Difference between DO and MD?

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random1234

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Hey guys, I am not trying to start a flame war at all, I really just want to know if there are any actual perceivable differences in being a DO physician vs an MD physician in the United States. My research so far has pointed at "no", but my parents are physicians (immigrants) who actually work in rural healthcare alongside DOs but have such a stigma against me applying to DO schools (even though my mom's OB physician was a DO :confused:). When I ask them why they have such a negative reaction to me applying to DO they say they are not perceived well in the medical community and leave it at that. Can someone please elaborate on what they mean or is this all a bunch of BS ?
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DO schools are easier to get into, and DO's study OMM in medical school.

That's it.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
random1234 said:
Hey guys, I am not trying to start a flame war at all, I really just want to know if there are any actual perceivable differences in being a DO physician vs an MD physician in the United States. My research so far has pointed at "no", but my parents are physicians (immigrants) who actually work in rural healthcare alongside DOs but have such a stigma against me applying to DO schools (even though my mom's OB physician was a DO :confused:). When I ask them why they have such a negative reaction to me applying to DO they say they are not perceived well in the medical community and leave it at that. Can someone please elaborate on what they mean or is this all a bunch of BS ?
Click to expand...

Since you've been registered in July 2012, it's self-explanatory that you were aware of the search function and numerous threads discussing this topic. I'll let you do the investigation.

If you're a troll (99% likely you are), don't let the hammer hit you too hard on the way out.
 
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to troll. Every thread I read on this is 40 pages long and most of it is reduced to name calling. I was hoping to get a response from an actual DO if h/she perceives a difference in the medical community.
 
random1234 said:
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to troll. Every thread I read on this is 40 pages long and most of it is reduced to name calling. I was hoping to get a response from an actual DO if h/she perceives a difference in the medical community.
Click to expand...

When you clicked "New Thread," you are aware that this is literally the screen you saw, right?

mhuiyf.png


Strong work OP.
 
OK. Got the message. It has been answered before. 2 reasons to not post about that anymore:

1) He's a troll and he wants you to post or

2) He actually wants some help, in which case you're just wasting his and your own time.

:thumbup:
 
Rik1111 said:
OK. Got the message. It has been answered before. 2 reasons to not post about that anymore:

1) He's a troll and he wants you to post or

2) He actually wants some help, in which case you're just wasting his and your own time.

:thumbup:
Click to expand...

1) That's likely the case here.

2) He could use the search function, or as sinombre pointed out, used the recommended threads before actually creating his own thread.

Search function is there. On the upper-right hand corner. Type in the query. Find all the threads answering your question. Relax.
 
Basically, DOs are cretinous little slugs that have to fight with the janitorial staff for jobs. MDs are the complete opposite: they are universally rich, powerful, handsome, and hardworking.
 
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Here's a summary of what you would have found....

- Salary diff: none

- Chance of highly competitive ACGME residency: significantly lower than MD

- Chance at all other residencies: good chance

- Chance at AOA residencies: essentially 100% in almost all fields - including opportunities the surg sub-specialties, etc if competitive

- Chance at "top-tier" residency (Hopkins, MGH, Columbia, etc): lower than MD and essentially not going to happen, but this doesn't happen for many MDs either

- Chance at academic medicine career: reduced but very much possible

- Chance at being a practicing physician with specialty of choice in US: very probable


close thread :bang:
 
DrEnderW said:
Here's a summary of what you would have found....

- Salary diff: none

- Chance of highly competitive ACGME residency: significantly lower than MD

- Chance at all other residencies: good chance

- Chance at AOA residencies: essentially 100% in almost all fields - including opportunities the surg sub-specialties, etc if competitive

- Chance at "top-tier" residency (Hopkins, MGH, Columbia, etc): lower than MD and essentially not going to happen, but this doesn't happen for many MDs either

- Chance at academic medicine career: reduced but very much possible

- Chance at being a practicing physician with specialty of choice in US: very probable


close thread :bang:
Click to expand...

If OP was serious....This.

However, Since he = Troll......commence GIF war.
 
AMCAS really needs to include a question about whether or not an applicant had ever started an MD/DO thread. Insta-reject
 
bigalow123 said:
Hence, when people think of a DO, they think of someone who failed to get into a MD school and took an indirect/easier path to getting the same practice rights.
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When *some* people think of DO, they see this. When others do, they just keep on going about their lives. In the coming years, the ACGME and AOA residencies are going to be combined, so it doesn't particularly matter. DOs still go to medical school, still have to learn the same things MDs do in order to be licensed physicians.
 
