Don't forget easier. I'm amazed when I meet DO students that tell me they never took overnight call while in medical school. (see castafari's post earlier about not being required to take call while on trauma!)
I agree, that's absurd. I have 3rd year friends on rotations now, and believe me...they most certainly take call! Who gets away with that!
I'm not saying there aren't crappy DO schools. There certainly are. I just think it should also be remembered that there are crappy MD schools too. Just like there are great DO's and crappy DO's. Great MD's and crappy MD's. Great IMG's and crappy IMG's. Stupid _____ people and Smart _____ people.
Again, its interesting that i'm being hammered for saying DO students shouldn't be allowed to take the USMLE, or enter MD residencies. Funny thing is, MD students can't take the COMLEX or enter DO residencies (not that they'd want to). Apparently the DO higherups recognize the importance of not blurring the professional boundaries. So you hammer me for saying exactly what your professional board implements!
No, I agree with you here. But you kind of have it backwards. DO residencies should be opened to MD's. I'm actually fine with that. As you say, it's only fair. Although, I think they'd have a hard time doing well on COMLEX without knowing any OMM. Doing it your way just creates more division and animosity in a profession that needs to unite.
I also agree that the DO leadership is a bit out of touch. I would like the see less division between the two professions, but the people currently in charge are "older" and there has been much animosity between MD's and DO's over the last century. Old grudges...
Listen, everyone knows that the things the AOA spouts about as the "DO difference" are crap. "DO's treat the whole patient." Well, yeah. We do. So do MD's. They are just trying to market themselves as an alternative. I, personally, don't think that it's working.
but I guess here's the real question: How many students would fork over the DO tuition, if they knew they'd never be able to enter an MD residency??
It depends. What specialty are you talking about. If it's pathology, then no budding pathologist would go to DO school...last I checked, there weren't any residencies. But IM, FM, EM...I would have no problem doing a DO residency.
Again, I will remind you that my "expensive DO tuition" (out of state) is cheaper than any of my 3 in-state MD schools would have been. By between $2k-10k per year. I saved $8k-40k by going to DO school (plus the lost year(s) of delayed future salary by waiting for an MD school to accept my old ass).
Let's also not forget that there are some advantages to DO schools:
1. Earlier "patient" contact. Some MD schools begin pt contact on day one, but many do not. DO students have OMM lab weekly, where we spend alot of time palpating body structures on our classmates. While people can debate the validity of certain aspects of OMM, I personally feel that all the time spent palpating has improved my willingness to get more "hands-on" with patients.
2. Community Rotations. Some people count this as a disadvantage, but I am not one of them. I will work one-on-one with attendings for all of 3rd year and much of 4th year. I will 1st assist on surgery. This type of contact and one-on-one teaching goes much farther, IMO, than getting the scraps left over by the Residents and 4th year students with whom you're fighting. Also, less scut. Aside from that, I plan on practicing in a community setting, so I think it will be better to learn in that setting as well. There is a big difference in academic practice and private practice, and I don't understand why so many people are so keen to spend years learning how to operate in a system so drastically different from the one they'll have to learn once they graduate and enter the "real world." I will be in that Real World from Day 1. For those who are interested in academics and research, this may not be ideal. But for people like me, who just want to practice medicine, it's perfect.
