Recognizability of the DO degree

[Mr Kenobi]

Here is the AOA's website. I actually think they do a very good job on this page. I just don't know how many people look on the AOA's website.

http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-dos/what-is-a-do/Pages/default.aspx

Sure...problem is no one besides us knows what the AOA is. Here are some excerpts from the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine article on Wikipedia. This is what people see when they first google the degree.

One notable difference between D.O. and M.D. training is that D.O. training adds 300–500 hours studying philosophically based techniques for hands-on manipulation of the human musculoskeletal system. These techniques, known as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM),[1] have been criticized as "pseudoscientific".[15][16]"

However, D.O. schools provide an additional 300 – 500 hours in the study of hands-on manual medicine and the body's musculoskeletal system, which is referred to as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM).[1] The D.O. physician Bryan E. Bledsoe, a professor of emergency medicine, has written disparagingly of this element of D.O. training. He characterized its foundations as pseudoscientific and asked "why members of the osteopathic medical profession continue to teach an outdated and ineffective system of healthcare to undergraduate osteopathic medical students"?[15]

In 2003 Quackwatch published an article which stated that "although most DOs offer competent care, the percentage involved in dubious practices appears to be higher than that of [MDs]"; in particular, Quackwatch characterized some types of cranial therapy as "dubious".[31] In 2010, Steven Salzberg wrote that although he considered some D.Os. to be very good doctors, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) was promoted as "the element that makes DOs 'special'" and that it amounted to no more than "'extra' training in pseudoscientific practices".[16]

Quackwatch, psuedoscience, outdated and ineffective, dubious...not the key words you want people to see when they are trying to figure out what exactly your degree means.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Bea5T]

I'm starting to wonder how much time around "lay" people you guys spend

 

[JimmyB123]

That's the catch-22. Does the average person even grasp what "holistic" means in a given context? Assuming ignorance or indifference whether it's present or not in the individual patient is the proverbial slippery slope. Is that the expectation now?

Dude i don't even know what holistic means and I BSed it in all my interviews

Lol jk

No but really

 

[trev5150]

Dude i don't even know what holistic means and I BSed it in all my interviews

Lol jk

No but really

Whatever you got it done.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

I'm starting to wonder how much time around "lay" people you guys spend

You one of those people who didn't make any friends until you got to medical school?

 

[trev5150]

The lay person sees "holistic" and immediately equates it to alt med. I can guarantee this with the same assuredness that my OMM faculty guarantees the effectivness of cranial osteopathy. We know holistic actually means looking at the whole...all encompassing...etc. Your average person does not.

Agreed. Wanna run down to Toshi Station for some power converters sometime? Also, I want my dad's lightsaber back. He murdered 30 kids with it, so it has sentimental value.

 

[trev5150]

Correction: should read "I just don't know how many people know the AOA actually exists."

Inversely proportional to the number of people that think the AMA has statutory authority over anything.

 

[Bea5T]

You one of those people who didn't make any friends until you got to medical school?

Or maybe I must have been kicking it with the wrong crowd. I'll admit the neuroticism and obsession involving credentials and science based evidence wasn't quite.....a subject of discussion with people outside of medical school.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

Or maybe I must have been kicking it with the wrong crowd. I'll admit the neuroticism and obsession involving credentials and science based evidence wasn't quite.....a subject of discussion with people outside of medical school.

I approve of any reply that comes in gif form... but just so we are clear, a "lay"person would never understand this gif

 

[PlasticBag]

Given how the majority of google-age people rely on wikipedia, has anyone tried to change the wiki entry on osteopathic medicine? I'm not sure how it's done but I always thought anyone can contribute if they cite appropriate research studies? Maybe adding some section on OMM research and "famous DOs", or something like that, would help change the negative perception.

 

[Jamers]

Well, I didn't want to respond, annnd I wanted to delete this buuuut I guess I can't? I feel like an ol man using the computer for the first time.

Anyways, now that I got you here, I respond with Dr. Jamers

And yes, you can try to edit the wiki but they usually get changed pretty quickly. The BEST wiki edits are for the band Nickleback. They often get changed and edited and then changed again.

But yeah...

 

[803]

Why doesn't the AOA do some public awareness marketing in various forms of media about the mission of the field?

 

[JGimpel]

Most mid-levels know better than to introduce themselves as any kind of doctor to a patient. It's usually their first name, from what I've seen in many different environments.

