Reapply or go to DO school?

[chirodocjrd]

cj8- I have about the same undergrad stats as you and I am beginning the grad program at Mississippi College in August. I was wondering what schools you applied to, recieved interviews at and which school you were accepted at this cycle to give me an idea of which schools may be in my best interests in which to apply.

I know that this may be an insane idea due to cost or its true feasibility...why not take the seat at the DO school and still reapply to the MD programs? I have no idea how the admissions committees would look at this but I just thought I'd throw out the idea. Of course, you'll have ALOT of pissed off people if you take a slot at a DO school and then end up dropping if you get into an MD program. Personally, I'd be very happy to be accepted into a DO program but if you aren't, that may be an option. Then again, there is always the caribbean...

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[Just Joshin]

Someone apparently doesn't know that an AOA match exists.

That person is extremely ignorant in general. There are NO fields that are closed off to DOs. DOs match into every single specialty out there, and some even match into the competitive ones in the MD world. The associate professor of Derm at the Mayo Clinic is a DO. A DO just matched into MD plastic surgery this year. That poster has no idea what he's talking about. Pulling lies out of your ass doesn't constitute advice.

 

[silas2642]

Tell that to all the U.S. MD grads who failed to match this year.



Really? Tell that to the DO who matched allo Integrated Plastics this year. Tell it to the DO who matched Derm at Mayo Clinic last year. Or the one who matched allo Neurosurgery. Tell it to the several DO schools who had several of their students match Rad Onc the past few years. You must be a pre-med who knows nothing but what you've "heard." Try thinking for yourself for once and do a bit of research before you spout off.



Liar. Several DO students from the NY Osteopathic school have matched into NYU IM. Look at the DO forum for years.



I not only call BS, I don't even believe you're a soon-to-be resident. No way is a fourth year stupid enough to talk about things about which he's so obviously ill-informed.

Osteopathic students matching into these fields and/or programs tend to be the exception, not the rule.

Look, being in a US allopathic program opens doors and provides more options than an osteopathic education. There are always the outliers from DO schools who beat the odds and match somewhere spectacular as there are always the MD outliers who match somewhere crappy (or not at all) for whatever reason.

I'm in my fourth year and if anyone asked me whether they should choose a US MD school vs. DO, I would say without hesitation to go MD. However, the OP didn't receive an MD acceptance but is sitting pretty with a perfectly good DO acceptance. Take what you have and run with it; chances are you'll do perfectly fine and your odds of matching are way higher than if you take the Caribbean route.

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Osteopathic students matching into these fields and/or programs tend to be the exception, not the rule.

Your point would be? I never said they were the rule, but the poster stated that these fields were "closed" to DO students. That's 100% false. As a DO student, why would you have a problem with me correcting a lie?

 

[HoodyHoo]

But would it be worth it to waste a year? If you score really high on the COMLEX/USMLE, you will have as good opportunities from DO as a lower-tier MD school, right? Assuming I get a 29 or 30 on my retake, I would only be able to get into low-tier MD schools anyway. I am interested in internal medicine, emergency medicine or radiology. If I did internal medicine, I would like to do cardiology and I believe osteopathic schools have their own osteopathic cardiology fellowships?

Pink,
Osteopathic school is a wonderful option if you are considering a subspecialty in the future. Although Cardio & GI are still very difficult to obtain, D.O. programs do have their own fellowships. I am currently a chief at a D.O. program and will start GI next year. I worked very hard for this spot. However, while my allopathic counterparts are doing MULTIPLE EXTRA YEARS in hepatology/research/ass kissing, I am cruising into my fellowship because I am a solid resident at a good D.O. program. I have MD attendings from top tier schools that give me consistent positive feedback.

The DO/MD issue is mainly a premed issue. Once you are out in practice and working alongside MDs the only thing that matters is the quality of your work and the care you provide to your patients.

The person that stated DOs do not get into elite programs or specialties has ZERO real world experience. At Mayo clinic alone there are DOs that matched into Urology, Gen Surg and EM.

In the end it is a very tough decision to make. No one should fault you if you decide to wait and reapply for MD programs. There is much to consider and no one on these forums can provide the right answer. Good luck with your decision.

 

[cpants]

Really? Tell that to the DO who matched allo Integrated Plastics this year. Tell it to the DO who matched Derm at Mayo Clinic last year. Or the one who matched allo Neurosurgery. Tell it to the several DO schools who had several of their students match Rad Onc the past few years. You must be a pre-med who knows nothing but what you've "heard." Try thinking for yourself for once and do a bit of research before you spout off.

