Ponder This...

[wjlj72]

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What would you choose... Lets say you are accepted to an MD school. However, there is a stipulation in that you have to do it in 5 years due to a low MCAT score ( the first year you are taking classes to touch up on some materials). You are also accepted to a DO school and you can finish it in the regular 4 year span. If you think this is a joke, think again, it isn't. I appreciate all your help.

🙂

 

[Psycho Doctor]

What would you choose... Lets say you are accepted to an MD school. However, there is a stipulation in that you have to do it in 5 years due to a low MCAT score ( the first year you are taking classes to touch up on some materials). You are also accepted to a DO school and you can finish it in the regular 4 year span. If you think this is a joke, think again, it isn't. I appreciate all your help.

🙂

wow! what school? I know undergrad some schools make you go for the summer..but another whole year? I suppos eyou have to pay full price?

you need to evaluate: how much you care of graduating from an MD school over a DO school? can you afford it? do you mind waiting another whole year to finish? only you can decide that for yourself!

you can also take a year off, earn some money, study for your MCAT, improve and go to a 4 yr MD school 👍

best of luck, glad i don't have to make that decision...yet!

 

[avinash]

What would you choose... Lets say you are accepted to an MD school. However, there is a stipulation in that you have to do it in 5 years due to a low MCAT score ( the first year you are taking classes to touch up on some materials). You are also accepted to a DO school and you can finish it in the regular 4 year span. If you think this is a joke, think again, it isn't. I appreciate all your help.

🙂

MD....haha il have some more years to give away to the doc dream

 

[DrWorkNeverDone]

Do you think you need the review? That is the important question. Did you have low scores because you got freaked out by the test or was that actually everything you knew? DO or MD you have to know the basics. Also, another thing is that another year gives you opp. to work up your resume for matching. Maybe you could do some research on the side or something. Hope all goes well

 

[wjlj72]

As for the MCAT, I know the material I just think I put so much pressure on myself that I score low. I have a 3.83 so I know I can do the work. The MD school guarantees me a spot, but the first year I have to take some preparatory classes like Neuroscience, Gross Anatomy, Pathophysiology, Human Genetics, Medical Science Intergration and other classes. These are classes I have already taken at my undergrad, but my dream is to be a doctor, so I will do anything. But as you can see, a DO school offers me 4 years as opposed to the unorthodox 5 years. So again, I appreciate all your help and guidance.

 

[dmhill99]

As for the MCAT, I know the material I just think I put so much pressure on myself that I score low. I have a 3.83 so I know I can do the work. The MD school guarantees me a spot, but the first year I have to take some preparatory classes like Neuroscience, Gross Anatomy, Pathophysiology, Human Genetics, Medical Science Intergration and other classes. These are classes I have already taken at my undergrad, but my dream is to be a doctor, so I will do anything. But as you can see, a DO school offers me 4 years as opposed to the unorthodox 5 years. So again, I appreciate all your help and guidance.

What kind of MCAT scores are we talking about here. Just curious. Good luck.

 

[JDAWG07]

Go DO if you're only interested in primary care. Go MD if you're interested in specializing or in research and academics.

 

[ByrnBabyByrn]

What would you choose... Lets say you are accepted to an MD school. However, there is a stipulation in that you have to do it in 5 years due to a low MCAT score ( the first year you are taking classes to touch up on some materials). You are also accepted to a DO school and you can finish it in the regular 4 year span. If you think this is a joke, think again, it isn't. I appreciate all your help.

🙂

I've never heard of any med school accepting someone on those terms, it doesn't make any sense. And an mcat of 20 is quite low, you might want to consider retaking to improve your chances.

 

[doogyhowser]

medical college of ohio offers this.

it's not just for low mcat. also for low gpa, and for people they think can hack it but simply aren't competitive on paper.

if they do well, they get a seat in the next class and go on to get the m.d. the same as anyone else. the guys i knew like this actually did really well throughout the rest of their schooling due to the repetitive preparation.

an extra year is a major bummer though, med school is long enough already.

 

[masterMood]

M.D.s have an easier time with getting residencies from what I've read, thats the only thing that i see as a major benefit of the M.D. degree.

