Pathways towards becoming a physician

[ordinaryguy]

I think that the general consensus is that most people prefer to attend a U.S. allopathic medical school. However, if you believe in the philosophy, education, and training of U.S. osteopathic medical schools, you would choose to go this route. I believe that both routes to becoming a physician are excellent pathways. But not everyone has the opportunity to go to these pathways due to circumstances such as GPAs and MCAT scores. So I believe that attending Caribbean medical schools such as St. George University and Ross University is an excellent alternative pathway, albeit has challenging situations like distance, being considered a foreign student, etc? But I believe that regardless of where one goes, if one is determined, studies hard, and is dedicated, one can be an excellent physician regardless of the medical institution. So it disturbs me when various people in these forums criticize certain pathways. This is just my opinion on this topic.

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[Pinkertinkle]

But all in all, I'd rather stay in the country.

 

[calebho501]

I don't think people necessarily criticize, but we all to be realistic: Foreign medical school graduates do have a harder time in getting competitive residencies. Also, getting a M.D. from different schools do make a slight difference.

It's like getting a Bachelor's degree from Harvard and a degree from University of Middle of Nowhere. When a job recruiter look at the two applicants, the one from University of Middle of Nowhere will have to prove harder that he/she is a competent employee. It's not fair, but everyone, including residency directors and job recruiters, do have their personal biases.

 

[steve007]

hey, i had surgery performed by a guy that went to guadalahara (sp) and he was great. still, i'm glad i got accepted to a US allo school. so, i'm saying, you're right, you can be a good doc by alternate pathways, but you stack the deck in your favor by going to the best school possible.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

Originally posted by calebho501
It's not fair, but everyone, including residency directors and job recruiters, do have their personal biases.

A lot of MDs I know are impressed by the quality of SGU and Ross graduates-especially in regards to clinical care. I think a lot of the bias against the FMG graduates are held by the snobby pre-meds [who would look down DO's and non-trads] who've grown to become residency directors [if that makes any sense to y'all]. Peace.

 

[ornis4]

Excellent post...I know most all of us in these forums tend to wrap numbers and stats around ourselves to no end, because let's face it, it's really tough to get where we want to go...That being said, it's refreshing for once to remind ourselves that our careers, like most any other aspect of our lives, are what we make out of them. Sure, knowledge is important in terms of knowing the odds, hearing feedback, etc etc. But really, in choosing this general pathway of becoming doctors, aren't we already going against some fairly lofty odds? To some, the difference between allo/osteo, US/foreign consumes them, and to others, it can be another obstacle to overcome, or a wonderful opportunity to get more diverse exposure than others. I'm just glad there are various options(though I wish there were more), and that the condescending attitudes of old are fading. I'm not sure which path is mine yet, but I sure as hell won't look down on anyone if I end up at a US allopathic school.

That being said, I'm insanely jealous of those who have been accepted for entrance in '04...I get to go through this process in a year. Congrats and good luck to those who successfully survived the process.

 

[DrBodacious]

Originally posted by steve007
hey, i had surgery performed by a guy that went to guadalahara (sp) and he was great. still, i'm glad i got accepted to a US allo school. so, i'm saying, you're right, you can be a good doc by alternate pathways, but you stack the deck in your favor by going to the best school possible.

I second this notion

 

[Adapt]

The overall hierarchy of schools when it comes to practicing medicine in the US is as follows:

1. US DO
2. US MD
3. IMG

 

[skypilot]

But the hierarchy when you get to medical school is:

Senior attending (Probably an IMG if you are in internal medicine)
Attending (Probably a DO if you are in Michigan)
Resident (Might be a SGU grad)
You (Lowly medical student who graduated from Harvard)

 

[lisa13579]

Speaking of hierarchies....you get into medical school, work your way up to M4, then go back to the bottom as PGY1
We all love the pain and suffering though don't we.