This came up this weekend for me. My buddy goes to KCUMB and I went to visit him for the weekend. We got to talking about OMT and how he hates it for the most part. We also talked about how the curriculum is essentially the same for both schools.
My position - the degree thing is absurd. DO is not an MD+ degree as has been implied in other instances. I don't say this to bash on DO's or imply that practicing DOs are somehow the ******ed younger cousin of MD's (I reserve that for PA's and will change that once they hit a positive/negative outcome ration >1 in my own personal anecdotal experience). If I were in a DO school (and I did apply to a few, so please don't mistake my pragmatism for DO hating) I would see the motion as disingenuous and insulting. Two separate but functionally equal degrees do not need "re-branding". To do so strikes me as a compensatory or defense mechanism by people who are reacting to insecurities.
DO as a degree denotes a separate tract with separate measures of success to MD. The fact that they are largely similar does not change the fact that they are distinct. Nor is it unusual for degrees (espeically in healthcare) to overlap. The implication of MD/DO for someone graduating from an osteopathic school are no different than the DPN introducing themselves as Dr. whoever.
DO's inception and growing stature is, IMO, a result of physician shortage and an increased pool of people granted an additional opportunity to become physicians in a limited MD class size. The lower mcat scores and grades are indicative of a "second chance" system. and since this has blown up in other cases - this does not mean that DO's as a whole are less capable than MD's and a little piece of me dies every time I have to reiterate that in anticipation of the people who get immediately offended. I don't know the numbers but I think any student would be lying to themselves if they didnt admit that the DO student body was made up of a mix of people who
- Truly ascribe to the DO philosophy and would go DO even with a 4.0 and 45mcat
- Did well in school but came to medicine late and dont have the token MDapps resume
- Had a few extenuating circumstances in school or in tests and whose ability is not well indicated by their scores
- people who struggled in undergrad compared to other applicants and this is reflected in their scores
- People who did not fare well by MD AdComs and are going DO because u just cant put baby in a corn... er.... cant keep them down
- those who anticipated not faring well in MD admissions and cut their losses and went DO
- and those who were rightfully excluded by MD schools and will likely not fare well in DO school either
Most of these types of people will be in allopathic schools as well (where applicable). And again, none of this list indicates that DO students are less capable as a result of being DO student (OUCH! my little piece of me!....) These statements are on averages, and if you understand averages and the concept of standard deviation you'd see there is nothing offensive in there about DO students.
The point that I have brought up in these sorts of threads is that it strikes me as completely nonsensical to say the MD+ or other such arguments (the PA student who insisted their curriculum was just as deep but done in shorter order than physicians for example). But this logical progression works for anything including commercial jobs.... really it can be applied to anything people compete over
1. Two schools select a different average range of applicants. one higher one lower (i.e. scores)
2. The school who selects lower has a component of its curriculum to lend distinction from the other.
3. Students in the school with higher selection are pushed and taxed to a median limit of their abilities.
4. the school with the lower selection claims to provide the training of the higher selective school with additional skill sets.
These statements cannot all be true and coexist. We have a conflict that says
decreased selection yield
increased results. We have to make an assumption for all of these to be true. (and remember.... the point addressed is not MD>DO. the point being made is that DO>MD is false.... and there went another piece... SND diet plan anyone?)
One of these must be true:
1. GPA and MCAT have no bearing on academic ability across a large sample size - resolving the conflict between selection and outcome. if these numbers are in reality a crapshoot then any comparison is bunk. if they have any predictive value however.... see below
(ive already addressed the subset with extenuating circumstances or situations - I know several people doing DO school that didn't do so hot on either one of these and I would have no problem letting them be my doctor some day.)
2. The additional curricular component serves as a bridge in the differences in the programs - resolving the conflict of selection and outcome again (claims 2 and 4). This is to say that OMT is worth 4-6MCAT points or .3GPA. This is ridiculous, but hey, we are just going over every option in a logical progression
3. The lower school does not provide the same rigor as the higher school - thus negating part of claim 4 and resolving the conflict between selection and outcome. If this were true, not that it is, it would explain a difference in incoming selection criteria with an absence of difference in exit statistics
4. both schools provide the same gruel, but the lower school has a higher fail or unmatch rate - resolving the conflict of selection and outcome, claims 1, 2, and 4, and making it possible that the OMT component does constitute an addition.
Again, i dont know if any of these things are true.. I am just saying that we need to boil down some simple truths here and extrapolate.
All of this is to address the OP: a combined MD/DO degree is ridiculous. It is no different than my self getting an MD/PA degree. Overlap in curriculum is not sufficient to bestow a new degree.
HOWEVER: if we did want to entertain this idea in a manner that is not stroking a bruised ego or serving as masturbatory material for someone with insecurities:
Let's say we do it - Then we need to standardize certification. COMLEX alone will not be sufficient. In addition, if we say that the core curriculum of DO and MD are similar enough to give an additional designation via OMT to DO, then we are VASTLY reducing the importance of a DO-only degree. It basically becomes the equivalent of an undergrad int phys major with a "focus" in something random. nobody cares that you took 2 extra classes to "focus"..
(if anyone was butthurt by the above please read below and it should clarify the points and my actual position here)
So in short, I am actually open to the idea on the condition that DO schools and MD schools become indistinguishable in terms of regulation, selection, certification, ect... (do DO schools increase stats to meet MD? do we drift towards the middle? Do some schools go up while others down? i'm not suggesting we implement some sort of 29 minimum mcat rule unless you are URM)
The OMT distinction between MD and DO is antiquated at best. Most DO's do not use OMT in their practice and it has largely become a token to keep people happy who provide funding and accreditation - monetary pressure is not a good reason to adhere to a system. Given the comments by many of the DO students, I don't think many of you would be too upset if all of a sudden some higherup dictated that ALL DO students are going to get an MD at the end of training and OMT is optional and carries a gold star in your file but nothing more.
The irony of this situation is what is really implied by the proposition of an MD/DO combined degree. By suggesting it the proponents admit a back-door component to the discipline and selection process. I would find this offensive if I were a DO student. If we accept equal clinical relevance of both degrees in the current system, any talk of mixing is a result of an inferiority complex getting out and i cannot think of anything else that might motivate such talk. On the flip side... OMT, from my understanding, gets mixed in with other clinical courses with a lab a couple times a week. Would anyone here feel comfortable with me claiming MD/DO after graduating md school if I went and took a few dedicated OMT courses?