My pulmonologist is a D.O. Our interventional cardiology fellow this year is a D.O. The two of them made me feel a lot better about applying D.O. because it is apparent that it limits you less now than it used to.
 
Agent B said:
1) That's likely the case here.

2) He could use the search function, or as sinombre pointed out, used the recommended threads before actually creating his own thread.

Search function is there. On the upper-right hand corner. Type in the query. Find all the threads answering your question. Relax.
Click to expand...

lol, search function.

Welcome to the TL;DR generation where people don't read stickies, don't use search functions, and expect everyone to answer your questions for you while putting in the tiniest amount of effort possible. Its going to be a solid generation of middle managers followed by several generations of mediocre, idiocracy-esque people if there isn't conscious effort to try harder.

We're all guilty of it to a certain extent, so this isn't an attack to OP, just an observation I've seen in myself and others.
 
Slickyfats said:
lol, search function.

Welcome to the TL;DR generation where people don't read stickies, don't use search functions, and expect everyone to answer your questions for you while putting in the tiniest amount of effort possible. Its going to be a solid generation of middle managers followed by several generations of mediocre, idiocracy-esque people if there isn't conscious effort to try harder.

We're all guilty of it to a certain extent, so this isn't an attack to OP, just an observation I've seen in myself and others.
Click to expand...

It reflects today's society of getting free handouts rather than actually working hard to acquire them. I thought that was destroyed in the 90s, but somehow it came back. Unfortunate.
 
bigalow123 said:
I guess my biggest issue with D.O is they try to differentiate themselves from M.D via OMM, but not 1 single DO I know actually uses OMM....so in reality there is no difference between MD or DO, just that DO is much easier to get into.

Hence, when people think of a DO, they think of someone who failed to get into a MD school and took an indirect/easier path to getting the same practice rights.
Click to expand...

But how is that different from people going to the islands? Not many people care when they hear that their physician didn't go to a US school (hell my FM doc went to SGU and he's a fine doctor). So most patients don't really care (or even know) as long as you're licensed in the US to practice.

Now if you meant ACGME P.D's, that's a whole other issue that does sadly happen.
 
random1234 said:
Hey guys, I am not trying to start a flame war at all, I really just want to know if there are any actual perceivable differences in being a DO physician vs an MD physician in the United States. My research so far has pointed at "no", but my parents are physicians (immigrants) who actually work in rural healthcare alongside DOs but have such a stigma against me applying to DO schools (even though my mom's OB physician was a DO :confused:). When I ask them why they have such a negative reaction to me applying to DO they say they are not perceived well in the medical community and leave it at that. Can someone please elaborate on what they mean or is this all a bunch of BS ?
Click to expand...

Get out
 
bigalow123 said:
Relax guy, I didn't understand what he meant by ACGME P.D's. If anything, wouldn't ACGME program director's be more lenient with DO's since they would go by USMLE scores and be a LOT more objective?

and regarding credibility...wat?
Click to expand...

COMLEX happens.
 
mcloaf said:
I was pretty impressed when I checked out the "Educational Resources" tab. They have 2 libraries AND some organizations.
Click to expand...

One of those libraries is the "Jerry Falwell" library.


Jerry Falwell, the evangelical preacher who said gays and lesbians caused 9/11 et al.
 
Differences (some of them):

DOs take one extra required class that is not required of MDs.

DOs are allowed to apply to MD residencies, as well as, DO residencies. MDs cannot enter into a DO residency.

DOs take the COMLEX. And have the option of taking the USMLE as well. MDs take the USMLE, not the COMLEX.

Most, if not all, MD schools require a higher GPA and MCAT score than DO schools.

Most, but not all, MD schools average all grades, while most DO schools have grade replacement policies.

In my personal experience, DO admissions offices answer the phone more frequently and seemed happy to help, as opposed to just willing to. When I called, MD admissions offices, most of the time I got an answering machine saying to check their website and email them because they were too busy to answer, and if someone did answer they couldn't wait for me to hang up. The most decent MD admissions office I spoke with was UCSF Medical. They were efficient, yet also pleasant to work with.

There are some areas of the country with mainly MDs like Boston Proper. (I looked into the likelihood of getting a residency and career in Boston Proper, if I were to go the DO route because I really like some DO schools (their missions, etc.). Results here sum up my findings: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1015009&highlight=boston )

A very common, yet possibly offensive, assumption is that the only reason anyone would ever become a DO is an inability to get into an MD program. Ergo, all MDs must be smarter than every last DO.

What I'm not sure about:

I'm not sure if DOs have the same chance of getting into MD residencies as MDs.

I am also not sure if DOs have the same chance of getting to any specialty as an MD.

