Why are Osteopathic Schools easier to get into/has lower averages?

[jjtheairplane]

Top DO schools? That's all hearsay. No such thing.

Yes there is. Obviously stats don't make a school, but they are associated with the level of competition for that particular school. Schools like Unecom, Tcom, Touro, Rowan are all up there in stats b/c their applicant pool is much stronger (generally). Also, these schools tend to have stronger match lists which indicate they're top. Im not a fan of ranking, but "tier" certainly exists. .

Speaking broadly, I will make an extreme example. I'd bet that that the average student at Touro NY/CA/NV is much better off in terms of residency than the average student at say Liberty University or WVSOM. Yes, someone might choose the later schools due to regional preferences but I'm willing to bet that that's not the majority of the student body..

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[user3]

Osteopathic schools are not as well known as MD schools. I recall a video a DO student made on youtube where she went to a foreign country and started telling people she went to an Osteopathic Medical school, she received very confused looks from people. Even in the US, in certain parts of the country a lot of people are not familiar with DOs. I am from Massachusetts and while my state has several MD schools, including some of the most prestigious ones such as Harvard, we do not have a single DO school.

this is why I wish there were more state DO schools.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Oh look, it's the lets play generalizations and guessing game again.

 

[koan]

Speaking broadly, I will make an extreme example. I'd bet that that the average student at Touro NY/CA/NV is much better off in terms of residency than the average student at say Liberty University or WVSOM.

I think you're on the right track, but I'd say the average student at all those places end up doing primary care (about 50 / 50 going AOA / ACGME). It's the exceptional students at the more competitive or better-known DO schools who end up matching top programs, probably because there are more outliers on the high end.

 

[yanks26dmb]

DO schools were invented so the underachievers and generally unintelligent could still become "doctors"....if you consider a PCP with a D.O. degree a doctor. lol.

End of thread.

 

[Seth Joo]

DO schools were invented so the underachievers and generally unintelligent could still become "doctors"....if you consider a PCP with a D.O. degree a doctor. lol.

End of thread.

I think these days the quality of the students that enter the DO profession are generally better than they were years ago. I would not call DO students underachievers and there are a few cases where DO students have chosen the degree over an MD, but sometimes this has nothing to do with academics. I recall one student I know got into a rural MD school and a DO school near a large city, and chose to go to a DO school.

 

[yanks26dmb]

I think these days the quality of the students that enter the DO profession are generally better than they were years ago. I would not call DO students underachievers and there are a few cases where DO students have chosen the degree over an MD, but sometimes this has nothing to do with academics. I recall one student I know got into a rural MD school and a DO school near a large city, and chose to go to a DO school.

That was tongue in cheek my friend.

 

[budda10000]

I'd have to disagree heavily with the first part of bolded. I'm just one example, but many people I have ran into during interviews and just in general, are undergrads who worked hard. I've worked incredibly hard, did not party much, and the only *flaw* in my application is my mcat. MD's are very very stat oreinted. DO schools have complimented me on my rigorous schedule and EC's, but apparently this will not make up for my mcat for MD's as I have no md ii's yet (28 and 26). I will not take a gap year (or more) just to get that md degree/improve my mcat.

Many successful DO applicants at top DO schools simply have a mediocre mcat or gpa. But, EC's tend to be stellar because DO schools appreciate that more.

That has not been my experience. You get a mix just like the MD schools. My dissection partner had a 32 MCAt and 3.9. I had a 3.95 and 31MCAT. We both had cruddy EC's.
We are both at DO school and doing very well, yet somehow we were passed over.
barring a higher MCAT we were both your typical MD applicant, heavy on numbers and research. I asked why they accepted me and they said that they thought I would excel in the program based on my academics and be an excellent physician, there was no mention of a mission or me possessing some innate/unique quality.

 

[JimmyB123]

That has not been my experience. You get a mix just like the MD schools. My dissection partner had a 32 MCAt and 3.9. I had a 3.95 and 31MCAT. We both had cruddy EC's.
We are both at DO school and doing very well, yet somehow we were passed over.
barring a higher MCAT we were both your typical MD applicant, heavy on numbers and research. I asked why they accepted me and they said that they thought I would excel in the program based on my academics and be an excellent physician, there was no mention of a mission or me possessing some innate/unique quality.

So basically, DO applicants are missing one of the three: good gpa, good mcat, or good ECs.

If you have all 3, you're likely at an MD school

 

[koan]

So basically, DO applicants are missing one of the three: good gpa, good mcat, or good ECs.
If you have all 3, you're likely at an MD school

Ha, no this is wrong. There are tons of people at my school with gpa + mcat + ec that would be very competitive for some east coast MD programs, but they only applied to California programs (MD + DO). While the majority of applicants might choose MD over DO school if given the choice, some put a higher emphasis on location or would rather be at a good DO program vs a bad MD program. And don't tell me there aren't bad MD programs.

