Besides the philosophy of the hospitals in question, are there many differences. Do regular hospitals look down on DO students in rotation or residency? Are there any hidden disadvantages to being a DO student in regular hospital (as opposed to being an MD student). I don't see a reason for any discrepencies but the real world isn't always as clear-cut. Thanks.

Danny

The only problem you should have in an allopathic hospital is that you
won't be allowed to use any OMT on patients (unless you have a DO
attending which, although uncommon, does happen). The reason is that
since MD's aren't trained in this area they can't supervise you and
patients might be harmed as a result. Also, rest assured that you will
be treated with as much respect, or as little, as you deserve. You
will be judged on your technical skills, patient care, and interactions
with staff. We've all heard the "rumors" about how DO's are treated and
I'm sure that in the past they were treated badly, but those days are over.
I've had nothing but positive feedback from the MD's I've spoken with.
They don't care what initials come after your name, they care about what
kind of physician you are.

Deb

Contrary to Deb's post, I have found MD's to be MORE open to OMT than DO attendings. In general, attendings do not know if you are a DO or MD student and rarely care. MS4.

Is it legal for a DO student trained in OMT to perform this treatment on a patient under a MD attending if the student is either on rotations, internship or residency?

While the possibly is vanishingly small, if an adverse event followed secondary to OMT, and the patient sued, then the lawyers would have a heyday with the fact that a DO student performed OMT on an inpatient service and was not properly supervised.

OMT is considered a medical intervention. It has its own CPT codes and gets reimbursed by third-party payors.

Lawyers: Gotta love'em.

--dave

[This message has been edited by drusso (edited 12-10-98).]

Here is another interesting take on the OMT issue. I (and other classmates) have actually been asked to perform OMT on my preceptor (an MD).

This is an interesting thread.

The only physicians that haved asked me to perform OMT on a patient are MDs!

In-fact, I have never seen a DO perform manipulation in a hospital setting. I think that's because: 1. hospital beds are miserable for manipulation 2. It's time consuming 3. Lack of training in the manipulative treatment of hospitalized patients, and 4. Most DOs probably don't keep-up their OMT skills.

Please expand more on the comment that most DOs not keeping up their OMT skills.

Carrie

Well, like any skill, a person needs to perform it on a regular basis to keep proficient (sp?). A DO should probably do manipulation on a daily basis if they expect to keep up their skills.

And if you want to be really good at manipulation, you probably should do it on most of your patients. Those physicians that have specialized in manipulation have amazing talent, which was honed over thousands of patients.