<p>I recently looked at some of the acceptance criteria of some DO schools and that are not siginficantly high, I mean why are so many people worried is it hard to get a 20 on MCAT and a 3.4, why are so many people worried when you could go to osteopathic school and become the exact same doctor, maybe better (I like the holistic healing aspect of osteopathic schools and I may end up there).</p>
<p>Means of 20? Really? Which schools?</p>
<p>You can't become a doctor just by getting into medical school. You still have a pass the classes, pass the USMLE's, and match into residency. People with 3.4/20 numbers end up in the Caribbean where becoming a doctor is anything but a certainty. Whereas if you have the numbers to get into a US allopathic or even osteopathic school, you have very good odds of becoming a physician.</p>
<p>This brings me to another point: If you are going to look at the med school acceptance rates of various colleges, be very careful in analyzing what is defined as "med school." Some schools (like Cornell) only include allopathic schools in their calculations (meaning if you got into a DO school but not a MD school, you are counted as a failed applicant) while many other schools include both DO and MD schools. This is not unethical since DO schools are med schools as well but you can see how including Carib and DO schools in your figures would inflate your med school acceptance rates.</p>
<p>DO's don't necessarily have to take the USMLE; they can take COMEX instead.</p>
<p>Sorry, I meant the boards in general.</p>
<p>Yeah. This is actually a meaningful point, though. DO's who fail the USMLE can still take COMEX and become doctors. Caribbean students who fail the USMLE are just stuck.</p>
<p>I don't think, overall, that it's too hard to become a doctor. I have a distant relative who went to Albany State (w/o a scholarship b/c he was too stupid to get one). He was a complete loser and so was his dad (his dad, in fact, did med school in India and then came to the US and failed his liscensing exam repeatedly before becoming a radiologist...he now lives very comfortably in Basking Ridge, NJ...one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country). His son somehow managed to get into some unknown med school (and really, I have no idea how...I'm still in HS and I think I might be smarter than him lol...he must have worked night and day for it). So no, it's not hard to become a doctor...I guess you just have to be entirely into it. Don't take my word for it though: the example I gave might be an isolated incident.</p>
<p>seems like you don't like this relative...lol</p>
<p>anyway, many do med school in india --- some highschoolers even go to india because they believe they can't pass the mcat (manipal) or some even go to antigua, xaviers, st. johns or any of those...but they finish in 5 years</p>
<p>what's the catch --- hard time passing USMLE?</p>
<p>And being unlikely to match into a US residency even if they do pass.</p>
<p>yeah, I have a feeling that my relative's father would not have been able to become a doctor in today's medical field! </p>
<p>helpneededrtenow: My animosity towards this particular relative and his parents is a result of the fact that they are complete snobs. That and the fact that the father is a total idiot (at least from my perspective; he's certainly more intelligent than the average US citizen). Furthermore, he chose medicine not because he would enjoy it or because he wanted to make a difference in someone's life, but solely on the basis of monetary gain (which is why he is a radiologist living in Basking Ridge). That, above all, utterly disgusts me.</p>
<p>How hard are the boards? (I remember some character on Grey's Anatomy failed them.)</p>
<p>Also, is the hardest thing about the path to becoming a physician getting into med school? That's what seems intimidating to me.</p>
<p>Well, everything about being a doctor is just like Grey's, so that's a pretty good reference point!</p>
<p>Uh...I wasn't being serious....</p>
<p>LOL...awesome</p>
<p>Do not want to discourage anyone, but go in with your eyes open. Becoming a Dr. is no easy task. IF you are able to get into med school (this is the EASY part) you are then faced with a minimum of 7 years of your life being very tough. Consider your 20’s gone. If you decide to specialize, you have another 2-5 years of being a grunt for little money and suddenly half of your 30’s are passed. The hours, the stress, the moving, the lack of income, and the good physicians’ drive to be the best- are all tough on families. Eighty+ hour weeks during residency are not uncommon and a 60 hr week is good. Fellowship is rarely better (that’s assuming that you can even get a Fellowship position-400 Dr.'s applying for 100 spots-makes getting into med school child’s play). If you are 18, the concept of giving up your 20’s /30’s may not seem like a big deal-but think again. If you plan to have a family consider your time spoken for. No hobbies, no tv time, no video games-work and family. That’s it. Better find an understanding spouse too- cause it sucks for them as well.</p>
<p>Worth it?
Yep, specialist make very good money, but none of the good ones and very very few specialist endured this process for the money. They love the science, they care about their patients well-being, and they want to help. </p>
<p>Frankly, anyone asking about bottom rung schools and ease of admission is unlikely to survive and even if by some chance they did- do you really want them as your physician?</p>
<p>My kid started med school this week. Its a lot of work and was a big eye opener for her compared to UG.</p>
<p>20 is not hard to get, but what you do with 20? Some are getting much higher on first practice test before they start preparing. but unless you are in combined program, 28 would not cut it either. No, it is not easy at all. And raising it from 25 to 35 require whole tons of prep. And then, as DocT mentioned, it is all very small steps in comparison to Med. School. No, not easy at all.</p>
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<p>just wait til she gets to M2 year. Its a whole different ballgame haha.</p>
<p>And as for the OP, I’m very skeptical about a DO school having a mean of 20. I’ve seen averages of 24-27, but never that low. And DO schools tend to put a lot of emphasis on life experience and other things like that. I think the other numbers for DO schools speak for themselves. They have roughly similar student retention and board pass rates to the MD schools. So its not like the students they admit can’t handle it.</p>
<p>^^She’s aware of this. The pace of going through the material is certainly much faster than in UG. Also apparently classes are virtually continuous during the day.</p>
<p>The way I like to view it, and what gives me encouragement, is that a very good number of 20/30 somethings are drifting around aimlessly in life. Many are drinking, drifting around unemployed, or getting girls pregnant and then divorcing. Those who are career motivated and who obtain jobs often end up in junior level positions and have to do scutwork for 2/3 years- which isn’t as tough as residency, but the gains afterwards usually don’t compare either. Medicine rocks because you are already on the road to a solid, fulfilling career, you just have to work hard to walk it. Many other people our age don’t even see the road, they are lost in the woods. Please stand my crappy metaphor.</p>