The fact that you are saying THE DO who matched allo integrated plastics says something. THE one. All those supercompetitive specialties are 95%+ filled with MD's. That's the reality.

So to the OP: You have a decision to make. Do you want to be a plastic surgeon or do you want to be a doctor? If you are only going to be satisfied with the most competitive specialties, you may decide to reapply MD. Understand that going that route means risking not being a physician at all in any context. That's a lot of pressure riding on your MCAT retake.

Personally, I would take a bird in the hand. If you want to do something competitive you should bust your ass in DO school, kill your boards, do tons of research, and you should be ok. Like others have said, no doors are closed to you. It will be an uphill battle.

 

[NurWollen]

The fact that you are saying THE DO who matched allo integrated plastics says something. THE one. All those supercompetitive specialties are 95%+ filled with MD's. That's the reality.

So to the OP: You have a decision to make. Do you want to be a plastic surgeon or do you want to be a doctor? If you are only going to be satisfied with the most competitive specialties, you may decide to reapply MD. Understand that going that route means risking not being a physician at all in any context. That's a lot of pressure riding on your MCAT retake.

Personally, I would take a bird in the hand. If you want to do something competitive you should bust your ass in DO school, kill your boards, do tons of research, and you should be ok. Like others have said, no doors are closed to you. It will be an uphill battle.

I love how so many people just ignorethe existence the osteo match during these kinds of discussions. If 60% of DO's match ACGME and 40% of DO's match AOA then they will tell you that only 60% of DO's match. If most DO's matching into competitive specialties went AOA they will tell you that most DO's don't get into competitive specialties. DO's don't cease to be doctors if they go AOA.

One might claim that AOA residencies aren't usually at big academic centers and therefore DO's have less of a chance at becoming one of those world-renowned-experts-in-their-field types... but even if you're an MD who does his residency in derm at Hopkins, chances are you're going to be the local dermatologist with an office down the street in Suburbia, USA.

 

[patel2]

.

 

[cpants]

I love how so many people just ignorethe existence the osteo match during these kinds of discussions. If 60% of DO's match ACGME and 40% of DO's match AOA then they will tell you that only 60% of DO's match. If most DO's matching into competitive specialties went AOA they will tell you that most DO's don't get into competitive specialties. DO's don't cease to be doctors if they go AOA.

One might claim that AOA residencies aren't usually at big academic centers and therefore DO's have less of a chance at becoming one of those world-renowned-experts-in-their-field types... but even if you're an MD who does his residency in derm at Hopkins, chances are you're going to be the local dermatologist with an office down the street in Suburbia, USA.

The AOA match is probably your best chance for something competitive as a DO. That doesn't mean you have a good chance. For example, there are about 8 AOA urology programs scattered across the country, mostly in Michigan for some reason. Each of these places has 1-2 spots. That is compared to about 120 ACGME programs, which are basically closed to DO applicants. I think around 2 DO's matched this year to ACGME programs vs 270ish matches going to MD's. So you do the math. 20ish spots at best going to DO's each year including AOA match. 270ish going to MD's.

 

[patel2]

The AOA match is probably your best chance for something competitive as a DO. That doesn't mean you have a good chance. For example, there are about 8 AOA urology programs scattered across the country, mostly in Michigan for some reason. Each of these places has 1-2 spots. That is compared to about 120 ACGME programs, which are basically closed to DO applicants. I think around 2 DO's matched this year to ACGME programs vs 270ish matches going to MD's. So you do the math. 20ish spots at best going to DO's each year including AOA match. 270ish going to MD's.

from hockeydr.'s figure here is a comparison of how MD/DO end up in composition. Obviously it doesn't take into account everything, but it's a good rough estimate.

 

[Just Joshin]

The fact that you are saying THE DO who matched allo integrated plastics says something. THE one. All those supercompetitive specialties are 95%+ filled with MD's. That's the reality.

How many MDs can you name who matched integrated plastics from a low-tier med school this year? Mid-tier?

 

[Just Joshin]

The AOA match is probably your best chance for something competitive as a DO. That doesn't mean you have a good chance. For example, there are about 8 AOA urology programs scattered across the country, mostly in Michigan for some reason. Each of these places has 1-2 spots. That is compared to about 120 ACGME programs, which are basically closed to DO applicants. I think around 2 DO's matched this year to ACGME programs vs 270ish matches going to MD's. So you do the math. 20ish spots at best going to DO's each year including AOA match. 270ish going to MD's.

