OD versus MD?

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I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume you innocently typed OD instead of "DO".

Advantage is that you have the opportunity to get a solid education and become a doctor. DO uses grade replacement. DO may give you a chance to fulfill your dreams.

Disadvantage is that you will have to work a little harder to prove yourself when it comes to certain competitive residencies, and that some may be out of reach. Also, people may confuse the order of your title's initials turning you into a midlevel eye provider.

There are also a million threads around here dealing with this so feel free to look around and ask questions to clarify certain things.
 
OD is optometry, very very very different things.
 
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of the new ones are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
 
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boxer0011 said:
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of them are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
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Goro's banhammer is coming for ya!
 
boxer0011 said:
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of them are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
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I think you're mistaken....
 
boxer0011 said:
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of them are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
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The troll has been reported. May the ban hammer be swift and unrelenting.
 
boxer0011 said:
Have you read the osteopathic forums? Not the pre-med ones. Go take a look, and my concern is shared with a large number of other people.
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Concern? Pssst. Your opinion is shared by a large number of other people...trolls.
 
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boxer0011 said:
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of the new ones are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
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Can you give some examples before you spout b.s.?
 
boxer0011 said:
What about this:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/burrell-com-nm-receives-pre-accreditation-from-coca.1111439/
Click to expand...

If this school ever actually goes through, here are some of the pro's cons w.r.t it:

pros:
-on campus of major public university
-300 residency spots announced
-only 1 other medical school in NM
-ACGME trained anesthesiologist as Dean

cons:
-for-profit
-huge entering and eventual planned class size
-not a part of NMSU
-hypocrisy?


The pro's outweigh the cons since they are apparently adding residency spots, though i'm doubtful of it all in the first place.


Anyways, have fun.
 
boxer0011 said:
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of the new ones are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
Click to expand...
That's never going to happen let has been discussed a million times how there are rules that force schools to have a certain percentage of graduates obtaining residency or they lose accreditation.
 
UBC2014 said:
If this school ever actually goes through, here are some of the pro's cons w.r.t it:

pros:
-on campus of major public university
-300 residency spots announced
-only 1 other medical school in NM
-ACGME trained anesthesiologist as Dean

cons:
-for-profit
-huge entering and eventual planned class size
-not a part of NMSU
-hypocrisy?


The pro's outweigh the cons since they are apparently adding residency spots, though i'm doubtful of it all in the first place.


Anyways, have fun.
Click to expand...

Do you know if these newer schools are more forgiving when it comes down to gpa? Will they allow for multiple failed classes with a high mcat? Say 43? I think maybe they would want to increase their stats? Does it work that way thank you
 
Where is DetectiveAlonzo where you need him to give an insight advice about Caribean option? Can someone tag him since I don't know how
 
Because applicants are more leery of newer schools, the schools have less room to be picky and as such, tend to have lower GPA and MCAT avgs (MUCOM seems to be an exception). This is why I recommend that people with poorer stats target the newer schools.

boxer0011 said:
Do you know if these newer schools are more forgiving when it comes down to gpa? Will they allow for multiple failed classes with a high mcat? Say 43? I think maybe they would want to increase their stats? Does it work that way thank you
Click to expand...

Boxer's point on DO school expansion outpacing AOA residency spots is accurate. It is a big concern and the solution (trim your class sizes) is a scary one. For the time being, overall there still more total residency slots than there are people to fill them (look up the details from NRMP and AOA...I don't have them handy).
 
boxer0011 said:
Do you know if these newer schools are more forgiving when it comes down to gpa? Will they allow for multiple failed classes with a high mcat? Say 43? I think maybe they would want to increase their stats? Does it work that way thank you
Click to expand...

Well I know of top 20 MD schools that have taken a person with a 40+ MCAT but a 3.0 GPA, but that's 1 person.

Sure why not and who cares? How other people get into school isn't of concern to you, focus on your own academics.
 
UBC2014 said:
Well I know of top 20 MD schools that have taken a person with a 40+ MCAT but a 3.0 GPA, but that's 1 person.

Sure why not and who cares? How other people get into school isn't of concern to you, focus on your own academics.
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Well, maybe I have a low GPA and high MCAT and am looking at potential schools to apply to?
 
Goro said:
Because applicants are more leery of newer schools, the schools have less room to be picky and as such, tend to have lower GPA and MCAT avgs (MUCOM seems to be an exception). This is why I recommend that people with poorer stats target the newer schools.
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That is what I plan to do, thank you so much Dr.
 
boxer0011 said:
More and more DO schools are opening up. The residency spots are unlikely to keep up pace. Some of the new ones are outright for-profit, while others are thinly disguised non-profit. The accreditation is a lot easier than MD schools. I think DO might turn out like Caribbean, where a large percentage don't get residencies.
Click to expand...

