PCOM vs. Low Tier MD school

[Chocolate Bear]

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This person fails to realize that puerto rican medical schools are LCME accredited, therefore they are U.S. allopathic medical schools. According to the 2008 NRMP results, U.S allopathic graduates (including puerto rican medical graduates) have a match rate at 94.2%, while graduates of osteopathic medical schools have a 71.6% match rate. This information can be obtained at: http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2008.pdf. I believe that through hard work and dedication you can get anything you want, however it would be in your best interest to enroll in an LCME accredited school (placing you in a much favorable category of 'US Allopathic grad' when applying through the match).

Wow, you're really misrepresenting the situation. You've made it seem like 28.4% of DO grads don't match, compared to only 5.8% of MD grads. The truth is that many DO grads match DO and are subsequently auto-withdrawn from the MD match or they don't even apply for ACGME residencies.

Per the AOA:

Students who are matched through the AOA Intern/Resident Registration Program and who also have registered to participate in the NRMP Main Match in the same year will have their AOA Match status communicated to the NRMP. The NRMP will automatically withdraw these matched students from that year's NRMP Main Match for concurrent programs.

(Source)

So, with the WHOLE story, we can see that the 25.7% that WITHDREW from your MD match were probably not just a bunch of fresh DOs who realized they made a mistake by not ..."enroll[ing] in an LCME accredited school[, thereby not placing them] in a much favorable category of 'US Allopathic grad'."

 

[Bacchus]

I've lived in Des Moines for 21 years and can say that DMU has a mixed reputation, at best.

I think that everyone needs to remember that when the OP said 'lower tier MD schools,' he/she was refering to Puerto Rican schools. There are no low tier MD school in the 50 states.



QFT--an important satistic.



Any DO student will tell you that they "learn all the same stuff as MDs, plus OMM." I'm not sure how much I believe this, considering that MD students study all the time, and OMM takes hundreds of hours (where does that time come from?).

But, the statistic above has nothing to do with how they are trained, simply that MDs are more likely to match than DOs. Medical and osteopathic school is not about "teaching to the test."

EDIT: Bacchus has since removed the above quote.

With the reason of misread.

 

[pistonsbball]

Wow, you're really misrepresenting the situation. You've made it seem like 28.4% of DO grads don't match, compared to only 5.8% of MD grads. The truth is that many DO grads match DO and are subsequently auto-withdrawn from the MD match or they don't even apply for ACGME residencies.

Per the AOA:



(Source)

So, with the WHOLE story, we can see that the 25.7% that WITHDREW from your MD match were probably not just a bunch of fresh DOs who realized they made a mistake by not ..."enroll[ing] in an LCME accredited school[, thereby not placing them] in a much favorable category of 'US Allopathic grad'."

You bring a good point and that is for just pure match rates. The NRMP states that "competitive specialties include: Dermatology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Plastic Surgery and Radiation Oncology". At ACGME hospitals in 2008: only 2 osteopathic grads matched into derm (pgy2), 2 matched into orthopaedic surgery, 1 matched into otolaryngology , 0 matched in plastic surgery, and 1 matched into radiation oncology (pgy2). This information can be obtained at: http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata2008.pdf. Again, these number reflect the match at ACGME hospitals.

If your "dead-set" on matching into a competitive specialty at an ACGME hospital, it would be in your best interest to apply as a US Allopathic grad. Remember, regardless of what you ultimately choose, these specialties will be competitive and will require high USMLE Step 1 scores, high class rank, rotations (as an LCME student you will have less problems with 4th year electives as a visiting student as this is important in making 'connections'), letters of rec, research publications, etc.

Good luck with your decision, but most importantly go with what makes you happy.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I've lived in Des Moines for 21 years and can say that DMU has a mixed reputation, at best.

You have a POOR opinion of DOs at best, and therefore really can't be trusted on this issues. This is also one DO school, and has a solid history to back itself.

I think that everyone needs to remember that when the OP said 'lower tier MD schools,' he/she was refering to Puerto Rican schools. There are no low tier MD school in the 50 states.

Wrong. You would like to believe there are no 'tiers,' but this is obviously not the case. All MD schools are held to a licensing standard, but this doesn't mean that Harvard is on the same playing field of smaller state schools. You know this.

QFT--an important satistic.