 

[user3]

That has not been my experience. You get a mix just like the MD schools. My dissection partner had a 32 MCAt and 3.9. I had a 3.95 and 31MCAT. We both had cruddy EC's.
We are both at DO school and doing very well, yet somehow we were passed over.
barring a higher MCAT we were both your typical MD applicant, heavy on numbers and research. I asked why they accepted me and they said that they thought I would excel in the program based on my academics and be an excellent physician, there was no mention of a mission or me possessing some innate/unique quality.

what school is this?

 

[hallowmann]

Yes there is. Obviously stats don't make a school, but they are associated with the level of competition for that particular school. Schools like Unecom, Tcom, Touro, Rowan are all up there in stats b/c their applicant pool is much stronger (generally). Also, these schools tend to have stronger match lists which indicate they're top. Im not a fan of ranking, but "tier" certainly exists. .

Speaking broadly, I will make an extreme example. I'd bet that that the average student at Touro NY/CA/NV is much better off in terms of residency than the average student at say Liberty University or WVSOM. Yes, someone might choose the later schools due to regional preferences but I'm willing to bet that that's not the majority of the student body..

To some degree, but when you go outside of a certain region where your school is more "known", its not like it will make a difference in terms of ACGME residencies. It might for DO residencies, but once you go outside of the "area", you are just another DO applicant to ACGME programs, whether you're from Touro-NY or Liberty. Obviously they'll look at your stats, but beyond that, I doubt where you go really makes a difference. Alternatively, with MD, everyone knows that if you went to Harvard, you'll get into a better residency than if you went to Wayne State.

Now that said, that is not the case in your region. For sure, LECOM grads for example get into all kinds of residencies in the western PA, eastern OH, western/upstate NY areas, just as PCOM grads get in all over the tristate area. There's more of them, they're well known, and they're from the area. People in Philly know PCOM, etc.

I have no idea how programs view DO schools when there is more than one in the same area. Maybe NY grads can comment on NYCOM vs. Touro-NY.

Also, in terms of stats, a lot of that really has to do with the desirability of the location. For example, most people with a choice aren't really going to go to Harrogate, TN when they can go to Philly, NYC, Chicago, Socal, and the bay area, so obviously schools in those areas are gonna have higher stats. Add to it that PA/NY and CA have some of the highest numbers of med school applicants, so competitive is automatically steeper.

Ha, no this is wrong. There are tons of people at my school with gpa + mcat + ec that would be very competitive for some east coast MD programs, but they only applied to California programs (MD + DO). While the majority of applicants might choose MD over DO school if given the choice, some put a higher emphasison location or would rather be at a good DO program vs a bad MD program. And don't tell me there aren't bad MD programs.

Yeah regional preference is huge. I know people from Philly/NYC that would choose a DO school in their home cities over a mid-west MD school any day of the week.

 

[JimmyB123]

Ha, no this is wrong. There are tons of people at my school with gpa + mcat + ec that would be very competitive for some east coast MD programs, but they only applied to California programs (MD + DO). While the majority of applicants might choose MD over DO school if given the choice, some put a higher emphasis on location or would rather be at a good DO program vs a bad MD program. And don't tell me there aren't bad MD programs.

If they are only applying to CA programs, then they are from Cali. And there are only 2 DOprograms in that state. So yeah, there may be some applicants at those Cali DO schools that have good GPA + good MCAT + good ECs, but it's otherwise not really common, especially outside of CA

 

[jjtheairplane]

That has not been my experience. You get a mix just like the MD schools. My dissection partner had a 32 MCAt and 3.9. I had a 3.95 and 31MCAT. We both had cruddy EC's.
We are both at DO school and doing very well, yet somehow we were passed over.
barring a higher MCAT we were both your typical MD applicant, heavy on numbers and research. I asked why they accepted me and they said that they thought I would excel in the program based on my academics and be an excellent physician, there was no mention of a mission or me possessing some innate/unique quality.

Yes there will a good amount of people with MD stats that don't get into MD schools, and they will essentially bring up DO averages. But, I would also argue Mcat>gpa, and 31/32 is at or below most schools averages, so you could be passed over b/c of your PS or crumby EC's.

This is just my experience, but the people I've seen get ii's so far to MD schools have only the numbers. My state school told me straight up without a mcat retake, I shouldn't apply. Also, maybe your interview's went bad, did you get any ii's for md schools?

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

Yes there will a good amount of people with MD stats that don't get into MD schools, and they will essentially bring up DO averages. But, I would also argue Mcat>gpa, and 31/32 is at or below most schools averages, so you could be passed over b/c of your PS or crumby EC's.

This is just my experience, but the people I've seen get ii's so far to MD schools have only the numbers. My state school told me straight up without a mcat retake, I shouldn't apply. Also, maybe your interview's went bad, did you get any ii's for md schools?

MD average is 31. And of course there is a range of people going to a school.