COCA accreditation requires >98% GME placement rate. Also, attrition is well-controlled at an 8% average, with as far as I know, no DO school having more than like 15% attrition (which in my opinion is still too high).

At this point, US medical schools can expand by 6000 more graduates (~20% increase from right now) before reaching parity with the the number of residencies. If anyone is starting med school in the next 2-3 yrs I wouldn't really worry. After that, who knows.

The main connection between DO schools and Carib schools, is that before when borderline applicants didn't get into US MD schools, they went to the big 4. Nowadays, more people are opting for DO because they know about it now.

boxer0011 said:
Do you know if these newer schools are more forgiving when it comes down to gpa? Will they allow for multiple failed classes with a high mcat? Say 43? I think maybe they would want to increase their stats? Does it work that way thank you
Click to expand...

What do you mean about multiple failed classes? When it comes to GPA it really has to be above 3.0 for most DO schools to consider you, no matter what your MCAT is. If you have failed classes, but you've since retaken and your GPA is above a 3.0 with a high MCAT you'll have a chance getting into a DO school.
 
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Goro said:
Because applicants are more leery of newer schools, the schools have less room to be picky and as such, tend to have lower GPA and MCAT avgs (MUCOM seems to be an exception). This is why I recommend that people with poorer stats target the newer schools.



Boxer's point on DO school expansion outpacing AOA residency spots is accurate. It is a big concern and the solution (trim your class sizes) is a scary one. For the time being, overall there still more total residency slots than there are people to fill them (look up the details from NRMP and AOA...I don't have them handy).
Click to expand...

Goro...then why in the ** did the AOA agree to the ACGME merger? AOA residencies aren't keeping up with the number of medical students? That in itself is irresponsible. But then ask for there to be an enormous influx of IMG/FMG and a handful of low achieving MDs with gaps in education to fill AOA residency seats? That is beyond irresponsible...that is self-destructive.

Who do I as a DO need to ** at to express my displeasure in the direction of our profession and lack of leadership?



Note that ** represents a two-letter curse word of my own creation. 🙂
 
I'm going have to bug my OMM Chair and dean on this one, because they've explained it to me more than once, but I forget the details. At the baseline, the answer is that it opens up more and/or makes it easier for DO grads to get, ACGME slots.

The AOA itself is the body that needs to hear that mindless expansion of DO schools will be destructive to the profession.

If you go to Convocation, that's the place to network and make your voice heard, I hear.

j4pac said:
Goro...then why in the ** did the AOA agree to the ACGME merger? AOA residencies aren't keeping up with the number of medical students? That in itself is irresponsible. But then ask for there to be an enormous influx of IMG/FMG and a handful of low achieving MDs with gaps in education to fill AOA residency seats? That is beyond irresponsible...that is self-destructive.

Who do I as a DO need to ** at to express my displeasure in the direction of our profession and lack of leadership?



Note that ** represents a two-letter curse word of my own creation. 🙂
Click to expand...
 
j4pac said:
Goro...then why in the ** did the AOA agree to the ACGME merger? AOA residencies aren't keeping up with the number of medical students? That in itself is irresponsible. But then ask for there to be an enormous influx of IMG/FMG and a handful of low achieving MDs with gaps in education to fill AOA residency seats? That is beyond irresponsible...that is self-destructive.

Who do I as a DO need to ** at to express my displeasure in the direction of our profession and lack of leadership?



Note that ** represents a two-letter curse word of my own creation. 🙂
Click to expand...
The merger is a good thing. Mainly, it was done to keep the status quo (read as keeping ACGME fellowships open to AOA graduates). And even with the merger, the AOA is fighting hard to maintain "osteopathic distinctiveness" within GME.

Basically, medicine is being unified and and its waiting for the older people making a ton of money off of a divided system to die. So give it 25 years or so and there won't be any distinction.
 
Seriously!!! It was a typo. I mean that does happen sometimes.
 
doapplicant2015 said:
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here and assume you innocently typed OD instead of "DO".

Advantage is that you have the opportunity to get a solid education and become a doctor. DO uses grade replacement. DO may give you a chance to fulfill your dreams.

Disadvantage is that you will have to work a little harder to prove yourself when it comes to certain competitive residencies, and that some may be out of reach. Also, people may confuse the order of your title's initials turning you into a midlevel eye provider.