You can't give lopsided statistics. Two spots went to DOs. Out of how many DO applicants? MDs have no other option. DOs do. Also, eight urology programs with two positions at each is 16. No, not a lot, but how many DO schools are there compared to MD? How many DO students are there compared to MD?

 

[patel2]

You can't give lopsided statistics. Two spots went to DOs. Out of how many DO applicants? MDs have no other option. DOs do. Also, eight urology programs with two positions at each is 16. No, not a lot, but how many DO schools are there compared to MD? How many DO students are there compared to MD?

DOs graduate 3000 students this past year, MDs 18000.

Let's say 20 DO students match into urology. Proportionately, 100 DOs match for every 270 MD in urology. Surely, the MD's come out ahead, but it's still important to look at proportions and not just total numbers

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

OP look at this https://www.aamc.org/download/157450/data/table24-mcatgpagridall2008-10.pdf.pdf

How many MDs can you name who matched integrated plastics from a low-tier med school this year? Mid-tier?

A good amount and more than DO, there are plenty of applicants who match in competitive specialties from "low-tier" MD and the low tier only really applies to the amount of NIH grant money and research done. Even the lowest allopathic school has funding that equals or out paces osteopathic schools.



Fiscal year 2008; numbers are only for the school of Osteopathic Medicine, and not for the entire institution (i.e. other departments such as arts and science or pharmacy are not included in these figures)

University of North Texas $12,064,917
Michigan State: $3,886,947
UMDNJ-DO: $2,007,539
Ohio University: $644,339
PCOM: $616,570
University of New England: $551,411
VCOM: $475,062
Western: $433,252
Touro-MI: $385,352
NOVA: $363,159 (and possibly another $313,000 which was classified under 'research units')
Kansas City Osteopathic: $362,383
A.T. Still: $205,541
Des Moines University: $194,025
Midwestern: $193,277

If I didn't list it, I couldn't find it in RePORT, or in the case of Oklahoma State, data for the School of Osteopathic Medicine was not specifically enumerated


Take these numbers for what you want, but here are funding figures for some of the least research-heavy allopathic schools (once again, figures are strictly for the Schools of Medicine)

Mercer: $1,209,306
Southern Illinois: $4,171,785
Meharry: $21,395,550
Morehouse: $25,084,179
LSU-Shreveport: $12,013,987
Howard: $13,043,308
Albany: $11,463,823
New York Medical College: $17,987,753
Drexel: $23,127,814
University of Central Florida (just opened): $5,505,477"

http://report.nih.gov/award/trends/FindOrg.cfm

 

[Another Chance]

Even the lowest allopathic school has funding that equals or out paces osteopathic schools.

You said that, yet you quote this:

University of North Texas $12,064,917

Mercer: $1,209,306
Southern Illinois: $4,171,785
Albany: $11,463,823
University of Central Florida (just opened): $5,505,477"

What am I missing?

 

[Just Joshin]

A good amount and more than DO, there are plenty of applicants who match in competitive specialties from "low-tier" MD and the low tier only really applies to the amount of NIH grant money and research done. Even the lowest allopathic school has funding that equals or out paces osteopathic schools.

Although the numbers you posted contradict your statement, that wasn't my point. My point was that top tier schools, like Harvard, Hopkins, etc. turn out many doctors who end up in competitive residencies. But this misconception on SDN that going to DO school will close doors for you while any MD school makes you a shoo-in for competitive specialties is plain ignorant. The fact is that unless you're coming from a name school (and sometimes even then), it's an uphill battle to get into competitive specialties. In asking the poster how many low-tier urology residents he could name from this year, my point was simply to point out that you can take statistics in any way you like (i.e. only two DOs versus this many MDs; but how many of those MDs were from, say, Howard? It's not like you should now dissuade people from going to Howard because Howard didn't turn out any urologists this year). It makes no sense how these arguments evolve on SDN.

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

You said that, yet you quote this:

What am I missing?

Well University of North Texas does have better funding due to TMA. Also University of North Texas is not apart of AACAMS What I'm saying is that using "tiers" for schools and assuming that they significantly increase your chance to match into a specialty is misleading.