The main difference between the M.D. and the D.O. is prestige. DOs are relatively unknown to most patients but the good thing is that ifyou go the DO route, medicine is trending more towards managed care and less by the "fee-for-service" system. So if you do decide to specialize in medicine and this can be done through the D.O. route, you won't have the hassles of explaining to the patient what a DO is and feeling bad. Probably in a couple of years, DOs will have acceptance throughout communities as people learn more about DOs

Its really a 25,000 dollar between prestige versus practicality. Perhaps for you, prestige does matter (as it does to many doctors who didn't choose to become nurses or dentists etc), and the M.D. is really worth it.

In the end all that really matters is how hard you work in med school and what you make of it.

 

[MedicineBird]

What would you choose... Lets say you are accepted to an MD school. However, there is a stipulation in that you have to do it in 5 years due to a low MCAT score ( the first year you are taking classes to touch up on some materials). You are also accepted to a DO school and you can finish it in the regular 4 year span. If you think this is a joke, think again, it isn't. I appreciate all your help.

🙂

this happened to one of the study assistants I work with. Drexel gave him this option. at first he was hesitant but now reports that he is very glad he chose to go with the MS/MD.

 

[masterMood]

ha ha wtf?* there was a post between the one above me and this one and he said that DOs are optometrists thats why i said ha ha wtf

Quote
"I don't understand why you have to choose between an MD and an optometry degree?!? (DO)

If you want to be a doctor, go MD. If you want to prescribe glasses, go DO."

 

[jules0328]

I dont really understand what the big deal is if you go an extra year for the MD. I guess it depends on what you prefer in the end. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go into DO just because it is going to give you the luxury of 4 years in comparison with MD. If you do not want to practice OMM, and do not believe in the whole DO perspective, then you will probably be unhappy doing osteopathic medicine.

 

[jhugti]

If this is indeed a genuine option, take the MD route. An extra year among a dozen or more is really insignificant and will, if anything, make your medical school experience that much more comprehensive. I don't want to get into the MD/DO debate here (thought the OP's question seems destined to go there eventually) but unless you are REALLY pro-DO, it will never hurt you to get the MD degree. Just my (admittedly biased for many reasons) opinion.

 

[Eiko]

What would you choose... Lets say you are accepted to an MD school. However, there is a stipulation in that you have to do it in 5 years due to a low MCAT score ( the first year you are taking classes to touch up on some materials). You are also accepted to a DO school and you can finish it in the regular 4 year span. If you think this is a joke, think again, it isn't. I appreciate all your help.

🙂

DO all the way! But then again, it depends on what your tastes are. I prefer the DO way of things... patient-centered medicine, the relationship between structure and function, the OMT, the belief in the mind body connection, etc. 🙂

Good luck.

 

[Shredder]

MD, hands down. You're talking about one year vs. something that will be with you for the rest of your life. Unless you really like the DO way of things, in which case I wonder why MD was ever an option. But the 1 year is totally insignificant.

 

[jhugti]

DO all the way! But then again, it depends on what your tastes are. I prefer the DO way of things... patient-centered medicine, the relationship between structure and function, the OMT, the belief in the mind body connection, etc. 🙂

Good luck.

I see this on SDN all the time, but am yet to understand what it really means. I've done a lot of reading on osteopathy and its methods, so please no flames about my igorance in the field. That said, is this implying that MD training doesn't teach that structure and function are related? Or that psychological and psychiatric status aren't important indicators of overall health?

I think many people (I don't know anything about this poster so I can only speak in generalizations- he/she may well be exceedingly informed) perpetuate this divide, as though MDs are not taught about patient care and only concern themselves with biochemistry. I don't personally have a lot of faith in a lot of osteopathic methods (mainly because I think they operate via psychological effects and often lack rigorous, blinded studies demonstrating their efficacy) but I do definitely appreciate the approach to the patient as a person, not as a sum of biological parts. I just fail to see the absence of this attitude in allopathic medicine.

 

[Quentin Quinn]

Its really a 25,000 dollar between prestige versus practicality. Perhaps for you, prestige does matter (as it does to many doctors who didn't choose to become nurses or dentists etc), and the M.D. is really worth it.

I don't think this is what Hermit's comment was getting at, but one critical question I would have is whether you would have to pay an extra year in tuition at the MD school. Somehow I doubt this is the case, but a major debt increase, coupled with opportunity cost, could favor the DO route if it were. Of course, I would go MD either way, finances be damned.

I think I recall GW having such a 5 year "decelerated" program as well, but not sure where I saw this.