Chocolate bear already explained - a few posts above - why you are wrong.

Any DO student will tell you that they "learn all the same stuff as MDs, plus OMM." I'm not sure how much I believe this, considering that MD students study all the time, and OMM takes hundreds of hours (where does that time come from?).

If DO students didn't learn the 'same stuff' - being western medicine - as MD students, then they wouldn't be able to take their step exams, licensing exams, complete their residencies, or practice in identical institutions.



Your pointless blabber gets so old Decicco. I don't know if I've ever seen you make a post on these forums that wasn't the same routine, and you blatantly disrespect your future colleagues whenever given the chance - ie: calling DO medical schools 'osteopathy schools' when I specifically said the term was outdated and not liked by most DOs. It's an attitude I hope I never see in a doctor, but unfortunately a sad side effect of a pressured, cut throat life. I hope one day you can step back and see the big picture, but until then ... try to practice as much human decency as possible.

 

[Bacchus]

Be nice, bicker in PM if you have to.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Be nice, bicker in PM if you have to.

I'm being perfectly civil. Telling someone to respect others and act like a human being is hardly flaming.

 

[Instatewaiter]

Wrong. You would like to believe there are no 'tiers,' but this is obviously not the case. All MD schools are held to a licensing standard, but this doesn't mean that Harvard is on the same playing field of smaller state schools. You know this.

There aren't really tiers like you see in law schools but I do agree that someone from Harvard probably looks better on paper than someone from a small state school. The boards are the great equalizer for all medical students- Harvard, the rest of MDs and DOs.

Chocolate bear already explained - a few posts above - why you are wrong.

Chocolate bear's posts only show that he may not be right, not that he is wrong. There is no conclusive data with the exact percentages of who matches, scrambles or signs outside of the match. For all we know, it could be that with scrambling and signing outside the match 98% of DOs get an allo position and only 97% of allos do. Or it could be that 100% of MDs get a position while only 80% of DOs do. All we can do is guess since the data just arent there.

 

[RySerr21]

You have a POOR opinion of DOs at best, and therefore really can't be trusted on this issues. This is also one DO school, and has a solid history to back itself.

Agreed. There seems to be a chip on his shoulder. When asked about the "mixed reputation" he responded "I mostly got a sense for it because when I was asking for letters of rec from places I volunteered at, I was more than once asked something to the tune of "I know that DOs haven't always been looked at the same as MDs, but are you considering to apply to DMU?""

This seems to be a reflection of peoples biased (likely uneducated) opinions of the DO profession, and not necessarily a negative reflection of DMU.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Agreed. There seems to be a chip on his shoulder. When asked about the "mixed reputation" he responded "I mostly got a sense for it because when I was asking for letters of rec from places I volunteered at, I was more than once asked something to the tune of "I know that DOs haven't always been looked at the same as MDs, but are you considering to apply to DMU?""

This seems to be a reflection of peoples biased (likely uneducated) opinions of the DO profession, and not necessarily a negative reflection of DMU.

PM sent.

 

[Khanoom]

Please, can we all try to be civil and not bash any particular program and just discuss your honest opinion.

From what I have gathered reading this forum, PCOM is regarded by most as the top DO school in the nation.

If you were faced with the decision of attending PCOM, or a low tier MD such as any Puerto Rican school (just to cite an example)

Who would you choose ? and Why ?

You should choose DO only if you believe in the philosophy, because there are philosophical differences between the two branches . I believe DO's are equal to MD's you just might not be able to practice in certain countries abroad.
As far as PR schools go they are all LCME accreditated which means we apply in the same exact pool as US mainland students, which is by far much better than applying as an FMG.

Also, unless you are planning to go to Harvard it doesnt matter where you go to school as long as you do well in your classes and score high on your boards . Graduates of PR med schools do fellowships all over from UCSF to Harvard and its not heresay, these are my friends. In terms of spanish you need to know it to succeed here because although a US colony Puerto Ricans prefer to speak spanish, which is what you will need to do on your rounds.

Oh yeah, dont forget when you return to the states you will be returning as a bilingual physician who has actually worked within the latino population which is much different than just knowing how to speak spanish.


Hope that clarifies.

 

[Depakote]

The OPs question has been answered and the topic of this thread has deviated substantially. This is not the appropriate place to re-hash the DO v. MD debate.

closing.