DO school in home state vs MD OOS
I’m a mature/non-trad applicant in my early 30s with a pharmacist background. Medicine has honestly always been somewhere in the back of my mind, but over the last couple years it’s moved way more to the front.
The thing is, my life situation now is very different than a typical applicant. I have a well-paying career, a wife/kids, and two mortgages. I’m not really in a position where I want to uproot my entire family and move across the country chasing an acceptance somewhere random. I know people online love to say “if you really wanted it you’d go anywhere” but realistically geography matters for some people, especially once you’re older and have dependents and also family help around to take care of them.
So my question is kind of specific to Arizona.
I know there are 4 MD programs here (UofA Tucson, UofA Phoenix, Mayo, Creighton Phoenix) and 3 DO schools (2 established + 1 newer one). Mayo is realistically not happening for me and ASU’s program doesn’t really align with what I’m looking for either.
I don’t have a competitive GPA, but I do have a 516 MCAT and what I think are pretty strong experiences from working as a pharmacist in many tiers of health and in healthcare leadership/operations roles.
Here is my wrestle:
If my realistic in-state options end up being DO vs potentially no acceptance at all from the Arizona MD schools, does choosing DO instate make more sense than going OOS for an MD ? Especially when staying in-state would probably save me a significant amount financially since I wouldn’t really need to relocate/pay additional housing costs.
I enjoyed shadowing in obstetrics and anesthesia, and both seem to match well in AZ as well for DO.
I know this is ultimately personal, but I’m curious how other older non-trad applicants thought through the MD vs DO decision when family/location became a major factor.