Thanks to the AOA and many other reasons, most people have no idea of what a DO is and if you introduce yourself as the physician taking care of them, they'll know what you mean. Only MDs and DOs can use that title, so spend the extra few seconds and syllables to say you're a physician every time.

I've never seen a DO I'm working with offer "OMT/OPP" since most patients also don't know what that is. You don't have informed consent if you throw a few letters at a patient then start popping their ribs.

DOs get OMM education in addition to all of the education that MDs get and that's as far as anyone should take it. If most DOs drop OMM/OPP the minute they go into residency, which they do, we can't make the argument that we're better than an MD because of that additional training. Why anyone would keep pushing the "separate but equal/better" mantra once they graduate from medical school and no longer have to is beyond me.

The MCAT/GPA's are close for admission to DO vs. MD school, and even if they weren't, I'm sure most patients wouldn't mind if the medical school their doctor comes from gave them a reasonable amount of credit for being more "human" than another school that would strictly focus on stats for admission.

I'm am a licensed physician, and a proud DO as I always have been. If any patient needs to know any more, I'll tell them, but they usually know within the first 24 hours of me admitting them if I'm a good doctor or not.

COCA is allowing our value to go down by allowing so many schools to open up with 250+ students per class and we'll not only be treated as second class citizens, but also devalued soon the way that lawyers are from their own glut of people graduating. I suggest we worry about that first.

 

[AnonymousD.O.]

"O, so can you specialize in anything you want?"

 

[JustPlainBill]

I haven't bothered to read the whole thread as it seems to be somewhat a rehash of a topic that comes around every few years -- but the OP did bring up an interesting twist with the NPs going bat**** trying to be "doctors" -- and now it appears CRNA's are getting into the act --- This tends to make me despise them all the more -- my favorite line is "Everyone wants to be a doctor but no one wants to go to medical school" -- but I digress --

So -- I did have a situation at Cook Children's in Ft. Worth that ticked me off when I was a student -- we had an attending in the 24 hour obs unit of the ER that I guess was getting in touch with his softer/gentler side -- made us watch a movie titled,"The Doctor" -- a B grade film about a physician who's diagnosed with cancer or something and how he feels about being treated as a patient -- I guess it was designed to make us more sympathetic to patients -- anyway, there was an RN working on the floor who had a DNP. She always wore a lab coat with her creds on it with the appropriate "doctor" accoutrements -- so one day we walk into the patient's room in the obs area and this physician introduces everyone -- med students, patient care person, himself and then "This is doctor xyz" indicating the RN. There was no move to clarify that this was Nurse with a doctorate, not a physician. In that setting, I felt it may have confused the patient and their family into thinking this person was a physician with all the requisite training that goes into it. It bothered me.

There was another time when we had a med student that did something similar. Our school used short lab coats to designate us as students, not residents/physicians. This person was at an off-site location for their rotations and actually went out and bought a longer lab coat, did not correct patients when they called them "doctor" and offered advice/treatment plans to the patients without ever telling them," I'm a med student" to my knowledge. Got slapped down pretty hard by the intern and then later got talked to by the Dean.

Personally, I introduce myself as "Dr. JustPlainBill" and leave it at that. If I'm introducing a midlevel, I introduce them as PA or NP whatever -- those are the creds they've earned. If they want to be physicians, there's this thing called med school that they can try to get into....

sorry, hot button issue with me -- having worked with NPs/midwives in my residency who were real bozos.

 

[user3]

COCA is allowing our value to go down by allowing so many schools to open up with 250+ students per class and we'll not only be treated as second class citizens, but also devalued soon the way that lawyers are from their own glut of people graduating. I suggest we worry about that first.

I agree that something needs to be done, but I also feel that there far more serious problems facing medicine that will, in the end, have far more profound effects our future careers than MD vs DO accreditation.

Reading in most of the specialty forums, I see constant concerns regarding reimbursement cuts, corporate medicine, end of private practice, end of FFS, possible collapse of private health insurance industry due to healthcare reform, liability issues, etc and how bleak medicine's future looks.

I don't argue that standards for DO schools probably need improvement, but don't you feel that these other matters will be of far more significance for our careers in the end?

 

[IAmNotaRobot]

I agree that something needs to be done, but I also feel that there far more serious problems facing medicine that will, in the end, have far more profound effects our future careers than MD vs DO accreditation.

Reading in most of the specialty forums, I see constant concerns regarding reimbursement cuts, corporate medicine, end of private practice, end of FFS, possible collapse of private health insurance industry due to healthcare reform, liability issues, etc and how bleak medicine's future looks.

