Some comment has been made that US DO's are at some sort of diasadvantage in applying for US residency and licensure compared to both US and foreign (including Carribean) MD's. As regards licensure, this is simply not true. USMG's (both DO and MD) have no problems and a much easier time getting licensed than FMG's. Many States (such as California) require three years of residency training before FMG's can be licensed, but only one year of residency training for USMG's.
Some Carribean schools (like SMU) are not even recognized for licensure by some States (California again). So, if you are an SMU graduate you are SOL if you want to do residency or practice in California. No accredited US MD or DO school has this problem. That may or may not be important to you, but it is a fact.
Opinions have been expressed that being an MD graduate of a Carribean school is somehow "better" than being a US DO when it comes to both US residency acceptances and some nebulous idea of the general "superiority" of the MD v. the DO. It seems to me that these opinions have not been supported with any verifiable data. What I've read are anecdotal claims that Carribean MD's have matched in NS and other competive specialties, or that DO's have also matched in similar programs. Such claims (and I don't doubt that they are true) are irrelevant. What would be more interesting to know is how many USMGs (DO and MD)
fail to complete their degrees and/or fail to match in their desired programs compared to how many FMG's fail to complete their degress and/or match in their desired programs. Let me know if any of you has this data.
As regards why we do what we do, including why we chose to go to one medical school or another, I think it is fair to say that we all try to do what we consider to be in our best interests. The choice of a medical school involves financial considerations (cost), and other considerations (where we want to live, future career options,
etc. A poster mentioned that he was acceptred at a US DO school but chose to go to a Carribean MD school. Presumably this choice was not based on the lesser expense (tuition and living costs) or the Carribean school. The costs of the Carribean school were at least equal to and likely greater than the costs of the US DO school. I presume that the poster was being truthful about the US DO acceptance and based the decision on the desire to earn the "more desireable" Carribean MD rather than the "less desireable" US DO, even though, as another poster pointed out, the SMU degree is not recognized in some US States.
In evaluating the various comments that have been posted on this thread, we must consider that there is a natural human tendency to rationalize the choices that we make in life. Frankly, if I had been a US pre-med and appled to and was rejected from all the US MD schools I aplied to, I would consider the US DO schools as a second choice. Actually, I would probably have applied to Carribean or other foreign MD schools as a
third choice, mainly due to my desire to practice medicine in the US and my consideration of the relative ease of achieving that goal as a USMG v being an FMG.
But I recognize that others may make different choices. For example some may choose going to SMU over Harvard because they like the Carribean climate better (there certainly wouldn't be any advantage in cost or ease of subsequent residency and licensure in the US). Some may prefer SMU to NYCOM because they would much prefer having an MD to a DO or their preference for the climate of the Carribean (but again there is no cost advantage or advantage in achieving licensure in the mild climate of California...).
So go ahead and do whatever you want. Far be it from me to criticize your decisions.
Nick