A List of the most annoying questions asked of DO's

[azcomdiddy]

Seriously, every time I come in here, there is some lame DO related question that puts DO's on the defense. Can we get a little more creative? And moderators, if people are asking these same questions, can you close them and politely ask them to do a search because those topics have been debated ad nauseum. Here are some of the most annoying questions that get asked at least monthly if not weekly..

1.) Can DO's specialize?
2.) Can I work in a large city as a DO?
3.) Are DO's medical doctors?
4.) My "so and so" got into a DO school, should she attend or wait and reapply to an MD school."
5.) Why do DO's have lower entrance stats?
6.) Did you choose DO over MD?
7.) Have you ever been told you were mistreated because you were a DO?
8.) Have you ever been denied residency because you were a DO?
9.) What do MD's think of DO?
10.) Should DO's change their initials?

I don't have a problem with students genuinely seeking advice on these issues but someone should just direct them to old threads. There is no point to rehash these threads and start a huge flame every single time.

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[tripleJ]

can I add one?
11) anything you have an opinion on

 

[Robz]

Originally posted by tripleJ
can I add one?
11) anything you have an opinion on

mmmmmmmmmm. thats not a question

 

[DOSouthpaw]

Can MDs write prescriptions and perform surgery like DOs?

 

[PublicHealth]

Oh, so you're going to be like a chiropractor?

 

[cooldreams]

if a DO can do everything a MD can do, and everyone already knows about MDs, then why go DO ?? seems like such an uphill battle for nothing right???

 

[Chronotropic]

Perhaps someone should make a Faq and sticky it on the board.

 

[cooldreams]

Originally posted by danwsu
Perhaps someone should make a Faq and sticky it on the board.

bravo! thank you for volunteering!! heheheh yea.. thas how we do it in the work place... u got the idea... u do it... and it better work.... lol....

 

[jhug]

13 or 14 or whatever number we are on....Do MD's and DO's get paid the same?

 

[kpax18]

15) should I choose carribbeans or DO

 

[Echinoidea]

16) I applied to DO schools as a back-up, but I really, really want to have MD after ny name! Can I attend my first year at a DO school then apply and transfer to an MD school? Thanxx!

 

[annushka]

in regards to #16--i actually personally know someone who did that. spent one year at a DO school, then decided to switch over and is now an MS-I at an MD school.

A question I hate that I get asked a lot (by friends) is:
Oh, you're a DO...cool, can you crack my back (or give me a massage), please?

 

[BrooklynDO]

~Do DO's have to work for MD's?
:NO , like i said they have the same exact licence as an MD
~So they are like a PA?

 

[adamj_ut]

Next one:
So you are going to an osteopathic school (pronounces osteopathic as if it's hard to say, enunciating each syllable)? So you are going to be a bone doctor?

 

[VentdependenT]

I just like the blank stare received after telling "them" which medical school I attend. After savoring the moment of puzzled silence I then proceed with my 25 second explanation on the history of medicine. Once I tell them where I matched, gears turn, something clicks, and something which can only be described as an epiphany is appropriately displaced upon their faces.

"Oh, I didn't know that." Then I get asked if I can crack their neck or some jointed appendage.

 

[drvlad2004]

More stupid questions:

Is osteopathic medicine some kind of alternative medicine?

Do you guys get paid as good as MDs?

Are you a bone specialist?

After you complete an allopathic residency, can you add MD to your title?

Do you guys have a really hard time getting a residency and a job afterwards?

 

[DOtobe]

12) Are you guys eye doctors or something? (Or at least, some variation where DO becomes OD....cretins.....)

I have gotten this one sooo many times, and by the same person! A friend of my family cannot get it through her head that DO does not equal optometrist!!!!

 

[DoctorInSpace]

Can a DO write prescriptions? And will you have hospital privileges?

I don't think those two have been posted yet, but I've gotten both of those.

