Do you picture an increase in Caribbean applications now that DO does not have grade forgiveness?

[aformerstudent]

Now that DO is not an option for grade replacement, do you picture SGU and Ross getting more applicants and admissions criteria increasing as a result?

I don't know exactly how many applicants went the DO route just for grade replacement but if it's a significant amount then I could picture a lot of those guys ending up in the Caribbean.

Any thoughts?

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[673441]

I foreshadow the career of physician being less appealing due to:
1) financial, emotional and time investment
2) increasing competitiveness of applicant pool weeding out students early on in training
3) various dissatisfaction surveys amongst physicians portraying the gruesome reality of physician burnout and overall quality of life.

Overtime we'll see a shift in applications to medical school to applications to support medical staff (PA, MA, NP, CRNA, etc)


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[aformerstudent]

That makes sense.

Do you think this will happen in the next few years or a while from now?

 

[Skip Intro]

Now that DO is not an option for grade replacement, do you picture SGU and Ross getting more applicants and admissions criteria increasing as a result?

No. Non-factor. Admissions criteria will simply adapt accordingly. There are 20 new osteopathic medical schools and/or campuses since I graduated in 2005. They have to fill those spots.

The only thing that's going to change downstream is residency placements. For example, I predict the number of osteopathic (D.O.) neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons is going to be drastically reduced.

-Skip

 

[673441]

That makes sense.

Do you think this will happen in the next few years or a while from now?

Decade at least. It takes time for changes to occur in large institutions. Especially bc we have such a profound respect for physicians as a society! We not only value doctor salary, but status as well. Some may argue that in recent years doctors may have lost respect and admiration from patients. I had an attending tell me that he had a patient call him a greedy pig! When the physician asked why the patient replied, "you all get paid by pharmaceutical companies to get us hooked on drugs." Tidal shift has begun (to an extent)!


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[aformerstudent]

I'm about to start up these pre-req's in June so the last thing I need is for this whole Caribbean process to become more competitive by 2019 when I apply.

 

[Clarus]

I think Carribean applicants are going to increase regardless. People have made it through med school abroad and come to the States, so I don't see why they wouldn't take the chance, after looking at all the pros/cons per each individuals status. Medical school application numbers have steadily reason since the first recorded set of data, so i don't expect that trend to decline as of late but it will happen eventually.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I think the answer is "no". The DO schools remain, and their slots are unchanged (or growing, as pointed out). With the loss of grade replacement, what's going to happen is that either 1) the same people will get into DO schools, but now the "average GPA" of the school will drop; or 2) the schools will take people with better overall GPA's (i.e. people needing less grade replacement). In either case, the same number of people will get into DO, and hence the competition in the carib will be the same. If option #2 happens, then the average GPA in the carib will drop (those people who prior would have gotten into a DO school because of grade replacement will end up in the carib, and drop the GPA).

Bottom line is that the total number of MD/DO/Carib slots remains the same, and the number of applicants remains the same. The rules of the game might change, depending on what the DO schools do. If they chase a higher GPA, then students who did really poorly, then repeat and do really well will "lose", whereas those who did fair all the way through will do better. (i.e. if you had all C's (GPA = 2.0), then repeated everything and got all A's, you'd now have a GPA of 3.0. With grade replacement, you'd have a 4.0. Someone who had all B+'s would have a 3.5. So if DO schools want a higher average GPA, they would prefer the B+ student)

 

[aformerstudent]

Interesting. I was thinking that those students, maybe for the next several years at least, who would have been relying on the DO grade forgiveness as their only chance to improve their GPA would head to the Caribbean. Then I thought once those students were out of the system, things would level out again as new students would be adapted to the new policy.

On a side note, since GPA standards are going up on the mainland, do you think this will affect IMG competitiveness as a result?