ACADEMIC MEDICINE: DO vs MD

[davematthews]

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Everyone I come across in the real world, ie, doctors, residents, and med students say doesn't matter which one you are, just how good you are at what you do. I am fine going DO (I like the philosphy a lot), and know that I will get a good residency and fellowship no matter. I am not really concerned about any discrimination, because being in the Midwest and volunteering/working for years at hospitals here I really have yet to see any significant bias- except professors.
I want academic medicine, probably at an MD school because I want to raise a fam in a city environment, ie Chicago, Boston. Does anyone have info on professorship and being a DO at an allopathic university. I dont want it for the research, I want to be teaching classes and be involved in curriculum development.
Also, this question is hard to answer because in 10-15 years when I am ready to begin my career, many things will have changed by then, and many old school docs will have retired- so that even though DO representation maybe low in MD education at hospitals now, it certainly could change drastically. Any thoughts? Anyone have direct experience or can direct me to the right people?

I am a reapplicant so waiting another year may play into this.
peace

 

[exmike]

Everyone I come across in the real world, ie, doctors, residents, and med students say doesn't matter which one you are, just how good you are at what you do. I am fine going DO (I like the philosphy a lot), and know that I will get a good residency and fellowship no matter. I am not really concerned about any discrimination, because being in the Midwest and volunteering/working for years at hospitals here I really have yet to see any significant bias- except professors.
I want academic medicine, probably at an MD school because I want to raise a fam in a city environment, ie Chicago, Boston. Does anyone have info on professorship and being a DO at an allopathic university. I dont want it for the research, I want to be teaching classes and be involved in curriculum development.
Also, this question is hard to answer because in 10-15 years when I am ready to begin my career, many things will have changed by then, and many old school docs will have retired- so that even though DO representation maybe low in MD education at hospitals now, it certainly could change drastically. Any thoughts? Anyone have direct experience or can direct me to the right people?

I am a reapplicant so waiting another year may play into this.
peace

If you want to go into academic medicine, you should definitely try to go the MD route. While DO academic medicine is growing, it is dwarfed by allopathic.

 

[njbmd]

Everyone I come across in the real world, ie, doctors, residents, and med students say doesn't matter which one you are, just how good you are at what you do. I am fine going DO (I like the philosphy a lot), and know that I will get a good residency and fellowship no matter. I am not really concerned about any discrimination, because being in the Midwest and volunteering/working for years at hospitals here I really have yet to see any significant bias- except professors.
I want academic medicine, probably at an MD school because I want to raise a fam in a city environment, ie Chicago, Boston. Does anyone have info on professorship and being a DO at an allopathic university. I dont want it for the research, I want to be teaching classes and be involved in curriculum development.
Also, this question is hard to answer because in 10-15 years when I am ready to begin my career, many things will have changed by then, and many old school docs will have retired- so that even though DO representation maybe low in MD education at hospitals now, it certainly could change drastically. Any thoughts? Anyone have direct experience or can direct me to the right people?

I am a reapplicant so waiting another year may play into this.
peace

Hi there,
I don't think that being a DO is going to make any difference as long as you have the credentials for academic medicine. This means a very strong CV with plenty of research. If you have a strong CV, completed a good academic residency and fellowship, you should be fine.

I have known several physicians with the DO degree that are faculty at allopathic medical schools. It really does not matter. Be prepared though, to change your mind several times (about what you want to do with your life in medicine) as you go through medical school and beyond.

njbmd 🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

Everyone I come across in the real world, ie, doctors, residents, and med students say doesn't matter which one you are, just how good you are at what you do. I am fine going DO (I like the philosphy a lot), and know that I will get a good residency and fellowship no matter. I am not really concerned about any discrimination, because being in the Midwest and volunteering/working for years at hospitals here I really have yet to see any significant bias- except professors.
I want academic medicine, probably at an MD school because I want to raise a fam in a city environment, ie Chicago, Boston. Does anyone have info on professorship and being a DO at an allopathic university. I dont want it for the research, I want to be teaching classes and be involved in curriculum development.
Also, this question is hard to answer because in 10-15 years when I am ready to begin my career, many things will have changed by then, and many old school docs will have retired- so that even though DO representation maybe low in MD education at hospitals now, it certainly could change drastically. Any thoughts? Anyone have direct experience or can direct me to the right people?

I am a reapplicant so waiting another year may play into this.
peace

I've worked and schooled at a couple of places that had literally no DOs on staff. This may be more the exception than the rule, but be aware that there are currently pretty significant regional pockets where DOs have not made much in the way of inroads. By contrast, there are pockets of the country that are flush with DOs. So if you have your heart set on a particular city like, say, Boston, and want to do academic medicine, you may want to take a gander at how many DOs have actually managed that.

 

[Taus]

look into cities that have both MD and DO schools where the students all rotate together....ie Philly

 

[dbhvt]

I have known several physicians with the DO degree that are faculty at allopathic medical schools.

Did you ask them if they felt having DO instead of MD behind their name was an obstacle when looking for an academic spot? I'm curious. I would have thought the inbred quality of academia would really put a barrier in the way of DO's with academic aspirations.

 

[dr.z]

Did you ask them if they felt having DO instead of MD behind their name was an obstacle when looking for an academic spot? I'm curious. I would have thought the inbred quality of academia would really put a barrier in the way of DO's with academic aspirations.

I was told if you are good enough, the degree doesn't matter.

 

[DrMom]

duplicate thread in pre-osteo, so closing.