Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Applying To US DO Med Schools - FAQs, Guidance & Canadian Friendly Schools


Recommended Posts

For current DO students or DO-hopefuls or even anyone who is interested in dentistry or MD followed by primary care in the US, I know that you can specialize to increase your future income, but since most students don't, how do you think that you might manage the $300k student loans with accumulating interest with a primary care practitioner's salary? Will earning $200,000 or less be a burden to eventually $500k in loans and interest?

 

Why in the world are you grouping dentists here?

 

General dentists can perform many procedures without specializing such as implants which is one of the most lucrative. I know a general dentist who after eight years of practice owned multiple practices and was a multi millionaire.

 

It's all about how they do business.

 

Family practitioners have a cap on their salary. From what I understand most don't open their own clinics and are stuck at around 150 k or so per year. It would be very difficult to pay back 500 k in this situation. If I were to do this my quality of life would decrease and I would no longer have the luxuries I have now being supported by my parents and who aren't doctors but make more than these family meds. This is why I declined my Rcsi offer :)

 

 

It's hard for people to see the financial aspect of this because they get so excited to get into a med school. My friends in the Caribbean and Ireland never thought about the money so they are going to be going through a major shock in a few years when reality hits them.

 

I cannot stress how important it is to think logically.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why in the world are you grouping dentists here?

 

General dentists can perform many procedures without specializing such as implants which is one of the most lucrative. I know a general dentist who after eight years of practice owned multiple practices and was a multi millionaire.

 

It's all about how they do business.

 

Family practitioners have a cap on their salary. From what I understand most don't open their own clinics and are stuck at around 150 k or so per year. It would be very difficult to pay back 500 k in this situation. If I were to do this my quality of life would decrease and I would no longer have the luxuries I have now being supported by my parents and who aren't doctors but make more than these family meds. This is why I declined my Rcsi offer :)

 

 

It's hard for people to see the financial aspect of this because they get so excited to get into a med school. My friends in the Caribbean and Ireland never thought about the money so they are going to be going through a major shock in a few years when reality hits them.

 

I cannot stress how important it is to think logically.

 

Are you talking about family docs in the U.S. or in Canada? In Canada they can make pretty good money, especially in Ontario and especially if they get the right kind of payment scheme. I believe there is no cap in Ontario anymore; however, the tides of government funding change constantly and who knows what the future holds.

 

In the U.S. from what I've heard family meds is paid pretty poorly, but you can market yourself down there (work for Michael Jackson!;)). Plus residency is 3 years not 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you talking about family docs in the U.S. or in Canada? In Canada they can make pretty good money, especially in Ontario and especially if they get the right kind of payment scheme. I believe there is no cap in Ontario anymore; however, the tides of government funding change constantly and who knows what the future holds.

 

In the U.S. from what I've heard family meds is paid pretty poorly, but you can market yourself down there (work for Michael Jackson!;)). Plus residency is 3 years not 2.

 

So it seems to me that you've been applying to med school forever :P, I've seen you on the international/Irish forums, DO forums, here and SDN. You are like the Switzerland of med school application. So what are you up to these days? Going somewhere? Doing pre-reqs? 2nd undergrad degree crew?

 

 

**I don't mean the above in any offensive way, I'm genuinely curious, it's often the case that you don't find out what happened to forum posters, and what they ended up doing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So it seems to me that you've been applying to med school forever :P, I've seen you on the international/Irish forums, DO forums, here and SDN. You are like the Switzerland of med school application. So what are you up to these days? Going somewhere? Doing pre-reqs? 2nd undergrad degree crew?

 

looool ouch!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why in the world are you grouping dentists here?

 

General dentists can perform many procedures without specializing such as implants which is one of the most lucrative. I know a general dentist who after eight years of practice owned multiple practices and was a multi millionaire.

 

It's all about how they do business.

 

Family practitioners have a cap on their salary. From what I understand most don't open their own clinics and are stuck at around 150 k or so per year. It would be very difficult to pay back 500 k in this situation. If I were to do this my quality of life would decrease and I would no longer have the luxuries I have now being supported by my parents and who aren't doctors but make more than these family meds. This is why I declined my Rcsi offer :)

 

 

It's hard for people to see the financial aspect of this because they get so excited to get into a med school. My friends in the Caribbean and Ireland never thought about the money so they are going to be going through a major shock in a few years when reality hits them.

 

I cannot stress how important it is to think logically.

 

why in the world are you in DO section? you seem pretty pathetic... unlike you many ppl choose medical school only because they care about ppl and want to make a contribution to their society rather than scamming ppl and forcing them to pay for dental treatments that they really dont need. good luck with your multi-speciality dentistary job

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why in the world are you grouping dentists here?

 

General dentists can perform many procedures without specializing such as implants which is one of the most lucrative. I know a general dentist who after eight years of practice owned multiple practices and was a multi millionaire.

