my state school (IE instate tuition)

I've had amazing experiences with DO's and MD's, but I've always felt I related to the DO physicians and students I know a little better than the MD's. To this end I had planned on going to a DO school (in fact my state MD school was the only MD school I applied to). However, I would have been either an out of state student at a public DO school or a student at a private DO school. The difference in tution between my state school and the DO schools is so great that I just couldn't say no to the MD program.

As a DO student, the basic science education you get will be equal to MD students. You'll have the opportunities to do the same rotations as MD students and you can apply for the same residencies. As a DO it's a little harder to match into ultracompetative specialites, but other than that there just isn't much difference.

There are a lot of valid reasons to choose one school over another (MD or DO). Geography, cost, research (if that's your thing), class size, opinions of current students, etc, etc, etc.

The bottom line is to figure out what is important to you in a med school and then go from there.

As for why premeds all pretty much start out as pre-MD students, I'd say a lot of that has to do with exposure to DO's. There aren't a ton of them out there (although there are getting to be more). In fact, most of the population doesn't know what a DO is. There is some stigma involved with the DO degree, but from my limited experience this stigma is almost entirely a premed thing.

Good luck,
s