Americans and DO's

[deadman]

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Hey guys,

Serious question. I am a Canadian student and will be starting at a DO school in August. Since I live in Canada, there arent many DO's present here but I was wondering that in the US, how often would a patient ask a DO doctor what a DO is? Hopefully some one who is in residency or practice can answer this for me.

Im guessing people wouldnt give a rats ass about a doctor being a MD or DO as long as the person is wearing a white coat but I still wonder if im going to have to explain to every 5th patient what a DO is.

Also, Ive heard things like "oh 50% of Americans cant even point to the US on a map", then im guessing less than 1 % would actually know what a DO really is? Am I right? what do you guys think?

 

[Bacchus]

With all the preceptors I've worked with who are DOs (attendings and residents), not a single one has been asked what his or her degree meant.

 

[COMedic2Doc]

With all the preceptors I've worked with who are DOs (attendings and residents), not a single one has been asked what his or her degree meant.

Awesome... Along my observations as well, DOs and MDs are for the most part indistinguishable in most clinical settings. Patients care more about how you treat them and that you are the best Dr for them in that particular instance.

If you (being the general public) happen to visit a DO that still practices OMM and you happen to be there for an injury or illness that they OMM might help then you'll possibly know that your PCP that you've been seeing for the past 20 years is a DO, but even then this is still debatable.... (trust me there are patients that see just scrubs, male figure, and seem to know what the heck is going on and assume oh you're a Doctor despite being a Tech or RN)

 

[deadman]

With all the preceptors I've worked with who are DOs (attendings and residents), not a single one has been asked what his or her degree meant.

And this is because patients already know what it means or could care less??

 

[Bacchus]

And this is because patients already know what it means or could care less??

Both.

 

[ManBroDude]

When you're in pain or need help, the only thing you want is a competent doctor who can listen.

The last thing on your mind would be asking for a lengthy diatribe on the subtleties between MD and DO.

 

[TriagePreMed]

My friend that's OMS-IV says she's been asked less than a handful of times and it's because she says she's going to an "Osteopathic Medical School." She's really gung-ho about the entire D.O. thing, so I think she enjoys the question but comes rarely.

 

[thecgrblue]

Story 1:
co-worker: Why are you moving?
me: I'm going to medical school.
co-worker: Really? My brother went to medical school.
me: Cool, what is he doing now?
co-worker: He is a podiatrist!
me: ...neat. *mental faceplam*

Story 2:
co-worker: I don't know what they hell their problem is?! Those doctors can't figure out why my stomach hurts.
me: (faking interest) Who did you go see?
co-worker: I went to the ER. I saw a DO...what the hell is a DO? Probably just some nurse.
me: Yea...that is weird.

 

[DocMan22]

One of the DOs I shadowed told me about a patient who gave a little speech about how she would never see a DO and she doesn't trust them. Never bothered to look on his scrubs to see that he was one, just assumed because she thought he was a good doc that he was an MD.

He said the issue rarely comes up, most people don't realize/care, but when it does it's almost always someone who is 60+

 

[shaggybill]

(trust me there are patients that see just scrubs, male figure, and seem to know what the heck is going on and assume oh you're a Doctor despite being a Tech or RN)

So true. Excluding the frequent fliers, pretty much every time I walk into a patients room at work they say "hi doc!" If they don't say that, you can still tell they think I'm the doctor because both the patient and the visitors get real quiet and look at me expectantly. That's when I tell them that I'm shaggybill and I'm one of the tech's, that way they know that if they poop in their bed, I'll be the one wiping their butt. 😀

Anyway, one of the DO PCPs that I shadowed was very proud of being a DO. Every time he got a new patient, he sat down with them, gave them a pamphlet with some information about OM and took about 5 minutes to explain to them what being a DO meant and how he differed from a regular MD. Every single patient of his treated him like he was a god. They absolutely loved him. One brand new patient, within the first 5 minutes of her evaluation, stated that he was already the best doctor she had ever been to. It's guys like him that will bring the osteopathic profession to the forefront of medicine, and if I go into any specialty besides EM, I plan to use the same approach he does.

