I have been accepted to a do program but not to any MD programs my GPA is a 3.5 and my SATs were a 2100 or 1520 combined should i go to an undergrad such as TCNJ for around 14,000 a year or FDU for 5,000 a year but for only 3 years with an early acceptance at LECOM. However i am still allowed to Take the MCAT but once i apply out i lose my guaranteed no MCAT required spot at LECOM. So i was wondering if it is worth the risk or should i stick to the lesser undergrad but it gives me the guarantied DO school acceptance.
If you are serious about a medical career, the DO can get you there just as well as an MD. For details about where graduates of your DO program go for their residencies and specializations, ask the placement office.
First question if the FDU program has any strings attached to it, ie, gpa> x or mcat >Y?
If not, you should ask yourself: Is medicine your only and absolutely certain career path? In other words, you won’t change your mind later. FDU is a much lower level school than TCNJ and if you decided not to do medicine after attending, the prospects on other subjects from FDU are much lower. I know, I am an alumni from FDU.
Lastly, have you visited LECOM? Do you know the strict dressing rules and other regulations from the school? And do you want to live in Erie’s weather for 4 years.
No MCAT requried and a 3.3 gpa and up required, I ave visited erie and again it’s a safety net but honesty it’s just a school i’ll man up and get through it. thank you though and you’re definitely right about FDU’s ranking, thats actually what concerned me the most
Have you shadowed DOs? My son actually attending DO school and love his school but he graduated from 4 year undergraduate program and worked as EMT. He was thinking about MD course but after he shadowed DOs he really believe in their philosophy. He is really happy at school and he said classmates are really nice to work with. I live in California and only two DO schools are there. But med school is huge commitment so, take time to research well . Good luck!
I have been an RN 30 years. My daughter is in HS and ranked #1 in her class with a 4.0 GPA. She has plans for medical school but feels the DO vs MD is like LPN vs RN. I have worked with both over the years and know they function the same (DO vs MD). What is your take on the difference?
You can check from this website about D.O. http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-dos/what-is-a-do/Pages/default.aspx
I have heard among med students between allopathic (MD school) and osteopathic (DO school) student MD student tend to look down DO students even though some DO students including my son really chose to go DO path after he shadowed DOs. His GPA was 3.7 at UCSD and MCAT was 31 but I know average DO school students tend to be lower score than MD school. But they both use same text books and same course. DO has extra training for Osteopathic manipulation more than 200 hours. They believe whole body is connected so, when DO see the patient not only look at part of the body what patient has problem but also look at whole body and background of patient history etc.
This applies to ANY good physician (ie MDs too)
Yes, I agree with you but Andrew T. Still was MD and surgeon back then and he was not satisfied his practice. Still believed that osteopathy was a necessary discovery, because the current medical practices of his day often caused significant harm and conventional medicine had failed to shed light on the etiology and effective treatment of disease.[21] At the time Still practiced as a physician – medications, surgery and other traditional therapeutic regimens often caused more harm than good. Some of the medicines commonly given to patients during this time were arsenic, castor oil, whiskey and opium. Additionally, unsanitary surgical practices often resulted in more deaths than cures.[22]
Dr. Still sought to reform existing 19th-century medical practices. Still investigated alternative treatments, such as hydropathy, diet, bonesetting, and magnetic healing.[23] Still found appeal in the relatively tame side effects of those modalities,[23] and imagined that someday “rational medical therapy” would consist of manipulation of the musculoskeletal system, surgery and very sparing use of drugs, including anesthetics, antiseptics and antidotes.[23] He invented the name osteopathy by blending two Greek roots osteon- for bone and -pathos for suffering in order to communicate his theory that disease and physiologic dysfunction were etiologically grounded in a disordered musculoskeletal system. Thus, by diagnosing and treating the musculoskeletal system, he believed that physicians could treat a variety of diseases and spare patients the negative side-effects of drugs.[24]
Still founded the first school of osteopathy based on this new approach to medicine - the school was called the American School of Osteopathy (now A.T. Still University) in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892.[25]
Still was also one of the first physicians to promote the idea of preventive medicine and the philosophy that physicians should focus on treating the disease rather than just the symptoms.[26]
Still defined osteopathy as:
“ that science which consists of such exact, exhaustive, and verifiable knowledge of the structure and function of the human mechanism, anatomical, physiological and psychological, including the chemistry and physics of its known elements, as has made discoverable certain organic laws and remedial resources, within the body itself, by which nature under the scientific treatment peculiar to osteopathic practice, apart from all ordinary methods of extraneous, artificial, or medicinal stimulation, and in harmonious accord with its own mechanical principles, molecular activities, and metabolic processes, may recover from displacements, disorganizations, derangements, and consequent disease, and regained its normal equilibrium of form and function in health and strength.[27] ”
In a 1907 interview by the Topeka Daily Capital newspaper, A.T. Still’s son, Charles Still, D.O., described his father’s philosophy that the body would operate smoothly into old age, if properly maintained and that every living organism possessed the ability to produce all the necessary chemicals and materials to cure itself of ailments.[28]
I am not planning to argue D.O. is better than M.D. or opposite. There are always good doctors and not good ones but my point is D.Os are fully licensed doctors as M.D. Some military surgeons are D.O.s, too. My grandfather is M.D. but my aunt is D.O. My uncle is M.D. and my cousin is D.O. but they are all great doctors.
I won’t argue against that either.
I would argue though that the difference between “the way DOs practice” and “the way MDs practice” has been decreasing from the real divide that existed when the DO degree was created in the 19th century and if we look at current medical school graduates now essentially does not exist. Especially with the merging of the residency programs to fit a single unified training standard (http://www.acgme.org/acgmeweb/Portals/0/PDFs/Nasca-Community/FAQs.pdf) it is acknowledging that allopathic medicine has by now accepted whatever valid medical theories osteopathy has had to offer (which was definitely some, but not all of the differences).
All of this together means that (and I hate putting it this way), D.O. school is essentially just medical school for 2nd tier applicants. The best applicants (and even the best medical students) don’t always make the best physicians so when you’re looking at physicians I wouldn’t call DO’s 2nd tier but from an applicant/student standpoint it’s hard to argue that this isn’t the case when DO applicants and students are weaker on every metric from their college performances and not surprisingly, that deficit continues into medical school including USMLE passing rates and residency placements.
Now the difference between the MD and DO tier is relatively minor - especially when we consider the foreign MD students and graduates. A DO graduate has much better prospects than a foreign MD graduate.
I agree with you. DO school students test score and GPA seems lower than MD school but my son also told me that many of his classmate applied both school and very few people like my son applied only DO school. Other thing is my son worked as EMT for a year. His classmate also had experience at health care field like his best friend is Pharmacy technician and Former Paramedic. I think DO tend to go primary care because that they can use their OMM well. My son did Wrestling, Judo during and Pole vaulting in high school and he got injured his back. He went to see PT and Chiropractor but couldn’t get better and finally his sports med teacher in high school suggested go to see DO and he found one in our area. And he recovered. When he was thinking about med school he wanted to help athlete because from his experience. He thought he can offer more than just medication if he goes to DO school. He is very happy with his choice so far. I don’t know what will happened for new Residency major starting from July 2015. Right now DO can apply DO residency match in Feb and MD residency in March. I think it is good to know patient have option.
I dont belive that there is any difference in practice so i would take the MD specifically an MD program if she gets into one
Correction:
If it’s DO vs. foreign MD, then you go DO.
Why did you switch to 3rd person OP?