There are also a million threads around here dealing with this so feel free to look around and ask questions to clarify certain things.
Click to expand...
 
Yes the DO was a typo. But you mentioned that DO uses grade placement which I'm not familiar with. I've actually researched very little about DO programs. But thanks for the advice I will venture around the other threads for some answers.
 
FutureMDKJP said:
I guess I do. I'll work on that. By the way what does the abbreviation "OP" mean?
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You know you could reply to a comment and write directly below it right? And OP means original poster.

I would start reading the pinned posts in the pre-DO forum (there is a reason they are pinned). Do some forum searches if you have more questions (there are literally hundreds of threads like this one). Lastly, google any remaining questions you might have. Take with a grain of salt any opinionated posts on SDN or other similar forums. Look at hard facts (AACOM website, school websites, NRMP match results) and make your own judgement if DO is a good path to pursue. Assuming you are a science students, you should already know the value of empirical evidence.
 
I'm still trying to learn the functions of the site so I was not aware that I could reply directly to a post. I'll look at the "pinned" post as well since they are pinned for a reason. Thanks.
 
Also, OP...do you see the + Quote hyperlink on the bottom right of each post...you can click on that for multiple posts to give you the ability to respond to multiple posts at the same time, so that you don't need to make a series of 5 posts.
 
You know I really don't understand why you people argue about things that have nothing to do with the OP's question. When I was a pre-med, it was so annoying to read through these forums because it took me 10 hours to find a relevant post. So the OP made a mistake with his ordering of letters. So he doesn't have that much info regarding do's. Big ****. Help educate him, and give quick replies so that people don't waste their lives reading useless blogs.

OP, I am going to private message you if you still have questions. I'd be happy to help.
 
areafiftyone said:
You know I really don't understand why you people argue about things that have nothing to do with the OP's question. When I was a pre-med, it was so annoying to read through these forums because it took me 10 hours to find a relevant post. So the OP made a mistake with his ordering of letters. So he doesn't have that much info regarding do's. Big ****. Help educate him, and give quick replies so that people don't waste their lives reading useless blogs.

OP, I am going to private message you if you still have questions. I'd be happy to help.
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It's because 90% of the Pre-osteo forum is "DO vs. MD". Literally a two second search will find 5,000 posts about the subject. There is even a sticky at the top. Ten hours to find a relevant post about your question is surely due to user error.
 
xBODOMx said:
It's because 90% of the Pre-osteo forum is "DO vs. MD". Literally a two second search will find 5,000 posts about the subject. There is even a sticky at the top. Ten hours to find a relevant post about your question is surely due to user error.
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Nope it's due to 5 million posts that say 'use the search button,' which means use your limited knowledge to peruse through 244,000 pages filled with useless posts like the ones on this page until you find the one that is actually helpful. And why post that anyway? If you want to help, then help. Otherwise, save yourself and everyone else some time by posting nothing at all.
 
areafiftyone said:
Nope it's due to 5 million posts that say 'use the search button,' which means use your limited knowledge to peruse through 244,000 pages filled with useless posts like the ones on this page until you find the one that is actually helpful. And why post that anyway? If you want to help, then help. Otherwise, save yourself and everyone else some time by posting nothing at all.
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The problem isn't so much the question as most posters make it out to be. It is because the newbies spam up the forum with redundant questions. It is even worse when they don't even look up through google about those questions as well. I don't mind questions that are clarification type questions, but if its straight up "'what is the difference between DO and MD?' with no background research behind the question" then it is just another spam thread.

On a side note I understand the difference between DO and MD, on top of more controversial topics without even make one thread ever on this forum. Not even one. The reason why is because I use the search feature.
 
FutureMDKJP said:
It is normal to make a typo. You guys on this thread are ruthless, and not adding any kind of positive relevance to the original question that was posed.
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Honestly the answer has been beaten to death though. You wouldn't even have to sift through thousands of pages. The stickied post will answer it on the first page. Laymen's terms- no difference besides OMM and old timer MD bias
 
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/421250/data/differencemddo.pdf

Very surface level chart. You can make your own conclusions about it though. The main thing I have seen people say is that it is "harder" to obtain residency for certain specialty.

My take on the above; anything is possible, the two letters after your name will not affect your stats/scores/etc how you perform in medical school, if you have the stats to be competitive for a specialty then go for it. Basically, nothing is guaranteed. Just because you have an MD doesn't automatically mean you will obtain a residency in anesthesiology you have to earn it, same with DO.
 
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