I don't argue that standards for DO schools probably need improvement, but don't you feel that these other matters will be of far more significance for our careers in the end?

You're right. Anyone with a say is a physician. And probably making an acceptable amount of money > Making sure the punks do better in school. I expect little to change if anything.

 

[MrChance2]

If you are already a medical student I don't see why more DO schools is a big deal. You won't be competing with them for residency since you're a few years ahead. They won't saturate the market once we are all doctors because residency positions are still somewhat static. If anything more DOs will make the public more aware of DOs, perhaps competing with OMM docs but as you said that is a small % of DOs. It will also hurt future students chances of matching which I see as the primary negative. Can someone explain the other view of this?

 

[Mjolner]

If you are already a medical student I don't see why more DO schools is a big deal. You won't be competing with them for residency since you're a few years ahead. They won't saturate the market once we are all doctors because residency positions are still somewhat static. If anything more DOs will make the public more aware of DOs, perhaps competing with OMM docs but as you said that is a small % of DOs. It will also hurt future students chances of matching which I see as the primary negative. Can someone explain the other view of this?

I see a danger if this continues out of hand. It could cause the standards for acceptance to drop so low that it hurts the DO brand. If it ever gets to the point where ALL of the lowest scoring and lowest performing docs are DOs, even established DOs will feel the hurt.

 

[MrChance2]

there will always be plenty of bad MD docs. Also, id be curious what % of the public can guess the guy that got a 420 on his comlex vs the guy that got a 500 once they have both completed residency.

 

[DomoKunMD]

I honestly feel the whole MD/DO thing is going to go the way of DMD/DDS

Granted, there's no difference in training between the two dental degrees, but majority of the public does not even notice the change in letters.

I'm from North Jersey--upper middle class white suburbs, IV League/NYC trained physicians, and rich housewives...and even so, there's a significant DO presence here.

The most "elite" (expensive) medical practices at my hospital is Summit Medical Group, and they have a good number of DOs staffed in it. One thing I liked was that they address patient education in terms of what an MD vs DO is. Below every D.O. practitioner's page, they have a link that says "MDs and DOs: whats the difference?" I think it's a simple, but a damn good way to educate patients shopping for physicians. Here's a random D.O. I pulled from their group, scroll down, and check out the link!

http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/doctor/mbilenker/

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

It's funny cause I have had 4 people in my own family say "hey, my doctor was a D.O. and I never knew what it was. I always just thought of them as my doctor." No one cares. It seems that if you go in and act like you know what you're doing, no one will question your EM-DEE-NESS or DEE-OHHH-NESSS.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

I honestly feel the whole MD/DO thing is going to go the way of DMD/DDS

Granted, there's no difference in training between the two dental degrees, but majority of the public does not even notice the change in letters.

I'm from North Jersey--upper middle class white suburbs, IV League/NYC trained physicians, and rich housewives...and even so, there's a significant DO presence here.

The most "elite" (expensive) medical practices at my hospital is Summit Medical Group, and they have a good number of DOs staffed in it. One thing I liked was that they address patient education in terms of what an MD vs DO is. Below every D.O. practitioner's page, they have a link that says "MDs and DOs: whats the difference?" I think it's a simple, but a damn good way to educate patients shopping for physicians. Here's a random D.O. I pulled from their group, scroll down, and check out the link!

http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/doctor/mbilenker/

Dammit. I was all excited about this. My first was at "Dr. so and so" on white coat ...but whatever

Second came when I clicked the link and in big ole letters it says "What is a Doctor of Osteopathy?" Good idea, but the execution obviously needs more work. This goes back to what I was talking about when I mentioned available information being contradicatory and inacurate regarding the DO degree. Patient education is obviously a great thing. It needs to be done right though or it just confuses the public. We need to get everyone on the same page here.

Also, if more practices start doing this, the public will obviously start to see that DOs are just MDs with more training and a better philosophy on patient care.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Dammit. I was all excited about this. My first was at "Dr. so and so" on white coat ...but whatever

Second came when I clicked the link and in big ole letters it says "What is a Doctor of Osteopathy?" Good idea, but the execution obviously needs more work. This goes back to what I was talking about when I mentioned available information being contradicatory and inacurate regarding the DO degree. Patient education is obviously a great thing. It needs to be done right though or it just confuses the public. We need to get everyone on the same page here.

Also, if more practices start doing this, the public will obviously start to see that DOs are just MDs with more training and a better philosophy on patient care.

Yeah... I at least give 'em props for trying.

