Should I be considering an SMP?

[SAMBAA]

---

Members don't see this ad.

( edited out for privacy)

 

[el_duderino]

Doing an SMP instead of going DO would, IMO, be extremely foolish. Losing a year of attending salary and taking on an extra $50-70k in debt. That's a 300-400 thousand dollar mistake.

What you should have done was reapply to MD this year, but far more broadly, and apply broadly to DO as well. I think it might still be early enough to apply DO, but I'm not 100% on that.

What schools did you apply to last year?

 

[SAMBAA]

I am actually in the process of applying far more broadly to MD schools right now, but am just preparing in case I do not get in.

I guess the logic is that I was applying to many schools to get a 5-year MD/MPH, but if I were to do an SMP, I would just apply to schools for the traditional 4-year route instead.

I did have some folks in the WAMC let me know that DO has a later cycle, so it is not too late. Still considering, but am not sure if I am really willing to commit to DO.

I can PM you my school list!

 

[el_duderino]

It would be useful to everyone else reading this post to see the list.

 

[SAMBAA]

Here was the list I applied with last year:

USC
Rosalind Franklin
UCD
UCR
Drexel
Albany
Michigan State
UCLA
UCSD
George Washington
Penn State
SUNY Downstate
Temple
Rutgers
Cooper
UCSF
UCI
University of Illinois

(I also turned in primaries to 7 other schools, but did not commit to the secondary due to finances)


Here is my current list, which I am committing to writing a secondary for all, I only have about 6 left to finish:
Albany
Rosalind Franklin
Creighton
Quinnipiac
Indiana University
Kaiser
USC
Loyola
Medical College of Wisconsin
Michigan State
NYMC
Penn State
Rush Medical College
Tulane
UCD
UCI
UCLA
UCR
UCSF
UCSD
Wayne State
Wright State

 

[el_duderino]

I think a handful of those are definitely wastes of money due to your stats and state of residence. I again strongly recommend you apply DO, because any of those MD schools are going to be a significant long shot. I'd say you have <50% chance of an II to an MD school. I'm not sure why you'd want to take that big a chance of sacrificing another year of your life before applying to DO schools. Do you want to be a physician or not?

 

[YCAGA]

Which of them are long shots/waste of money (besides UCSF, USC, UCLA)? I definitely want to be aware so I know which ones not to be too hopeful about.

Yes, I do want to be a physician, but one of my close mentors has actually been recommending against DO until I've exhausted my options. They have told me how difficult it is for some of their colleagues to get into certain specialties from DO programs, so it has definitely scared me a little bit. I've worked with DO's in the ED before and I have seen virtually no difference in practice, but I AM worried about less opportunities to pursue the kind of medicine I would like to by going the DO route.

Yes, there are a lot of success stories on SDN, but I think after being chosen to interview for the particular MD acceptance program last year, I want to try broadening my options and weighing them all out before fully and wholeheartedly committing to DO programs. I don't mind taking an extra year to spruce up my academics even more in order to get into an MD program. The way I see it, It's three birds with one stone- have much better chances of getting into an MD school, review/learn a lot of material to set me up for success as an M1 and boards (setting me up for better success in matching to a residency of my choice), and gain life experience living in an urban area outside of what I have been used to my entire life. The only con that I really see is the tuition/price, which would be a main reason for choosing DO over an SMP.

I definitely do appreciate the input though!

Don’t listen to that other guy’s advice. He is either a DO student who is salty or has no idea what he is taking about in terms of specialities. If you don’t want to go DO, exhaust all of your options before you apply DO. All of this opportunity cost discussion about losing out on 2-3 years of income and $80k more in SMP tuition...misses the point. If you go DO, hate the speciality you go into (much more likely for some people as a DO) then you won’t even want to work long enough to pay off debt, let alone get into long term net worth debates. Tbh get off this website other than for interview day info and very specific questions about certain programs. People on here often give advice that is 180 degrees from the real world :/


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[el_duderino]

Don’t listen to that other guy’s advice. He is either a DO student who is salty or has no idea what he is taking about in terms of specialities. If you don’t want to go DO, exhaust all of your options before you apply DO. All of this opportunity cost discussion about losing out on 2-3 years of income and $80k more in SMP tuition...misses the point. If you go DO, hate the speciality you go into (much more likely for some people as a DO) then you won’t even want to work long enough to pay off debt, let alone get into long term net worth debates. Tbh get off this website other than for interview day info and very specific questions about certain programs. People on here often give advice that is 180 degrees from the real world :/


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

Says the premed to the PGY-2.

 

[YCAGA]

Says the premed to the PGY-2.

I didn’t know anything a PGY-2 says is automatically correct. Learn something new every day.