I am coming into this forum a bit late but nevertheless the topic is interesting and seems to draw out polarized outlooks from both traditional and nontraditional perspectives.

Although at the present time I am personally reluctant to attempt tackling the online format choosing to alleviate some headaches in part because I am unwilling to cough up $68,000 only to be denied a chance to sit for the USMLE, I do have three friends that did in fact take the online path.

One was already a physician assistant here at Johns Hopkins. Upon completion of the MD program in the Carribean, he landed an internal medicine residency in Michigan. The two other friends as with myself were paramedics with a local fire department. One went to IUHS and is doing his clinical rotations now in NY. The other is currently an anesthesia resident at Yale University.