Scenario: What would you do?

[Quester]

Alright, so here's the scenario.

Factors:
1. Rising Junior has a low 3 cGPA, but with upward trend he may be expecting cGPA around ~3.5 by the end of Senior year.

2. He will be applying in June of his graduation year. He is both open-minded about MD and DO, but getting a DO degree will limit him from practicing in his homeland (i.e. he's an international).

3. The student knows that getting into med school is not a rush, but lately seeing his mates get into professional schools has giving him the perception that he shouldn't waste more time than required; after all, he will be a year behind in the cycle already.

Knowing this, how many of you would feel pressured to not waste another year (if you do get rejected) and apply for both MD and DO during the same cycle. However, if he only gets DO acceptance he is thinking of taking the bite, ready to face many hindrances with residency, practice limit, etc in future.

Or, should he just apply to only MD in the first cycle and see what happens next? If he does get rejections from all MD schools, he will then apply to both MD and DO in the next cycle. However, he will be 2 years behind now.

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[MightyMoose]

If your friend is really dead set on MD he should apply to only MD's, then if his first year doesn't pan out, the following year he can apply to both as you suggested.

I did this.

 

[Quester]

If your friend is really dead set on MD he should apply to only MD's, then if his first year doesn't pan out, the following year he can apply to both as you suggested.

I did this.

What happened?

Basically you didn't mind being 2 years behind colleagues from your graduating year?

 

[MightyMoose]

What happened?

Basically you didn't mind being 2 years behind colleagues from your graduating year?

Haha. If it were only 2 years... I could have completed med school and residency with some change left over by this point. So, two years is very insignificant in the scheme of things.

Also, I begrudgingly clicked your second option, because I don't think the 2 years has to be a waste. He can do a lot of productive things with two years.

 

[morning]

I'd apply to MD, apply early and apply EVERYWHERE.

 

[bobow98]

I'd apply to MD, apply early and apply EVERYWHERE.

Agreed.
You never know (unfortunately this runs both ways).

 

[mspeedwagon]

This would have been my advice, but it's nearly impossible for international students to get into MD programs in the US without excellent grades. The majority of MD programs don't even accept international students. My advice would be to apply to a medical school in your home country that is also in the CA list.

If you want to practice in the US, then apply to the MD and DO schools that accept international kids that you are somewhat competitive for (this should be a short list).

Agreed.
You never know (unfortunately this runs both ways).

 

[Catalystik]

Aren't we going to speculate on a theoretical MCAT score and whether the verbal score will be acceptable? It would be very difficult for an international applicant to get an acceptance at a US MD school with a sub-par GPA. This mythical individual should view his chances realistically and apply to DO schools initially, perhaps adding a few less-selective MD schools into the mix, on the off chance that he will beat the odds against him.

He might also look into MD programs in his home country and other international venues.

 

[Quester]

Well, the individual is from ON, Canada. As you probably have seen through the forum, the schools in ON are highly selective with GPA/MCAT cutoffs in the initial step. Other provincial schools are also selective since he will be an "out-of-province" student who has to compete for a very few seats for OOP students.

He will be applying to MD programs both in the US and Canada in his first cycle.

Why not apply to the Caribbean, Australia or Ireland? He is aware of limiting IMG residencies in future. Hence, only planning for CAD MD; US MD & DO.

*This scenario is assuming that he gets a low 30 on his MCAT.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

If he's from Canada he might as well be looking at the Carib at this point. DO while an effective choice of US citizens in all regards. It is not great for Canadians as some provinces are hardass's to DO's. But if you own your own clinic you'll arguably be fine. However even with a 3.5( theoretically and a 30mcat) being Canadian puts him at a disadvantage ( a lot don't take int and Canadians have to be beyond averages so he might not even be competitive). Regardless for Canadians DO's apparently have a hard time there so ... the common consensus of the MapleSyrup pre-meds is Carib if you can't get into US MD.

Going of shore is alright, I mean risking money in a half twitted gamble is nice. DO schools have ~100% residency placement, Carib schools probably have it around 50% of their original class? Australia and U.K are probably even worse since the systems not familiar with them. But I guess unfortunately for maplesyrupers the Carib is still the best idea since the licensing thing there is easier for Caribs. Just go into there knowing you'll need to work harder then everyone else is all I can say.

 

[The Poet Sings]

would it be possible for this hypothetical person to go to med school in the country they want to practice in? and how positive are they that they'll want to go back to their homeland if they go to an american school?

 

[Quester]

would it be possible for this hypothetical person to go to med school in the country they want to practice in? and how positive are they that they'll want to go back to their homeland if they go to an american school?

I'm guessing he would be willing to take the risk of not being able to practice in maplesyrup land--if he does have that 100% guarantee that he'll get an American residency.

I think there's less risk with DO option than possibly getting kicked out of Caribbean med school, no?

 

[Catalystik]

I think there's less risk with DO option than possibly getting kicked out of Caribbean med school, no?

Overwhelmingly, DO >>>>Caribbean in terms of student retention and graduation rates, boards pass rate, and likelihood of a residency in an area of your choice presuming a sufficiently competitive boards score.

 

[Kevin Baker]

Why not apply to international med schools? I'd be weary of the Caribbean, apart from maybe the big 4, but the UK and Israel both have good MD programs, as does most of Europe. Australia has some programs too.

Normally, I'd say apply to whatever school suits you best, but if he wants to practice internationally, there are a few places where a DO would cause trouble, though this list narrows every year. I'd check to see if DOs could practice fully in his home country as a lot of people assume they can't when they can.

 

[pennstate4life]

Don't apply anywhere you wouldn't end up going anyway. Don't waste trees, or electrons, or if you are christian, "magic".

 

[The Poet Sings]

Don't apply anywhere you wouldn't end up going anyway. Don't waste trees, or electrons, or if you are christian, "magic".

was this really necessary?

 

[pennstate4life]

was this really necessary?

If you have a sense of humor, hellz yeass.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

If you have a sense of humor, hellz yeass.

That wasn't funny. It was completely unnecessary as religion had no place in this convo. As such it was just immature and an makes you look like a tool.

 

[pennstate4life]

That wasn't funny. It was completely unnecessary as religion had no place in this convo. As such it was just immature and an makes you look like a tool.

But I don't want to be a tool

 

[MightyMoose]

Don't apply anywhere you wouldn't end up going anyway. Don't waste trees, or electrons, or if you are christian, "magic".

 

[Quester]

I'm somewhat surprised by the poll result. I've seen many many people who were just dead set on getting their MDs, even if it meant they have to re-apply. But I guess most people would just want to become a "Doc" as soon as they can. I think I would too.