The MD/DO
What is the MD/DO?
There are two types of school in the US one can attend to become a physician. They are called allopathic medical schools earning a MD degree and osteopathic medical schools earning a DO degree. There is practically no difference between these two degrees in what one can do ultimately as a physician. Typically the doctoral degree takes 4 years to complete. Of these four years, the first 1.5-2 years are called preclinical, where one focuses on learning about the body systems and disease processes through lectures and textbooks. Following preclinical, students enter clinical rotations, where they stop going to classrooms and instead rotate on major medical specialties such as family medicine, internal medicine, general surgery, pediatrics etc. Students would be assigned to a clinical team made up of attending doctors, resident doctors, and other medical providers and begin helping with clinical care full time. Around the end of year 3 one would start applying for residency training in a particular specialty. This process is very similar to undergraduate and medical school applications, where one fills out a list of activities/experiences and writes a personal statement explaining why one wants to pursue a particular program/specialty. Residency training is typically required to become an independently practicing physician in the United States. The residency training takes at least 3 years to complete, and could go upwards of 10 years or more depending on the specialty.
Career Motivations
Typically MD and DO degrees allow one to participate in clinical care of patients directly. One would ultimately be in charge of the wellbeing of their patients, diagnosing and treating illness, checking up and preventing disease. There are other paths for practicing clinical medicine such as nurse practitioner and physician associate, though getting a MD or DO degree certainly offers a great degree of freedom. Besides clinical care, some MD and DO choose to conduct research, running a clinical or basic science lab in an academic setting. Many physicians participate in global health or public/preventative health, shaping health policies around the world. One may also look into healthcare consulting as a career.
Costs and Considerations
Medical education is quite expensive, average student debt coming out of medical school in the US was reported to be over 200000 dollars. In addition, one must undergo residency training to become a licensed physician in most cases, which would mean at least 3 years of work/training in addition to 4 years of medical school. Residency training typically pays trainees 50000 to 70000 dollars yearly. Medical school application is also well known to be competitive and requires a lot of preparation.
Admissions Advice
There are many ways to prepare for a medical school application. First thing first is to obtain and maintain a good GPA in college and work hard for standardized tests. If one is not happy with undergraduate grades, one can choose to take additional classes through post baccalaureate programs to show their competencies. Good grades and test scores will assure medical schools that you have the foundation to succeed in rigorous medical learning. Besides grades and scores, one crucial area is participation and exposure to clinical patient care. Ultimately medical schools are designed to train physicians who will interact with humans on a daily basis. Though there are still few options if one does not want to interact with patients as much, such as radiology and pathology. Showing one has a desire to work with patients, to help patients, to learn their stories is a great plus. This can be demonstrated by volunteering in a hospital/clinic, working as a medical scribe or EMT etc. These are also good ways to obtain letters of recommendation in support of the application. Besides clinical care, many schools care about research. Having research experience certainly will not hurt. Many peers also enjoy teaching, which is a great experience to have. Others have participated in medical missionary trips around the globe. Others have participated in public health work.
Parting Thoughts
Going to medical school is a huge decision. The work can be extremely gratifying. Many describe it as a calling instead of just a job. You work in a team setting and make friends for a lifetime. You can have a significant impact on others lives, in the most direct way. Physicians are also compensated well and enjoy a good degree of job stability. There is a huge variety of specialties to choose from after medical school. One can become an orthopedic surgeon and wield power tools and fix broken bones. One can be a psychiatrist and help heal patients who underwent traumatic events. One can be a family doctor and participate in the care of a whole family for decades to come. One can be a critical care doctor and work in the ICU to keep critically ill patients alive. There are so many possibilities in medicine. However, there are also many drawbacks to consider. The path of MD and DO means committing to at least 7 years of school/training before one can become an independently practicing physician. These training can be tough physically and emotionally, it can be time consuming, it can pose significant limitations on one’s ability to travel/visit others. One may miss major life events because the hospital doesn’t close on thanksgiving and christmas holidays. If you are not sure about this decision, it is perfectly okay to take some time to decide. The average age of medical school matriculants has increased steadily over the past. Many people are taking time off after college and before entering medical school. A classmate of mine was over 40 years old at the start of medical school. If you are not sure, I would recommend participating in clinical care, shadowing doctors, and speaking to advisors to help decide if medicine is right for you. It is a wonderful career filled with impactful and life changing experiences, but it certainly is not right for everyone.