Hello everyone. My college (before I graduated) invited a DO to present and the whole-patient approach to medicine really appealed to me. I'm currently working in Integrative Medicine doing research at a cancer hospital and it has only further added fuel to the fire towards the DO. it's about treating the whole patient, not just the disease.
That being said I want to be a surgeon. That may all change in med school but for now I want to be a surgeon.
The DOs I have approached were put off by that and I can understand-- surgery is invasive and often treats the disease completely contrasted to the DO methodology. But the DOs I've talked won't answer my questions and it just makes me very frustrated and headed back towards applying to MDs.
I know that a surgical DO is possible because I learned about it at the presentation. Now I just want to know more. I would appreciate anyone who would look past the fact that I am a walking oxymoron and give me some insight.
Are surgical DOs prohibited or discouraged from specializing in a surgical field? Isn't it possible to want to try to treat the patient as best non-surgically before choosing surgery as the last resort? Can't I want to be responsible for even the surgical portion of a patient's health care? Arguably post-surgical patients are more in need of the whole-patient-body approach. Will I be discriminated against in surgical programs because I am a DO and not an MD?
Thanks in advance...
That being said I want to be a surgeon. That may all change in med school but for now I want to be a surgeon.
The DOs I have approached were put off by that and I can understand-- surgery is invasive and often treats the disease completely contrasted to the DO methodology. But the DOs I've talked won't answer my questions and it just makes me very frustrated and headed back towards applying to MDs.
I know that a surgical DO is possible because I learned about it at the presentation. Now I just want to know more. I would appreciate anyone who would look past the fact that I am a walking oxymoron and give me some insight.
Are surgical DOs prohibited or discouraged from specializing in a surgical field? Isn't it possible to want to try to treat the patient as best non-surgically before choosing surgery as the last resort? Can't I want to be responsible for even the surgical portion of a patient's health care? Arguably post-surgical patients are more in need of the whole-patient-body approach. Will I be discriminated against in surgical programs because I am a DO and not an MD?
Thanks in advance...