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

Although the numbers you posted contradict your statement, that wasn't my point. My point was that top tier schools, like Harvard, Hopkins, etc. turn out many doctors who end up in competitive residencies. But this misconception on SDN that going to DO school will close doors for you while any MD school makes you a shoo-in for competitive specialties is plain ignorant. The fact is that unless you're coming from a name school (and sometimes even then), it's an uphill battle to get into competitive specialties. In asking the poster how many low-tier urology residents he could name from this year, my point was simply to point out that you can take statistics in any way you like (i.e. only two DOs versus this many MDs; but how many of those MDs were from, say, Howard? It's not like you should now dissuade people from going to Howard because Howard didn't turn out any urologists this year). It makes no sense how these arguments evolve on SDN.

Match lists very from year to year. Howard has had some people match into Urology in previous years as well as many in ortho and a couple in derm. The rank of your medical school does play a role but it is often over emphasized on these forums.

 

[Just Joshin]

Match lists very from year to year. Howard has had some people match into Urology in previous years as well as many in ortho and a couple in derm. The rank of your medical school does play a role but it is often over emphasized on these forums.

Look, I'm not trying to emphasize rank. Far from it. My point is that you can't go by what school matches what as a basis to tell someone to avoid a school. It's true in the MD world. It's true in the DO world. Just because two DOs matched MD urology this year doesn't mean that statistic should be over-emphasized to exaggerate the DO vs. MD debate. DO schools have people match MD urology, MD derm, MD ortho, etc. No field is closed to them and one year's match shouldn't be a be-all-end-all. That's the point I was making.

 

[cpants]

Look, I'm not trying to emphasize rank. Far from it. My point is that you can't go by what school matches what as a basis to tell someone to avoid a school. It's true in the MD world. It's true in the DO world. Just because two DOs matched MD urology this year doesn't mean that statistic should be over-emphasized to exaggerate the DO vs. MD debate. DO schools have people match MD urology, MD derm, MD ortho, etc. No field is closed to them and one year's match shouldn't be a be-all-end-all. That's the point I was making.

Neither I nor anybody else said that doors are closed to you with DO or that it is impossible to match to a competitive specialty with DO. Just trying to bring some facts to the table. Using the urology example you will be trying to match to one of 20ish spots. You will be competing with all of the other DO applicants for the few AOA spots and largely ignored by the MD programs.

You accuse others of distorting facts, but you are the one doing it. It's pretty misleading to say that DO's match to MD urology, derm, ortho, etc. every year and offer that as evidence that DO is a good choice for people who want to do competitive specialties. The reality is that a handful of the 3000 DO's match into those MD residencies each year. There is probably something pretty special about most of those applicants. The DO degree is a disadvantage when applying to competitive MD specialties. I'm not saying that is right. I'm saying that is true, and anyone making this choice should make an informed one.

 

[ruiner]

I was wondering if you have heard of anyone who did take your suggestion and defer a DO for a year to reapply for MD? They did offer me delayed admission (for next year) a month ago but have just taken me off the waitlist. I am worry that my DO school might get mad at me for deferring and applying to MD programs instead?

I did it, and don't regret it. Haters gonna hate, but was the best choice for me. Finishing first year up now.

 

[docdonny]

this goes back to if the OP should defer a DO acceptance to retake the MCAT with hopes of getting into an MD school not should he go to a DO vs MD school...there is much more at stake here. the OP has to significant improve his MCAT if he wants a chance (5-6 points or more). He said before he in interested in EM and IM, with hopefully getting into cards. He said nothing about wanting derm, plastics, neuroserg, etc that everyone is debating about. Those specialties he wants are more than attainable as a DO lets be realistic and there are numbers and match lists to prove that. Every time people debate DO vs MD, urology, neuroserg, plastics, and rads and the first specialties that get brought up as if hoards of MD students are matching into these specialties in the first place...they are not hence why they are so competive.

 

[Just Joshin]

Neither I nor anybody else said that doors are closed to you with DO or that it is impossible to match to a competitive specialty with DO.

Perhaps you should read the whole thread before you speak for everyone. From the first page, posted by Way2Swanky:

First of all, forget this "lower-tier MD" nonsense. Any US MD school will be respected by residency program directors and by your colleagues, and will give you an opportunity to match into ANY field you want. You say now that you're interested in IM, EM, or rads-- but what if you change your mind? There are virtually entire fields that are closed off to DO's who want to do an allopathic residency. You can forget about Integrated Plastic Surgery, ENT, Urology, Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology and Dermatology. Same for middle-upper and upper tier programs in less competitive specialties, like General Surgery and Internal Medicine. Some programs (NYU IM comes to mind) explicitly state that they do not even look at DO applicants.

