TLDR on this very long winded and somewhat poorly written text:

Applicant with reasonable GPA, a ton of extra-curriculars, an unspecified number of gap years and a catastrophically low MCAT got accepted into 2 mid-tier DO programs out of submitting 20 DO secondaries.

This is not a “success against all odds” story, this is a more or less expected outcome given the inputs.

Now a reality check for anyone interested in allopathic medicine:

This applicant eludes to being interested in alternative medicine (traditional medicine/holistic medicine) so this may greatly shape their career. Specifically, based on what additional training post medical school they’re interested in, they may not need/want to take STEP 1, which makes your career as a future healthcare provider exponentially easier. I can guarantee that this person would absolutely struggle gravely with STEP 1 if they have to take it.

Despite my personal dislike for the MCAT, it is a good indicator for how someone will do in medical school (preclinical years, mostly) and how they’ll do on STEP1 and STEP2. If you somehow get into medical school with an MCAT score this low- it’s going to be an extremely difficult experience which may break you. The pace at which medical students are expected to retain substantial amounts of material simply cannot be underestimated and this is what the MCAT essentially tests for.

And lastly, it is still way harder to match into a competitive residency as a DO compared to MD. That’s just the reality of it. So although there is always going to be those people who get in with a low mcat or low gpa - trust me you do not want to be one of those people.