A Brown Girl's Guide to Medical School Admissions

Should I Apply to DO schools?

If you’re just starting out on crafting your medical school list, something you may want to consider is looking at DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) schools alongside MD (Doctor of Medicine) schools.

What makes DO schools different from MD schools?

DO schools have a philosophy of “holistic medicine” which refers to the idea that a patient’s health involves all of the components in their life including their living situation. Because of this, DO schools emphasize really understanding a patient and providing alternatives to just prescribing medicine. All DOs are trained in an additional course called “OMM (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine)” or “OMT (Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment).”

When you visit your doctor’s office, your physician may be either a DO or an MD because both degrees are equivalent. So why do people sometimes not apply to DO school? There are some key differences:

  1. Specialty Placements: DO schools tend to place students in primarily internal medicine settings like pediatrics, adult and family medicine, and OB-GYN. While it can be harder to get into competitive surgical specialities because residencies tend to favor MDs over DOs, it is still possible to get these more competitive placements.

  2. Research: DO schools tend to have less on-campus research that isn't comparable to the level of research that large medical schools conduct. This can matter for residency placements, especially for competitive specialities.

  3. Attached Hospital: Perhaps the biggest difference between DO and MD schools is that MD schools will have an attached hospital and healthcare system, while DO schools will generally not. This can affect the third year when students do their clinical rotations because DO students might have to travel further to complete theirs. You should look at which locations students rotate at for DO schools and how much support the school offers during this process.

  4. Admission Statistics: The GPA and MCAT statistics tend to be lower for DO school admissions than MD admissions. If you are a competitive MD applicant, you should have no issue getting into a DO school.

  5. DO School Comparison: Not all DO schools are considered equal. By this I mean some DO schools are more established than others. This is important because it can determine how smoothly your third year rotations go and your ultimate residency placements as well.

  6. Additional Training: OMM is a hands on technique that DOs are trained in. It can be used to diagnose or treat certain illnesses or diseases. From what I gathered, some DOs do use this in their treatment practices, but others don’t. This isn’t something that MDs are trained in.

  7. Licensing Exams: To graduate from a DO school you have to take the COMLEX exams whereas MDs take the USMLE. While lots of residency programs say you don’t have to take both, some do recommend taking both. This means that you have an additional exam to study for as a DO student.

  8. Campus: DO campuses are generally much smaller than MD campuses so there are fewer resources. This is largely because DO schools don’t have their own hospitals on campus.
Ultimately, if your goal is to be a doctor, you should consider DO schools. As medical school admissions get harder and harder, I’ve heard of qualified applicants (3.8+ GPA, 515+ MCAT) who haven’t gotten into medical school when they just applied for MD programs. Upon reapplying, they included DO schools in their list and are now attending a DO school. All this is to say that the process can be unpredictable and if you want to be a doctor, DO schools should be considered.

Caribbean Schools vs. DO Schools

The advice I received is to apply to between 5-10 DO schools. Some people go to the Caribbean for medical school, but I have heard that this affects residency placements later on. Between going to the Caribbean for medical school and attending a DO school, I’ve heard that attending a DO school is preferred.

What do I need for DO school applications?

The great news is that your application will be basically the same for both MD and DO schools! For DO schools, you create your application through AACOMAS. You’ll have to edit your activities to be shorter (600 characters each) and personalize your personal statement to more closely match the osteopathic philosophy. Some DO schools also want you to provide a letter of recommendation from a DO. You don’t necessarily need to shadow a DO, but if you can find a DO mentor who can write you a letter of recommendation, this would be extremely beneficial.

Which DO schools should I apply to?

The ones I considered were:

There are several other DO schools, but I chose based on location, student placements, and how established various schools were. All the interviews I have had were traditional interviews (as opposed to MMIs).