All of the above is 110% false. Is it harder? Yes. Is it closed off? NO!

Just trying to bring some facts to the table.

The above were not facts. They were rumors heard because of threads like this one and passed off as facts, all the while defended by others, like you.

Using the urology example you will be trying to match to one of 20ish spots. You will be competing with all of the other DO applicants for the few AOA spots and largely ignored by the MD programs.

How many DOs do you think apply to urology every year? The number is much, much less than MD. Anyway, I never said it was easier as a DO. I said it wasn't impossible as a DO.

You accuse others of distorting facts, but you are the one doing it.

No, I'm really not.

It's pretty misleading to say that DO's match to MD urology, derm, ortho, etc. every year and offer that as evidence that DO is a good choice for people who want to do competitive specialties.

You accuse me of being misleading, then you put words in my mouth? Please show me where I ever said that DO is a good choice for people who want to do competitive specialties? Where? I certainly don't remember saying that. What I did was try to correct the lies being perpetuated in this thread with facts. DOs do match to allo residencies in competitive specialties, so those fields aren't closed off to them. Period. End of story.

The reality is that a handful of the 3000 DO's match into those MD residencies each year.

And again, how many do you think apply? The vast majority of DOs interested in something like derm will apply AOA, not allo, because of the competition. I love how people rattle off comments about match lists being useless because you have no idea who wanted to match where, but as soon as the talk is about DOs, it's all about what DO matched where.

There is probably something pretty special about most of those applicants.

As there is about the allo students who get into those specialties. Or do you think that if you have an MD after your name, you get into whatever specialty you like just like that?

The DO degree is a disadvantage when applying to competitive MD specialties. I'm not saying that is right. I'm saying that is true, and anyone making this choice should make an informed one.

I never stated otherwise. But don't confused "informed" with facetious. There have been a lot of lies in this thread and those needed to be corrected.

 

[Snackish]

Whatever happened to OP?

 

[Espadaleader]

OP could just defer a year and apply to MD programs. My friend did this and he got into an MD program. If he didn't get in he would have just matriculated after his defer year.

Let's be real here. DOs are at a disadvantage compared to MDs in the match and fellowship. Do you really think LCME schools/ACGME programs are going to make an effort to take DOs over MDs? For one, DOs have AOA options when MD schools don't. As ACGME residencies continue to

 

[ClinPathDO]

First of all, forget this "lower-tier MD" nonsense. Any US MD school will be respected by residency program directors and by your colleagues, and will give you an opportunity to match into ANY field you want. You say now that you're interested in IM, EM, or rads-- but what if you change your mind? There are virtually entire fields that are closed off to DO's who want to do an allopathic residency. You can forget about Integrated Plastic Surgery, ENT, Urology, Neurosurgery, Radiation Oncology and Dermatology. Same for middle-upper and upper tier programs in less competitive specialties, like General Surgery and Internal Medicine. Some programs (NYU IM comes to mind) explicitly state that they do not even look at DO applicants. The large university program where I will start IM residency this June, has exactly 0 DO's in an incoming intern class of ~60 people. Want to do cards? Well, where do you think cardiology programs get their fellows? From the same programs where you will likely be unable to go as a DO.

Why make life so much harder on yourself?

Focus on the MCAT. Don't know how you prepped the first time, but all of your resources need to be focused on KILLING this test. None of this 29-30 talk. If you managed to get into a top 10 undergrad, you can do MUCH better than that.

Finishing med school at age 30 isn't that unusual BTW. That leaves a lot of time to have an amazing career.

Good luck to you.

Depends sometimes its an advantage for certain residencies to be a DO. If your looking at ortho the DO residencies are a nice option. Im interested in ortho and pathology so I decided it was safer to go DO. Ive seen DOs match path at UF, UCSF, Yale, UCLA, and a bunch of other great allopathic schools so im not worried about DO discrimination in that field. At the end of the day your gpa/board scores/LORs matter the most. you can go to a MD school but if you barely pass USMLE step 1 and your a C student your not getting into an elite acmge residency.

 

[Silent Cool]

Defer your DO acceptance and re-apply MD in the meantime.

 

[ohioguy]

lol OP was from 2 years ago.

 

[Hemorrage]

OP could just defer a year and apply to MD programs. My friend did this and he got into an MD program. If he didn't get in he would have just matriculated after his defer year.

Let's be real here. DOs are at a disadvantage compared to MDs in the match and fellowship. Do you really think LCME schools/ACGME programs are going to make an effort to take DOs over MDs? For one, DOs have AOA options when MD schools don't. As ACGME residencies continue to

Don't you need a good reason to ask for a deferral?

