hopefulblackpremed
Full Member
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Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (DO)
Pros
- Much cheaper COA (~240k total)
- Closer to family
- Matches well for a DO program
- Located in a city I’m already comfortable in
- Reportedly strong COMLEX and STEP pass rates
- Established connections within Texas hospital systems
- P/F first two years (less stress early on)
Cons
- DO stigma (may make competitive specialties harder)
- Have to take both COMLEX and USMLE
- Less centralized “home” academic hospital
- Graded 3rd year (H/P/F)
- Fewer research opportunities compared to some MD schools
Meharry Medical College (MD)
Pros
- MD degree (removes DO bias, keeps more doors open)
- Opportunity to match into a broader range of specialties
- Strong mission-driven environment and clinical exposure
- Located in Nashville (new experience, different environment)
Cons
- Much higher COA (~400k+ total)
- Would be heavily reliant on loans
- Graded preclinical (more stressful, harder to stand out clearly)
- Further from family/support system
- Less predictable match outcomes compared to top-tier programs
- Some concerns I’ve seen regarding:
- Attrition rates
- USMLE pass rates (not sure how accurate/recent this is)
My Dilemma
- I want to keep as many specialties open as possible
- I’m interested in things like orthopedics, anesthesiology, PM&R, maybe IM->cardiology but not 100% sure yet
- I also care a lot about ROI and long-term financial flexibility
- At the same time, I don’t want to limit myself if I end up wanting something competitive
