Sorry, I didn't read the entire thing but briefly skim through it. What was wrong with it...??
Briefly reading it, there just seems to be a lot of inaccurate information. Not necessarily putting down the degree, just inaccurate.
1. He says 6400/16500 is better odds than 20000/48000 (all numbers he included in the article), which from a strict even probability assessment is just wrong. Realistically the odds based on the numbers are probably within error of each other. Not to say that an individual with lower stats wouldn't have an easier time getting into a DO school than an MD school, but that has more to do with the differences in the applicant population rather than the straight numbers like he implies.
2. He keeps calling it osteopathy and osteopaths, which quite frankly are outdated and to some degree insulting terms.
3. He's completely wrong about this: "of the seven new medical institutions that have opened or will open up in the next few years, all of them are osteopathic in nature"
4. Also wrong about this if we use his numbers: "Osteopathic schools now matriculate around 22% of American medical school graduates". That said 22% might be the actual number, if we're talking about a class 4 yrs ago.
5. In one spot he says US MD matriculants are 20,000, in another he says 23,000. The former is more accurate.
6. This is just a fallacy: "These newly opened or opening schools will be able to...close the gap between the supply and demand of physicians in this country." But it's one perpetuated by a lot of people. We don't have an issue with the supply of medical graduates applying for residency. There are more than enough applicants to fill every residency more than 1.5 times.
7. "As a matter of fact, last year, nearly three-quarters of osteopathic doctors were 'matched' with a residency, while the same was true for only around half of traditional medical students." What? Actually if we're talking about matching the complete number is actually around 85-90%. Obviously he's talking about matching into specifically an ACGME residency. Also, what does he mean by "traditional medical students"? Based on the numbers, he must mean international medical students, because even if you're talking about all "traditional" medical applicants for residency the stat is still something like 70%.
8. "regular medical school" - seriously?
9. Not really sure we can fault him for this, since it's what COMs advertise themselves, but the holistic philosophy isn't really a difference between MD and DO, its just that it was a primary focus of DOs from the beginning.
Overall just a poorly written article.
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