 

[DrDad]

all good and valid points, one day all will know....

addition

Should DO and MD combine?

 

[DireWolf]

Should DO and MD combine?

This will probably happen in our lifetime. And there is no reason why it shouldn't.

 

[stoic]

Are you a bone specialist?

True story:

I was talking with a group of friends (some of them premed, some of them not) and someone ask what osteopathy was. One guy - whom I might add is the most annoying premed gunner I've EVER met - answered, "it's a fellowship completed after an internal medicine medicine residency that deals primarily with the health of the skeletal system"

I laughed and laughed and laughed....

 

[Cowboy DO]

This will probably happen in our lifetime. And there is no reason why it shouldn't.

I doubt it.

 

[HoodyHoo]

Conversation between me, my friend and some other dude:

My friend: Gosh, my lower back really hurts from playing tennis.

Me: Have you ever thought about seeing an osteopathic doctor, I bet they could really help with that pain.

Some other dude: Yeah, they are like bone doctors that can do crazy ****. They specialize in bones.

Me:

 

[DireWolf]

I doubt it.

I don't...

 

[(nicedream)]

addition

Should DO and MD combine?

It's funny that this was posted as one of the "annoying questions posed to DO's" and in response people started discussing it.

 

[DrDad]

i see what you mean, it is funny, yet I would like to say that I think it would be ridiculous to assume that either really wants to be the other exactly.

How about ...

don't all "osteopaths" use OMT?

 

[Dr JPH]

How about ...

don't all "osteopaths" use OMT?

Sorta goes along with "Oh, so you only use OMT, right?"

 

[drvlad2004]

True story:

I was talking with a group of friends (some of them premed, some of them not) and someone ask what osteopathy was. One guy - whom I might add is the most annoying premed gunner I've EVER met - answered, "it's a fellowship completed after an internal medicine medicine residency that deals primarily with the health of the skeletal system"

I laughed and laughed and laughed....

No way!

Now that's a stupid and uninformed premed gunner!

 

[(nicedream)]

You didn't have to take the MCATs did you?

 

[DrDad]

So do you take special classes to learn more stuff about bones?

 

[kmwmorris]

"You're going to be an OD? Can you tell me what this ***** gunk is coming out of my left eye?"

Okay, first of all, I'm not a Doctor YET. Ask me what your nasty gunk is in four years. Secondly, I'm NOT going to be an OD, but a DO! GET IT RIGHT!!!

 

[DOSouthpaw]

"***** gunk" What kind of gunk??? lol that's why we use the word purulent.

 

[(nicedream)]

 

[kristing]

oooh I just got this one today.

"So when you applied to medical school did you want to be a DO or just a doctor?"

Asked by a 4th year MD student.

 

[Intubater_X]

Recently, I have been asked if I've got ho's..........in different area codes....

The answer was an emphatic hell yeah!

 

[drbrowneyes]

So what do you study? Where can I find one of those?...What you call it again. I have a friend graduating from ________ medical school. I wonder what kind he is? I simply bit my tongue and said, he will be an MD.

 

[ellemarii]

as an applicant to both do and md programs, i've been asked...

"so, are you going to attend medical school or osteopathic school?"

grrrr.....

 

[dre_rae]

"so, are you going to attend medical school or osteopathic school?"

grrrr.....[/QUOTE]
This same question was asked of me.

Also a conversation with my roommate:

Me: I am really interested in emergency medicine.
Her: But then why are you going to DO school?
Me: What do you mean?
Her: Well, not everyone who goes to the ER has something wrong with their bones.....


She's a lost cause, so i changed the subject.

 

[Maxip]

A lot of the "annoying" questions posted in this thread seem to do with the general publics ignorance of osteopathic medicine... why should they be expected to know the intricacies of medicine? I don't expect most people would know what an endocrinologist or rheumatologist does. Instead of writing them off as jackasses or "lost causes", why not just explain to them what osteopathic medicine is?