It is always funny to see "Dr. Joe Smith" instead of "Joe Smith, MD" or "Joe Smith, DO" (or even "Dr. Joe Smith, DO"). Taking away the degree is a bit... disingenuous.

Edit: Though it seems like they have no standard practice. One DO has MD on his coat, other use MD or DO, and others just put "Dr.". But who really cares.

 

[seminoma]

How do DOs who wish to work in private practice outside a hospital differentiate themselves from all the other doctors? What % of the public will know that Dr. William, DO Family practice (or whatever specialty) completed residency and has equivalent or better training than a significant amount of MDs and Dr. William, DNP Family Practice (or whatever specialty) does not or does it even matter regarding who patients choose to see? and the MD, DO, and DNP will all be basically competing equally in patients eyes and the vast majority of it will come down to marketing, networking, and patient satisfaction?

I don't want to scare anyone or add any fuel to the fire. It does seem like questions that need to be addressed though.

I've never seen an allo thread about "How do I make sure my patients know I'm an MD and not a DO"????

If the patient comes to see you they really don't care what your diploma says (or they do care, but then they already looked you up). You provide appropriate medical care, they pay you, and that's that.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I've never seen an allo thread about "How do I make sure my patients know I'm an MD and not a DO"????

If the patient comes to see you they really don't care what your diploma says (or they do care, but then they already looked you up). You provide appropriate medical care, they pay you, and that's that.

Amen

 

[Mr Kenobi]

I've never seen an allo thread about "How do I make sure my patients know I'm an MD and not a DO"????

If there is anything I have learned in my two years at osteopath school, it is that MDs don't think about things like this. Not because they are secure in their degree and it's recognition, but because they are a simple species.

As the OMM folks so eloquently put it...."MDs don't understand fascia...its something they just cut through." Now if you are the type of physician who doesn't take a moment to understand something as vital to the health of your patients as the tissue interconnecting their entire being, how could you ever consider something as complex as degree recognition/comparisons.

 

[67552931811]

Dammit. I was all excited about this. My first was at "Dr. so and so" on white coat ...but whatever

Second came when I clicked the link and in big ole letters it says "What is a Doctor of Osteopathy?" Good idea, but the execution obviously needs more work. This goes back to what I was talking about when I mentioned available information being contradicatory and inacurate regarding the DO degree. Patient education is obviously a great thing. It needs to be done right though or it just confuses the public. We need to get everyone on the same page here.

Also, if more practices start doing this, the public will obviously start to see that DOs are just MDs with more training and a better philosophy on patient care.

Why? There are TONS of docs here who rock that. I've probably seen more MDs do it than DOs.

 

[Mass Effect]

If there is anything I have learned in my two years at osteopath school,

The first thing you should have learned is not to call it "osteopath school."

 

[Mr Kenobi]

The first thing you should have learned is not to call it "osteopath school."

lol...smh.

I'm a huge advocate against the inappropriate use of osteopath/osteopathy, trust me. Just seems like every thread in this sub-forum has been using it lately. The whole post was troll fodder.

But since you said it was the first thing I should have learned...I'd beg to differ. The OMM faculty at my school misuses these terms all the time. It wouldn't be far fetched to imagine some of the kids in my class who don't know better misusing the terms based off what they've heard faculty say.

Edit: Come to think of it...I even make mention of it's inappropriate use for describing DOs and osteopathic medicine a mere few posts prior to the one you chose to quote.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

Why? There are TONS of docs here who rock that. I've probably seen more MDs do it than DOs.

I agree....I see it all the time too. Seems to be a running joke when DOs do it tho on SDN, as if we are intentionally hiding our credentials. It was just the first thing I noticed....so I LL'd...I even said "but whatever" afterwards to insinuate that it was trivial.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

If anyone else needs me to spell out sarcasm for them, I'll be here all day (like it or not)

 

[67552931811]

I agree....I see it all the time too. Seems to be a running joke when DOs do it tho on SDN, as if we are intentionally hiding our credentials. It was just the first thing I noticed....so I LL'd...I even said "but whatever" afterwards to insinuate that it was trivial.

Roger roger

 

[JGimpel]

If you are already a medical student I don't see why more DO schools is a big deal. You won't be competing with them for residency since you're a few years ahead. They won't saturate the market once we are all doctors because residency positions are still somewhat static. If anything more DOs will make the public more aware of DOs, perhaps competing with OMM docs but as you said that is a small % of DOs. It will also hurt future students chances of matching which I see as the primary negative. Can someone explain the other view of this?

