What would you do?

[hsmooth]

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Hey everyone, now that I'm knee deep in the AACOMAS application process with some interviews coming up, I've got some thinking to do:

I'm Canadian, and as they say home is where the heart is. Eventually I would like to return home to practice, it does not have to be right after medical school. Sometime down the road is fine.

My predicament: non-Canadian med school trained doctors face many barriers and hurdles in trying to return back to Canada to practice. It may include writing multiple Canadian board exams, and maybe redoing residency, or being limited to family medicine only.

I am not a competitive applicant for Canadian med schools: my gpa is barely meeting their strict gpa cutoffs, and even if I re-write the MCAT in April and get 30+, I'm still not that competitive. So that's why I applied to American schools.

I've got a couple DO interviews coming up, and knock on wood, if I get accepted I have some decisions to make!
- going to school in the US will cost ~2x more than in Canada: $200k US compared to ~$100k Canadian.
- my choices for residency programs in the States will be more limited: I'm at the mercy of the program, I can basically only apply to programs that will sponsor an H1 Visa for me.
- I do not want to spend another 2 years doing a Master's ( I don't like research) to improve my GPA.
- American MDs have a slightly easier path to get back to Canada; the Canadian Osteopathic Association is trying to get DO's better recognized in Canada. There is no limit to the scope of practice of DOs in Canada, but most likely you will do family medicine. I am not opposed to family medicine, but I would rather not limit my choices this early in the game.

What would you do?
A- take the American DO acceptance, and tackle the uphill battle head-on in trying to get back to Canada.
B- put down a deposit for the acceptance, play the gambling game, and if you do well on the April MCAT, give up your seat to re-try Canadian or American MD applications?
C- Screw Canada, it's too cold there anyways!!! Marry an American girl, and get a green card so you don't need to get an H1 Visa! lol 😀

Please note that I do not consider osteopathic medicine a 'backup'. The reality is that I want to be a physician, the letters do not matter, but that being a DO will be tougher to get back home.

 

[Ema]

I had that same doubt about going into osteopathic medicine just because of the DO practice limitation. When I say limitation, I mean osteopathic medicine is not recognized in some countries. Although at this point I would like to stay in the US and practice here, I often wonder if I am limiting myself by being able to practice only in US ( with exception of some countries). I can’t tell you what would be the best option for you, but I decided that at this point the best possible way for me to become physician is to choose the DO route. If it really comes to the point that I don’t want to live in US anymore (I doubt it), I will figure out a way to obtain the practicing license in the country I want to live in. I am making the best choice given to me at this point and I hope that things will work out fine in the future, just as they always do in some way. 🙂

I would opt for A, and yeah good luck with C.

 

[Testy McAterson]

Since A, B, and C all involve accepting a DO acceptance, I think that's what you should do--at least for now. It wouldn't hurt too much to accept and hold a seat while you consider/retake the mcat and.or reevaluate whether the American DO will help you reach your goals. In the grand scheme, you're risking a relatively small amount of money and buying time to strategize your next move. I'd consider helping you out with plan C...but, as much as my boyfriend and I both love hockey and Emily Haines/Broken Social Scene/the Arcade Fire, I don't think he would be too keen on that plan 😉

 

[hsmooth]

Thanks for your thoughts, Ema

I'd consider helping you out with plan C...but, as much as my boyfriend and I both love hockey and Emily Haines/Broken Social Scene/the Arcade Fire, I don't think he would be too keen on that plan 😉

thanks for at least considering it haha, it means a lot to me 🙂