What do you all think of DO's?

[OSUdoc08]

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Hahahaha. I think I am being baited here. You were the one who brought up top DO schools MCAT scores. And, unless we have definitive data from the USMLE from specific schools, its very safe to assume that the higher the matriculant's MCAT scores, the higher their board scores. It correlates very well. Yes, I know there are exceptions, so don't bring back another sample size of 1 anecdotal argument. They're useless. The data shows that USMLE scores are way lower for DO students, and that something around 30% of them don't even pass. I do have a link for that directly from the USMLE, but I'm too lazy to put it on here. Yes yes.. I know youre going to come back at me and say that top DO schools or top DO students do just fine. But again, we're looking at averages because most people can't be the top. The chances are, when you go see a doctor down the street, he was an average medical student. Why? Because most people are around the average...

100% USMLE pass rate for my school. This is similar for the other top DO schools. I don't really care about the lower tier DO schools.

The point is you can't say that ALL DO students are at or below par with BOTTOM TIER MD students.

 

[Jack Daniel]

However, as someone who has a lot more knowledge about the selection process for DO's than the average layperson, I would personally ask for an MD to take care of me, unless I knew some specific information about the DO docs that were an option. I don't know if I would want someone who got an inflated 3.2GPA, a 19 on the MCAT, then retook it, studied their butt off and then still only got a 23, and then got accepted into a DO school because they brought their MCAT UP to a 23, taking care of me...

Based on this line of thinking, if we're using GPA and MCAT data, you should only ask for an Asian MD. If you're in the unfortunate position of being treated by a hispanic or black MD, you'd really be living on the edge.

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2005/mcatgparaceeth.htm

 

[DrMom]

Okay. I think this has been discussed to death (even before this thread) and it is pushing the limits of professional discourse. There are tons of old threads on this topic if anyone is just dying to read more, otherwise I think we can be done beating this dead horse.

If anyone wants further clarification on SDN's policy on these kinds of threads, please refer to this sticky thread.