I am still not clear about what the DO philosophy is suppose to mean in simple straight-forward words. Please inform me if you figure it out.

I hope you consider this to be a fair, unbiased, and informative list.
 
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Slickyfats said:
l Its going to be a solid generation of middle managers followed by several generations of mediocre, idiocracy-esque people if there isn't conscious effort to try harder.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of Plato's Republic: An aristocracy that deteriorates to a timocracy that deteriorates to a oligarchy...democracy...tyranny...etc.

OP: I wonder if and when they will rename all doctors with the same initials; no more MD or DO.
 
must take a special type of war criminal to have all your posts deleted, and the only evidence to your existence in the shadows of quotes
 
Gauss44 said:
Differences (some of them):

DOs take one extra required class that is not required of MDs.

DOs are allowed to apply to MD residencies, as well as, DO residencies. MDs cannot enter into a DO residency.

DOs take the COMLEX. And have the option of taking the USMLE as well. MDs take the USMLE, not the COMLEX.

Most, if not all, MD schools require a higher GPA and MCAT score than DO schools.

Most, but not all, MD schools average all grades, while most DO schools have grade replacement policies.

In my personal experience, DO admissions offices answer the phone more frequently and seemed happy to help, as opposed to just willing to. When I called, MD admissions offices, most of the time I got an answering machine saying to check their website and email them because they were too busy to answer, and if someone did answer they couldn't wait for me to hang up. The most decent MD admissions office I spoke with was UCSF Medical. They were efficient, yet also pleasant to work with.

There are some areas of the country with mainly MDs like Boston Proper. (I looked into the likelihood of getting a residency and career in Boston Proper, if I were to go the DO route because I really like some DO schools (their missions, etc.). Results here sum up my findings: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1015009&highlight=boston )

A very common, yet possibly offensive, assumption is that the only reason anyone would ever become a DO is an inability to get into an MD program. Ergo, all MDs must be smarter than every last DO.
Click to expand...

This seems to be a fairly accurate list. I know that this isn't characteristic of everyone, but there are still a good deal of people who hate on DO, which I sincerely don't get.

One of the biggest complaints I've seen in MD vs DO threads is the disparity of stats between the two degrees. However it should be noted that among those accepted to medical school, there is a broad range of stats, even in exclusively allopathic schools (i.e. some state schools have gpa/MCAT averages as low as 3.5 and 26, and schools like WashU with 3.9 and 38). So if the disparity of stats is what is bothersome, at what point do you draw the line, since the range is broad and there are a good number of DO and MD schools with similar class profiles.

I'm not going to pretend I don't know that 99% of people would go MD over DO, but I am aware that a good number of DO students probably could have gone MD if they were in a location with one or multiple state schools. Here's an n=1, but I had a friend with a 3.8, 31 MCAT, and good ECs go DO simply because my state school is very competitive and has one of the smallest class sizes.

Basically, I'm applying DO and that's probably where I'm going to go. I just don't get why all the hate.
 
O Grady said:
This seems to be a fairly accurate list. I know that this isn't characteristic of everyone, but there are still a good deal of people who hate on DO, which I sincerely don't get.

One of the biggest complaints I've seen in MD vs DO threads is the disparity of stats between the two degrees. However it should be noted that among those accepted to medical school, there is a broad range of stats, even in exclusively allopathic schools (i.e. some state schools have gpa/MCAT averages as low as 3.5 and 26, and schools like WashU with 3.9 and 38). So if the disparity of stats is what is bothersome, at what point do you draw the line, since the range is broad and there are a good number of DO and MD schools with similar class profiles.

I'm not going to pretend I don't know that 99% of people would go MD over DO, but I am aware that a good number of DO students probably could have gone MD if they were in a location with one or multiple state schools. Here's an n=1, but I had a friend with a 3.8, 31 MCAT, and good ECs go DO simply because my state school is very competitive and has one of the smallest class sizes.

Basically, I'm applying DO and that's probably where I'm going to go. I just don't get why all the hate.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with what you said about the stats. Some state MD schools have lower stats than the well-established DO. It sucks for those, including me, that come from a state with very competitive state schools.
 
bionerd89 said:
I totally agree with what you said about the stats. Some state MD schools have lower stats than the well-established DO. It sucks for those, including me, that come from a state with very competitive state schools.
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On the bright side it seems as though the trend - at least in New England - is to make students more aware of the differences and similarities between MD and DO programs. For example, when I was an undergraduate, my school never invited DO speakers for admissions purposes. Last year I know at least one speaker came to talk about DO programs, and this year I've already heard of two such presentations that have happened at my alma mater.

I hope this is the case around other parts of the country.
 
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