 

It's all about how they do business.

 

Family practitioners have a cap on their salary. From what I understand most don't open their own clinics and are stuck at around 150 k or so per year. It would be very difficult to pay back 500 k in this situation. If I were to do this my quality of life would decrease and I would no longer have the luxuries I have now being supported by my parents and who aren't doctors but make more than these family meds. This is why I declined my Rcsi offer :)

 

 

It's hard for people to see the financial aspect of this because they get so excited to get into a med school. My friends in the Caribbean and Ireland never thought about the money so they are going to be going through a major shock in a few years when reality hits them.

 

I cannot stress how important it is to think logically.

 

I also cannot stress how important it is for you to go to a psychologist... And discuss your multi-millionaire dream with them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

why in the world are you in DO section? you seem pretty pathetic... unlike you many ppl choose medical school only because they care about ppl and want to make a contribution to their society rather than scamming ppl and forcing them to pay for dental treatments that they really dont need. good luck with your multi-speciality dentistary job

 

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with dentists that have scammed you/ been unethical.

 

but last time I checked I'm allowed to go on all the threads :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For most doctors, their goal is not to become incredibly wealthy (it would be difficult to do so anyways), but it's in everyone's interest to keep their finances afloat and live somewhat comfortably.

 

To me, eventually having $500k in loans and interest seems to be at least somewhat of a concern if the doctor makes $200,000 or less before-taxes but after-overhead. My original question was how MD, DO, DO, and DDS students in the US who end up choosing primary care cope with this debt. Owning a clinic to increase your income seems like a good option, if possible, because nobody wants to drown in debt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For most doctors, their goal is not to become incredibly wealthy (it would be difficult to do so anyways), but it's in everyone's interest to keep their finances afloat and live somewhat comfortably.

 

To me, eventually having $500k in loans and interest seems to be at least somewhat of a concern if the doctor makes $200,000 or less before-taxes but after-overhead. My original question was how MD, DO, DO, and DDS students in the US who end up choosing primary care cope with this debt. Owning a clinic to increase your income seems like a good option, if possible, because nobody wants to drown in debt.

 

You have very valid concerns. Everyone needs to think about the money aspect (it doesn't have to be their primary concern but it is important).

 

The answer, other than opening up private practices, is to live frugally especially for the first few years out of school.

 

You can make a mock financial plan and see just how frugal you would have to be and if you are happy with that then that's great! It is individualized and depends on your goals- do you want kids? a mortgage? Do you want to take vacations? see how much you could allocate for everything and don't forget RRSPs!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont understadn where you are getting 500K in loans from

Those are numbers representative of IMG schools.

 

 

SGU tuition floats around 70K preclinical years with more post (yes saba is cheaper)- not to mention the extra expenses such as flight

 

Private american schools dont come nowhere near that and can generally be placed at around 40K (yes many more cheaper schools)

 

 

--again iam trying to put ALL MAX figures here--youwill be looking at 160k for school

 

i doubt anyone would spend more than 50K in 4 years of school unless you were banging hookers weakly

 

add to the fact that standard of living is much cheaper in the US (and many of these schools are in cheap locals, esp DOs)

 

I think you will be HARD pressed to top 250-300K in loans

 

vs IMG hitting 500K

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont understadn where you are getting 500K in loans from

Those are numbers representative of IMG schools.

 

 

SGU tuition floats around 70K preclinical years with more post (yes saba is cheaper)- not to mention the extra expenses such as flight

 

Private american schools dont come nowhere near that and can generally be placed at around 40K (yes many more cheaper schools)

 

 

--again iam trying to put ALL MAX figures here--youwill be looking at 160k for school

 

i doubt anyone would spend more than 50K in 4 years of school unless you were banging hookers weakly

 

add to the fact that standard of living is much cheaper in the US (and many of these schools are in cheap locals, esp DOs)

 

I think you will be HARD pressed to top 250-300K in loans

 

vs IMG hitting 500K

 

Ya I don't understand this either. There were a few people on another thread saying how going to a US school is gonna cost you 400k. It does not add up, especially if you go to a place like Wayne and live in Detroit. MD schools are usually just under 50k in tuition and DO schools are ~5k cheaper every year. The only way you can build up 500k in debt in four years is if you live in a penthouse condo in new york for four years. 400k is probably the TOTAL price of attending UPenn or NYU dental school for 4 years, and that's still assuming living expenses cost you upwards of 100k for four years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most MD and DDS have a tuition of 50-55k/year. Out-of-state public school MD can easily be 65k/year. Cost of living can range from 15k/year to 20k/year. BU and NYU's DDS programs have an estimated total cost of almost 400k.

 

Nobody's loans plus interest will reach 500k right after they graduate, but neither will their salary reach 200k at that point. The pay during residency is only about 50k/year and a newly-trained primary care doctor will earn significantly less than 200k/year. The interest might eventually bump a typical 250-300k loan to over 400k.