 

[BiochemMan]

Can DO's do basic science research?

 

[drbrowneyes]

A lot of the "annoying" questions posted in this thread seem to do with the general publics ignorance of osteopathic medicine... why should they be expected to know the intricacies of medicine? I don't expect most people would know what an endocrinologist or rheumatologist does. Instead of writing them off as jackasses or "lost causes", why not just explain to them what osteopathic medicine is?

In response to Maxip. I think even after we taken the time to explain what osteopathic medicine is, people still can not seem to understand that DO's and MD's basically do the same thing and continue to ask the questions that we are complaining about in this thread.

 

[cooldreams]

Next one:
So you are going to an osteopathic school (pronounces osteopathic as if it's hard to say, enunciating each syllable)? So you are going to be a bone doctor?

mmm... well like, i talked to an electrician that worked at one of the osteopathic schools. he knew very well "that osteopathic school" thing... but like.... i asked, so what is all of that osteopathic stuff about then since you know everything... "bone doctors... they do surgery for all of your joints and bones etc.." im like... dood! you WORKED THERE.... sigh...

........

 

[DrDavesWife]

The more embittered your responses, the more ammo you give the MDs to ask stupid questions. Does what's after your name really matter that much??????

If you chose to be a doc to save lives, you are covered.
If you chose to be a doc to make money, you are covered there too.

Why the fuss......just don't answer their stupid questions and be satisfied to know that from a patient's standpoint, (if a generalization can be made) you are FAR BETTER docs.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

I did not know the answer to many of these questions until researching this board 3 weeks ago and I am sure I will ask a question that people will think is stupid. All you can really do is try to educate people and hope it helps.

 

[misyel]

I got this comment from one of my friends today...

"So which school are you going to? (I answered) Oh, isn't that like a discounted doctor?"

 

[DoctorInSpace]

I got this comment from one of my friends today...

"So which school are you going to? (I answered) Oh, isn't that like a discounted doctor?"

OUCH!!!!

 

[fuegorama]

I got this comment from one of my friends today...

"So which school are you going to? (I answered) Oh, isn't that like a discounted doctor?"

In a moment like this this you MUST take the opportunity to give a little laugh and present the appropriate correction.
I am as guilty as anyone of self-righteously taking offense at slurs whether intentional or not. However, it is our responsibility to not let this stuff get us down. Recognize the root of the "insult". Is it ignorance or meanness.
In case #1-take a teaching minute and spell it out.
In case #2- look for witnesses, if there are none do what you have to then dismember the body

But seriously folks...we need to develop the ability to employ the self-deprecating laugh. A little confidence projects a long way. I am just learning these lessons myself. Ya know see-do-teach.

That'll be 1.9 cents.

 

[misyel]

In a moment like this this you MUST take the opportunity to give a little laugh and present the appropriate correction.
I am as guilty as anyone of self-righteously taking offense at slurs whether intentional or not. However, it is our responsibility to not let this stuff get us down. Recognize the root of the "insult". Is it ignorance or meanness.
In case #1-take a teaching minute and spell it out.
In case #2- look for witnesses, if there are none do what you have to then dismember the body

But seriously folks...we need to develop the ability to employ the self-deprecating laugh. A little confidence projects a long way. I am just learning these lessons myself. Ya know see-do-teach.

That'll be 1.9 cents.

The problem is that even if I went through the whole MD vs DO deal, I don't think he was smart enough to comprehend it! At least the others thought being a DO is a legit profession, albeit being limited to treating bones.

 

[Wo1verine7DO]

Does it really matter what people say... People are still sick and I've seen people dying during my summer practicum...they don't ask are you an MD or DO, they just want to know that you're helping them all you can...a lot of the MD and DO work together and are too busy to care what they have after their last name.

 

[joaquin13]

I was asked by a patient in a family practice office:
After you graduate from DO school, are you going to go to medical school?