 

[Badgers326]

A physician that came in and lectured for us said, "Nobody cares if you're a DO. They do care if you're dumb. Don't be dumb"

 

[DrMaximus]

A physician that came in and lectured for us said, "Nobody cares if you’re a DO. They do care if you're dumb. Don’t be dumb"

This. 👍

 

[surfdr]

So true. Excluding the frequent fliers, pretty much every time I walk into a patients room at work they say "hi doc!" If they don't say that, you can still tell they think I'm the doctor because both the patient and the visitors get real quiet and look at me expectantly. That's when I tell them that I'm shaggybill and I'm one of the tech's, that way they know that if they poop in their bed, I'll be the one wiping their butt. 😀

A physician that came in and lectured for us said, "Nobody cares if you’re a DO. They do care if you're dumb. Don’t be dumb"

Story 2:
co-worker: I don't know what they hell their problem is?! Those doctors can't figure out why my stomach hurts.
me: (faking interest) Who did you go see?
co-worker: I went to the ER. I saw a DO...what the hell is a DO? Probably just some nurse.
me: Yea...that is weird.

Got a good laugh reading all three of these, thanks!

 

[thecgrblue]

So true. Excluding the frequent fliers, pretty much every time I walk into a patients room at work they say "hi doc!" If they don't say that, you can still tell they think I'm the doctor because both the patient and the visitors get real quiet and look at me expectantly. That's when I tell them that I'm shaggybill and I'm one of the tech's, that way they know that if they poop in their bed, I'll be the one wiping their butt. 😀.

Everytime I walk into the room patients say, "Get out of here you $%@#!" or "You're with the FBI!!!!!! Get out!!!!"

Granted, I work at a mental hospital. 😀

 

[COMedic2Doc]

Everytime I walk into the room patients say, "Get out of here you $%@#!" or "You're with the FBI!!!!!! Get out!!!!"

Granted, I work at a mental hospital. 😀

LOL, oh yes... Now I'll be honest, totally depends on my current frame of mind at the time because I would be soooo tempted to answer, yes I am the FBI and we have you on a warrant for patient misconduct.... Ok, before too many people take that seriously I wouldn't actually do such a thing but would nonetheless be tempted to do so. 😀

 

[scotchtapetest]

Hey guys,

Serious question. I am a Canadian student and will be starting at a DO school in August. Since I live in Canada, there arent many DO's present here but I was wondering that in the US, how often would a patient ask a DO doctor what a DO is? Hopefully some one who is in residency or practice can answer this for me.

Im guessing people wouldnt give a rats ass about a doctor being a MD or DO as long as the person is wearing a white coat but I still wonder if im going to have to explain to every 5th patient what a DO is.

Also, Ive heard things like "oh 50% of Americans cant even point to the US on a map", then im guessing less than 1 % would actually know what a DO really is? Am I right? what do you guys think?

I think you should use the search function where you can find at least a gazillion threads with similar subject. To help you out I'm going to quote myself from a thread that's less than a month old:

I have done most of my clinical rotations at large academic hospitals some of which are very DO "unfriendly" places and I can count the number of times I've been asked that question on one hand (i.e. after 3.5 yrs of med school). Also, once I explain it, all the responses have been very positive and personally don't mind it at all!

However, If you are not comfortable with who you are or if you are insecure about your training/skills, then I can see how that could be a problem!

Also, I hope your post is not intended to disrespect Americans, b/c if that's you intention, you should probably just stay in Canada!

 

[WTEngel]

I work in a pretty busy hospital in Dallas, TX. We have a good mix of DOs and MDs. Our physician's group for the ER is actually 60% DO if I recall right.

At any rate, what people have said above is true 99% of the time. Patient's want competent, conscientious, expedient care. If you can meet those 3 criteria, then they really could care less about the letters behind your name.

Of the few times I have ever seen a patient who exhibited any negative bias towards DOs, it was generally someone older (over 55) or someone who was related to an MD in some way shape or form (usually older too) who for whatever reason had been brought up to think that DOs were in some way not as qualified.

In either of the 2 cases above, it never had anything to do with the care they received, it always had to do with pre-conceived notions based on a different time in history, or something related to their upbringing.

When a patient complains about a doctor, they rarely ever say "That MD did this" or "That DO did that" They almost always say "That stupid/mean/inconsiderate/etc. doctor did this."

So to relate to what was said above, whether you go MD, or DO, be a competent doctor and a generally good human being, have a passion for making people's lives better, and you will bring legitimacy to whatever letters are behind your name. Do the opposite, and you will be an outcast, no matter what school you went to.

 

[gatorfann14]

Most people have no clue, just avoid the headaches and skirt issues when it is a random person that doesn't care anyway. When people ask me where I go I just say LECOM and if they ask me what that is I just say lake erie college of medicine. It avoids the hassles in meaningless conversation where the other person doesn't really care about your answer anyway. Of course if it is someone I know would actually be interested I tell them adn then explain it if they want to know more.