 

Would it be financially burdening to choose a primary care specialty after an expensive US MD, DO, or DDS then? I'm leaning towards yes...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya I don't understand this either. There were a few people on another thread saying how going to a US school is gonna cost you 400k. It does not add up, especially if you go to a place like Wayne and live in Detroit. MD schools are usually just under 50k in tuition and DO schools are ~5k cheaper every year. The only way you can build up 500k in debt in four years is if you live in a penthouse condo in new york for four years. 400k is probably the TOTAL price of attending UPenn or NYU dental school for 4 years, and that's still assuming living expenses cost you upwards of 100k for four years.

 

The out-of-state cost of tuition plus living expenses is estimated at $85/year. None of the 30 or so US MD schools that regularly accept Canadians have a tuition of less than 50k/year, except Mayo, Vanderbilt, and Mount Sinai. All the other schools are between $48k/year to $52k/year. Interest accumulates fairly quickly if you have $300k in loans but you won't be able to pay much during residency and starting salaries for primary care specialties are relatively low.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So it seems to me that you've been applying to med school forever :P, I've seen you on the international/Irish forums, DO forums, here and SDN. You are like the Switzerland of med school application. So what are you up to these days? Going somewhere? Doing pre-reqs? 2nd undergrad degree crew?

 

 

**I don't mean the above in any offensive way, I'm genuinely curious, it's often the case that you don't find out what happened to forum posters, and what they ended up doing.

 

Ireland didn't work out. I have a family so the risk of no residency upon return is too much of a risk. Plus it seems the climate for IMGs has been changing, especially in the states. Interviewed at Queens this year and last year. Hopefully this is my year. I will be applying to DO schools and MD schools in the states come June (and of course to Cdn schools). Didn't apply to U.S. before 'cause I did not have the prereqs (first degree was humanities, second I am doing now is health sciences).

 

I have to say your advocacy for the DO degree got to me eventually. I am interested in primary care anyways and they seem pretty non trad friendly so I think it will be a good fit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The out-of-state cost of tuition plus living expenses is estimated at $85/year. None of the 30 or so US MD schools that regularly accept Canadians have a tuition of less than 50k/year, except Mayo, Vanderbilt, and Mount Sinai. All the other schools are between $48k/year to $52k/year. Interest accumulates fairly quickly if you have $300k in loans but you won't be able to pay much during residency and starting salaries for primary care specialties are relatively low.

 

yes thats why you AVOID those schools

 

just because a school accepts you for 90K-700K tuition a year, does not mean its a wise choice. OSS are not feasible, they are not ment for OSS students.

 

Majority of schools i have researched, tuition has been between 30-45K. DO at the lower end

 

Where iam going has ridiculously low cost of living and the tuition is top 3 lowest in terms of medschool.

 

I will be nowhere near canadian debts- but fairly close.

 

500K makes no sense to me unless your at sgu-where they take your money to buy rotation spots

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ireland didn't work out. I have a family so the risk of no residency upon return is too much of a risk. Plus it seems the climate for IMGs has been changing, especially in the states. Interviewed at Queens this year and last year. Hopefully this is my year. I will be applying to DO schools and MD schools in the states come June (and of course to Cdn schools). Didn't apply to U.S. before 'cause I did not have the prereqs (first degree was humanities, second I am doing now is health sciences).

 

I have to say your advocacy for the DO degree got to me eventually. I am interested in primary care anyways and they seem pretty non trad friendly so I think it will be a good fit.

 

Cool. I hope you get into Queen's! It's a win - win, if you go DO, we get another one for the cause. If you get into a MD school, we get another MD who knows what DOs are all about :) Good luck dude.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you get into a MD school, we get another MD who knows what DOs are all about

 

I see that you're a part of the Canadian Osteopathic Medical Student Association. DO and the benefits of the DO degree are largely unknown in Canada, especially outside of Toronto and Vancouver, but even including those two cities. Has the organization considered talking to premeds at large Canadian universities to promote DO as an alternative route to medicine? I'm sure that many future doctors would greatly benefit from this. I'll be an MD, but I personally feel that the DO degree should receive greater recognition in Canada, through expanded membership and subsequent lobbying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see that you're a part of the Canadian Osteopathic Medical Student Association. DO and the benefits of the DO degree are largely unknown in Canada, especially outside of Toronto and Vancouver, but even including those two cities. Has the organization considered talking to premeds at large Canadian universities to promote DO as an alternative route to medicine? I'm sure that many future doctors would greatly benefit from this. I'll be an MD, but I personally feel that the DO degree should receive greater recognition in Canada, through expanded membership and subsequent lobbying.

 

We have a few things coming up. Will make a formal announcement in a few weeks :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Arztin unpinned and pinned this topic

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...