Can DOs work internationally?

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mkitty

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Can DOs work internationally? I'd like to possibly work in a developing country for a year or two. And summer missions to countries other than the US once I become an awesome doctor. I was wondering if DOs are recognized internationally and if anyone has seen/experienced a DO working abroad.
Thanks!
 
mkitty said:
Can DOs work internationally? I'd like to possibly work in a developing country for a year or two. And summer missions to countries other than the US once I become an awesome doctor. I was wondering if DOs are recognized internationally and if anyone has seen/experienced a DO working abroad.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

DOs can work abroad in selective countries only.
 
Just a slight correction, the list of countries and their limitations on this forum is pretty much for doctors wishing to practice medicine in the country on a permanent basis and for profit. I am rather sure developing and underserved countries won't deny DOs the chance to practice while doing mission or volunteer work. Even MSF accepts DOs for foreign relief work.
For example, I have done volunteer work in Honduras and have some Cuban doctor friends who are practicing there on a permanent basis. They had to complete the 2 years social service work before being fully licensed in Honduras as the list says on this forum. However, for myself, I am just about to start medical school and I was allowed to do a bunch of shadowing and volunteer work in the local hospital with just the hospital director's permission. Once I have my DO I plan to do even more work there and I anticipate no problems at all.
~Nate
 
I didn't even see the sticky, silly me. You guys are awesome, thanks a lot!

Nate, what type of work did you do while you were volunteering in Honduras? What kinds of experiences did you have while there? It makes sense that countries want more permanent doctors practicing there.
Thanks!


Nate said:
Just a slight correction, the list of countries and their limitations on this forum is pretty much for doctors wishing to practice medicine in the country on a permanent basis and for profit. I am rather sure developing and underserved countries won't deny DOs the chance to practice while doing mission or volunteer work. Even MSF accepts DOs for foreign relief work.
For example, I have done volunteer work in Honduras and have some Cuban doctor friends who are practicing there on a permanent basis. They had to complete the 2 years social service work before being fully licensed in Honduras as the list says on this forum. However, for myself, I am just about to start medical school and I was allowed to do a bunch of shadowing and volunteer work in the local hospital with just the hospital director's permission. Once I have my DO I plan to do even more work there and I anticipate no problems at all.
~Nate
Click to expand...
 
Check out Medicine Without Borders if you are interested in working abroad. MDs typically don't participate in it, but DOs do. 😎
 
I was able to shadow some of the docs and examine the patients with them, and I don’t mean just following the docs around like a puppy. I touched and palpated the patients after the docs, looked at x-rays, and had the diagnoses explained to me. Some of the cases were interesting because of the different conditions in a developing country. For example, one family brought in their child who had ingested Kerosene (used for cooking). They had stored the gas in a coke bottle and the child chugged it down due to the intense heat thinking it was water. You may think that is a fluke but it was the fourth similar case in two nights, one of those patients died. Many of the people who come in are near death because they wait until the last possible minute. This may be due to poverty, lack of education, or the fact that the hospital I was in was the ONLY hospital in the entire region. There is a lack of supplies and diagnostic technology and quite frankly, a lack of cleanliness. However, it is an incredible experience and an opportunity to help people in desperate need.
 
With the single GME system almost complete, there is some good news. All FUTURE DOs will now have the opportunity to be ABMS certified. And Internationally, they are looking more and more at your specialty certificates and the issuing board. They dont care as much if you are a DO or an MD but do care about your issuing board of the specialty certificates. ABMS (American Board of Medical Specialties) certificates are almost universally accepted and are almost universally accepted as the sole authority from the United States. The AOA has not lobbied hard enough overseas and this may mean the end for AOA specialty boards and colleges as students now have a choice, and they will naturally gravitate towards the specialty boards (ABMS) that are accepted. Its too difficult to take two boards and they will choose the one with most benefits from the beginning. Unfortunately, for the current AOA certificate holders it means your Colleges and Specialty boards will wither away as your certificates are not accepted internationally causing a vicious cycle of dwindling DO students entering AOA specialty colleges. Dwindling numbers means.... less clout, and even a less chance to get our certificates recognized. In a globalized world, physicians will want to be accepted universally, not just the United States.

I wish the AOA had lobbied harder during the ACGME merger to allow a grand father clause and allow current AOA certificate holders to be able to sit for the ABMS boards. This is a tragedy for all AOA certificate holders.... as we age into our golden years.... we will see our specialty colleges and board meetings become a lonelier place as our colleagues retire and new ones fail to come in. Grand father clauses are meant to prevent such professional catastrophes.

By the way, the current AOA international practice summary rights is quite misleading. It doesn't differentiate between DOs who are ABMS certified and DOs who are AOA board certified and hence paints a rosier picture than reality. (Many of the places listed only allow ABMS certified DOs). Where we made inroads in previous years some of those inroads have also been reversed. For example, in Dubai, there are DOs practicing that are AOA boarded. Dubai recently, in 2014, changed its health classifications. Those DOs currently practicing who have AOA certificates got grandfathered in, but all new DOs wanting to practice there have to have an ABMS certificate. And this is a trend taking place in many countries. The AOA still sits on a lot of money and money well spent lobbying internationally could reverse this trend and help preserve its colleges and specialty boards.

From a Current AOA certificate Holder who practiced internationally for a year.
 
mkitty said:
Can DOs work internationally? I'd like to possibly work in a developing country for a year or two. And summer missions to countries other than the US once I become an awesome doctor. I was wondering if DOs are recognized internationally and if anyone has seen/experienced a DO working abroad.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

There are janitors needed all over the world...so I would say yes.
 
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