More DO students graduating means more grads per open spot in residency. Residency salary in the DO world usually lags that of MD residencies, if my prior experience comparing FREIDA to the AOA residency site still is worth anything. We definitely can't afford to let them lag any further. Benefits will also start going towards what the regular employees that haven't gone to medical school are getting, when they're getting them. They're also super important, even if nothing catastrophic happens to you or your family.

More residents PERIOD (including the 1000+ new FP slots the AOA lauds every year) means more GME graduates applying for the same number of similar job opportunities for any one location. I would think that that's the case even when counting for those that leave where they did residency at for another city. This also pushes the salary and benefits down because there are more doctors applying for the same job, just like most Americans are for many types of jobs these days. I'm sure that most people know this is still true today, as it has been for years, no matter what our political leadership says. This only gets worse for us as the mid-levels are being seen as viable replacements for new doctors just out of training.

And then someone looks up what a DO is on one of the sites Dr. Kenobi cited...

 

[GUH]

And then someone looks up what a DO is on one of the sites Dr. Kenobi cited...

You shouldn't develop policy based on what some people write on the internet, especially if they are not subject area experts. It shouldn't even be taken into consideration.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

You shouldn't develop policy based on what some people write on the internet, especially if they are not subject area experts. It shouldn't even be taken into consideration.

Can you expand on this a bit more? I am trying to figure out where anyone said anything about developing policy based on internet information available to the public. I only see people saying it compounds the issue of DO degree interpretation in the public eye. And the Wikipedia excerpts I used as examples earlier in this thread have cited quotes from actual physicians (B. Bledsoe, DO; S. Barrett, MD). I'd assume Dr. Bledsoe is reasonably knowledgable on the topic of what osteopathic medicine is.

No attack intended here, just maybe I missed something that you caught.

 

[GUH]

Can you expand on this a bit more? I am trying to figure out where anyone said anything about developing policy based on internet information available to the public. I only see people saying it compounds the issue of DO degree interpretation in the public eye. And the Wikipedia excerpts I used as examples earlier in this thread have cited quotes from actual physicians (B. Bledsoe, DO; S. Barrett, MD). I'd assume Dr. Bledsoe is reasonably knowledgable on the topic of what osteopathic medicine is.

No attack intended here, just maybe I missed something that you caught.

Unfortunately, being a physician does not automatically make one an expert in OMM/OMT, or in distinguishing quackery from reasonable medicine. No doubt Dr. Bledsoe is not alone in his assessment, but the fact that his opinion is posted on Wikipedia or Quackwatch does not lend him any additional credibility or weight that he would not have had otherwise.
In case it was not clear, my point is that internet postings (outside of academic journals, laws, and so forth) should not have any bearing at all on the decisions we make as a profession, let alone a decision as fundamental as whether we should continue to teach OMM to osteopathic medical students.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

Unfortunately, being a physician does not automatically make one an expert in OMM/OMT, or in distinguishing quackery from reasonable medicine. No doubt Dr. Bledsoe is not alone in his assessment, but the fact that his opinion is posted on Wikipedia or Quackwatch does not lend him any additional credibility or weight that he would not have had otherwise.

Ok, that's what I thought you were getting at. First of all, I never said Bledsoe's opinion being on Wikipedia is what lends him additional credibility or weight. The guy is a DO...he knows what OMM is and was trained in it just as we all are to the basic level our undergraduate medical education allows. I was merely pointing out the fact that the internet is where people go for information in today's day and age. His opinion on OMM holds more weight than another physician or medical expert who has zero exposure to OMM. And the only point of the excerpt from Wiki was to show that this type of thing is what people see when they search for information on our degree.

In case it was not clear, my point is that internet postings (outside of academic journals, laws, and so forth) should not have any bearing at all on the decisions we make as a profession, let alone a decision as fundamental as whether we should continue to teach OMM to osteopathic medical students.

I agree! And I'd love to see some internet postings (inside CREDIBLE academic journals of course) showing some evidence for a few of the techniques that are still being taught in osteopathic medical schools as fact. Shouldn't this have some bearing on the decisions we make as a profession and what we continue to teach in the OMM curriculum at osteopathic medical schools?

 

[meliora27]

I agree! And I'd love to see some internet postings (inside CREDIBLE academic journals of course) showing some evidence for a few of the techniques that are still being taught in osteopathic medical schools as fact. Shouldn't this have some bearing on the decisions we make as a profession and what we continue to teach in the OMM curriculum at osteopathic medical schools?