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

The fact that you are saying reapply to med school or take a DO spot as if the former is superior to the latter in any way shape or form disgusts me. Please, don't take the spot and go to PA school instead then when your rounding in the hospital you can look at the D.O. on my coat and say to yourself, well I stood proud and didn't take a lowly DO spot but in the end I still have to call him doctor and take his orders. Idiot pre-meds not wanting to stain their reputations by going to DO school despite the 2 degrees being 100% equal when your applying for your license to practice medicine. I have clasmates who got interviews for EM at Harvard, Yale, Carolinas and Stanford. Friends who interviewed for Rads at UCSF and Duke. If you work your ass off and rock your boards and have good letters there wil be no closed doors to you. Stop giving ****ty advice to people when you know nothing about the world of medicine as you have barely finished college, if that. Disgusting trolls.

I would have said this better if I could, but I cannot. Well done.

 

[cabinbuilder]

The fact that you are saying reapply to med school or take a DO spot as if the former is superior to the latter in any way shape or form disgusts me. Please, don't take the spot and go to PA school instead then when your rounding in the hospital you can look at the D.O. on my coat and say to yourself, well I stood proud and didn't take a lowly DO spot but in the end I still have to call him doctor and take his orders. Idiot pre-meds not wanting to stain their reputations by going to DO school despite the 2 degrees being 100% equal when your applying for your license to practice medicine. I have clasmates who got interviews for EM at Harvard, Yale, Carolinas and Stanford. Friends who interviewed for Rads at UCSF and Duke. If you work your ass off and rock your boards and have good letters there wil be no closed doors to you. Stop giving ****ty advice to people when you know nothing about the world of medicine as you have barely finished college, if that. Disgusting trolls.

This post is AWESOME!!! I just laugh since my last job site the MD's were sending me all their back pain folks to "fix" with OMM, especially the post-partum gals with hip and LBP. Most left my office pain free after weeks of flexeril, etc. Being a DO is the best thing I ever did.

 

[Bostonredsox]

This post is AWESOME!!! I just laugh since my last job site the MD's were sending me all their back pain folks to "fix" with OMM, especially the post-partum gals with hip and LBP. Most left my office pain free after weeks of flexeril, etc. Being a DO is the best thing I ever did.

I was a bit inebriated that day, but I meant what I said. People who think there is a difference in the degrees are just ignorant. I'm a soon to be DO critical care hospitalist in an all MD group. Ask the staff at my hospital who they want caring for the really sick patients, me or them....they have been saying me since the middle of my second year of residency. Doctors are doctors. The degrees are irrelevant. And fwiw, I know less OMT at this point then most MDs, it's just not part of my practice. The difference isn't the omt, it's the caliber of doctor, which has no connection to the letters on my coat.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I was a bit inebriated that day, but I meant what I said. People who think there is a difference in the degrees are just ignorant. I'm a soon to be DO critical care hospitalist in an all MD group. Ask the staff at my hospital who they want caring for the really sick patients, me or them....they have been saying me since the middle of my second year of residency. Doctors are doctors. The degrees are irrelevant. And fwiw, I know less OMT at this point then most MDs, it's just not part of my practice. The difference isn't the omt, it's the caliber of doctor, which has no connection to the letters on my coat.

I couldn't agree more. It's not about the OMT but since I'm in FP, it really makes a difference when I'm the only DO in a clinic.

 

[Silent Cool]

Depends sometimes its an advantage for certain residencies to be a DO. If your looking at ortho the DO residencies are a nice option. Im interested in ortho and pathology so I decided it was safer to go DO. Ive seen DOs match path at UF, UCSF, Yale, UCLA, and a bunch of other great allopathic schools so im not worried about DO discrimination in that field. At the end of the day your gpa/board scores/LORs matter the most. you can go to a MD school but if you barely pass USMLE step 1 and your a C student your not getting into an elite acmge residency.

That's mostly because no one wants to do Path. Visit the Path forums (if you haven't already)--they have more gloom and doom than even the Pharmacy forum.

 

[ClinPathDO]

That's mostly because no one wants to do Path. Visit the Path forums (if you haven't already)--they have more gloom and doom than even the Pharmacy forum.

Everything you read on SDN you have to take with a grain of salt. I know allot of pathologists who are happy with their residency choice. Ive seen multiple surveys that show this as well as the burnout rate is quite low.