Conversely, an article debunking things like Chapman's points would be helpful as well, or simply failing to establish any plausible pathophysiolgic basis for them to then suggest scrapping their teaching.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

Conversely, an article debunking things like Chapman's points would be helpful as well, or simply failing to establish any plausible pathophysiolgic basis for them to then suggest scrapping their teaching.

That's basically exactly what I was trying to imply here....there isn't any evidence, so why are we still teaching it as fact...GUH says that nonsense on the internet shouldn't change the way we do things (which I agree with). But then why are we teaching nonsense in our curriculum? GUH says only things in academic journals should influence what we do and teach (I also agree). Problem is we aren't currently doing that either.

 

[mk04447]

Exactamundo. As I was saying, these types of things change and I can basically guarantee things will start to change for DOs. Oh sweet, all residencies are ACGME...cool. Maybe we will have a unified match one day soon too...awesome--dude no lay person even knows or cares what all that means. They do however know what "primary care focus" and "extra training that is criticized as pseudoscience" and "holistic medicine" means when they use google to find out if DOs are real medical doctors though.

I can see this backfiring on us. Consolidation may mean highly qualified people bent on (insert specialty) who wouldn't ordinarily consider a DO school, will. This will potentially dilute the statistics and dispel the stigma that becoming a DO was an afterthought acquired by students who fail to secure acceptance from an MD school. Sounds great until it works. Eventually we'll lose our identity. I don't mean OMM or "holistic" word smith BS. I mean our identity as something different. I love that some people look down at the title DO, this humbles us and provides an opportunity to surprise. We need people who embrace our differences, not more who are ashamed of them.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

I love that some people look down at the title DO, this humbles us and provides an opportunity to surprise. We need people who embrace our differences, not more who are ashamed of them.

The only difference I am honestly ashamed of is the inability to retire some of the things we are taught in OMM (cranial/chapman's) until further evidence has been obtained. If some folks get off on being labeled "more holistic" or "primary care oriented", thats great. Thats not my main concern here. I do however have an issue with degree as a whole being affiliated with quackery though.

 

[AMEHigh]

My whole point is if most people don't know what a DO is....does it matter for going into business as a DO?

From my experience, no, it doesn't matter when it comes to getting a job or starting your own practice. The general public doesn't know the difference, they just see "family medicine" or "GI" on the sign out front and know what that means. I don't think DO paychecks are hurting.

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

Honestly, ask somebody in the general population what the difference between a nurse and a doctor is.
Take it a step further.... As a premed what is the difference between a Resident and a Fellow.
Or take it even a step further, ask an M3 what is the difference between a PA and an NP


A very small percent of the public knows the difference between DO and MD.....and a much smaller percent actually care. It is meaningless to 99.9% of the country. The only people who really should care about this difference are pre-meds, m4s applying for residency, and nobody.

 

[YankeeCandle1141]

.

 

[Mr Kenobi]

A very small percent of the public knows the difference between DO and MD.....and a much smaller percent actually care. It is meaningless to 99.9% of the country. The only people who really should care about this difference are pre-meds, m4s applying for residency, and nobody.

It is interesting then that we have attending and resident physicians in here discussing this issue and explaining how it has affected them.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Honestly, ask somebody in the general population what the difference between a nurse and a doctor is.
Take it a step further.... As a premed what is the difference between a Resident and a Fellow.
Or take it even a step further, ask an M3 what is the difference between a PA and an NP


A very small percent of the public knows the difference between DO and MD.....and a much smaller percent actually care. It is meaningless to 99.9% of the country. The only people who really should care about this difference are pre-meds, m4s applying for residency, and nobody.

*drops mic*

 

[meliora27]

Interesting that for the VA hospital taxonomy, under provider type, MD's are listed as Physicians and DO's are listed as Osteopaths.

 

[NurWollen]

Interesting that for the VA hospital taxonomy, under provider type, MD's are listed as Physicians and DO's are listed as Osteopaths.

Really? That's annoying. Probably wouldn't keep me from working in a VA, but I think I'd get a little butthurt inside every time I saw myself listed as an Osteopath.

 

[meliora27]

Really? That's annoying. Probably wouldn't keep me from working in a VA, but I think I'd get a little butthurt inside every time I saw myself listed as an Osteopath.

I was really surprised to see this, especially considering how "DO Friendly" the military is as a whole. I feel like this could possibly be a pretty easy fix by the AOA suits since the term "osteopath" is rather dated.

Yes, I know that the VA is a separate entity from the military.