D.o...m.d

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kyleg82

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what if i choose to attend an osteopathic school, and go on to become a D.O. after many years of discrimination, i feel the urge to become an M.D. instead.

an associate of mine did this precise thing.

my question: how does a D.O. become an M.D. (assuming that s/he did an allopathic residency program)? that is, what tests/additional schooling does s/he have to complete?
 
I guess if you wanted to you would have to go back to allopathic school again after you become a D.O. I don't know that you can once you complete your residency. If you are afraid of discrimination, why even choose to go D.O. I think there will be less discrimination though.
 
carribean buddy.
 
I've only heard of this in CA when they tried to wipe out DO's and converted all that desired it to a MD for $65 and a couple of signatures. The AMA has had a long and vicious history against DO's, but that is much better now. They even tried to keep DO's out of the military.
 
JKDMed said:
This won't happen, so don't worry about it.

check the old posts; i read once that there's a carib school that lets DOs take online classes for 6 months or a year or something and they get an MD degree from there school...this is after you've gotten your DO and take this "transition course"

i guess its worth it for some people who really want "MD" behind their names
 
I have heard of this school...I used to have the name of it because some friends and I were making fun of that exact fact...but can't find it anywhere in my email. If I come across it again, I'll post.
 
Recall when you said you will do anything needed to become a Doctor... well here the DO field is giving you a chance to become a Doctor and the best thing you can do is worry about what people think before you even start medical school.

Don't go into DO prefession if you are weak at heart and can't deal with having a DO after your name instead of an MD. SARCASIM: You patients are definitely going to complain and walk out when they find out your a DO... especially if you are working in an ER and the patients are dying.. I am sure they will sue you for treating them.

By the time you finish medical school and doing a residency.. you will forget what your degree is. You will be too tired and over worked to remember your name. BTW.. so will other physicians.. MD or DO.

You enjoy Running/reading a politics. Runners push to do better agaist the odds, authors introduce new and contreversial ideas and polititicians (idealy) fight for what is best for the people... even if they have to do something unpopular.
 
Remember though, this is only useful for advertising purposes in a private practice. It's not going to help you whatsoever in landing a job or anything. Also, why aren't you going to the Caribbean to begin with? Here is the site: http://www.uhsa.ag/pstudent/four/resdt/
 
Jeez, people that whine about their own decisions aggravate me to no end. What if I choose to become a primary care doctor only to face discrimination from surgeons? What if I choose to become a surgeon only to face discrimination from primare care doctors? What if I choose to marry a woman and later decide I don't like her? What if I choose to buy a car and later decide I want another?

GET A BACKBONE!!!!!

Trust me, a degree is NOT going to erase your ego or inferiority problems, they'll still be there in a different form (like my example above...an MD with ego problems resents he couldn't become a surgeon).

Work on your self-esteem and the rest will fall into place. Be who you are without worrying about what other people think.

OK, I'm done...carry on.
 
Shinken... buying a Car is a serious thing... don't jocke about that.
If I bought the wrong car and I don't like it after a week I would flip out and throw the car off a cliff. You know what I mean.

Wife... haaaaa.... the best thing to do is tell her how you feelll... I am sure she will understand.. haaaaaaaaaa. BTW.. make sure you tell her from another country with an unknown location.. cause she will hunt you down and cut your.. oppps.. got to go.

OK I am done too... carry on
 
dr.z said:
I guess if you wanted to you would have to go back to allopathic school again after you become a D.O.
Not only that, but I seriously doubt that an MD school would let in a disgruntled DO who had practiced medicine as a DO. It would be a total waste of resources, as DOs are = to MDs. A person (DO) who would attempt this would have to have an enormous and frail ego to want to go thru 4+ more years of training just because someone 'slighted' him for being a DO-and adcoms would pick up on this immediately. DOs are legally ensured practice rights equal to MDs, so any 'persecution' that DOs get certainly won't affect them professionally-therefore any reasons to attempt an MD degree after receieving a DO degree would be purely ego-motivated!
 
docbill, I totally agree with you. I don't know why people would ever choose the carib route. I think allo's are now coming around to the osteo way of thinking.
 
kyleg82 said:
what if i choose to attend an osteopathic school, and go on to become a D.O. after many years of discrimination, i feel the urge to become an M.D. instead.

an associate of mine did this precise thing.

my question: how does a D.O. become an M.D. (assuming that s/he did an allopathic residency program)? that is, what tests/additional schooling does s/he have to complete?

I have had a lot of stupid thoughts in my 30 something years, you have clearly out-done me. What an absurd thought. Why don't you ask your "associate" what precise thing he had to do, and then you guys can hang out together and feed each other more of this brain food. Get a clue dude!
 
kyleg82 said:
what if i choose to attend an osteopathic school, and go on to become a D.O. after many years of discrimination, i feel the urge to become an M.D. instead.

an associate of mine did this precise thing.

my question: how does a D.O. become an M.D. (assuming that s/he did an allopathic residency program)? that is, what tests/additional schooling does s/he have to complete?

🙄 serously, we need to stop responding to the thread like this...especially if the thread starter has no posts or change/made up the username to start the conversial thread and probably start this thread to bring emotion into DO community... 👎.
Remember even with this extra training your DO degree will be a part of who you are, hence DO, MD.

Who is your associate? Are you a doctor or blowing a hot air?
 
well all of these other replies are great, but I figured I stick in my 2 cents. I am a 3rd year student who attends a DO school. I am currently rotating at an allopathic hospital for my clinicals - with a bunch of people from the Caribbean. I don’t feel that they have any advantage over me just because they will have an MD after their name; in fact I have been getting more questions correct on rounds and have been assigned more patients to care for 😀 . That’s beside the point – don’t go to an osteopathic school unless you want to be a DO. We have the same education (I think better) as MDs plus we have additional skills that we can use to help our patients. And don’t worry about discrimination, it doesn’t happen anymore and most programs love to see DOs apply.
Good luck!
 
lirpa28 said:
well all of these other replies are great, but I figured I stick in my 2 cents. I am a 3rd year student who attends a DO school. I am currently rotating at an allopathic hospital for my clinicals - with a bunch of people from the Caribbean. I don’t feel that they have any advantage over me just because they will have an MD after their name; in fact I have been getting more questions correct on rounds and have been assigned more patients to care for 😀 . That’s beside the point – don’t go to an osteopathic school unless you want to be a DO. We have the same education (I think better) as MDs plus we have additional skills that we can use to help our patients. And don’t worry about discrimination, it doesn’t happen anymore and most programs love to see DOs apply.
Good luck!

You mean to say that *gasp!* the real world is not like SDN ?!?!?! :wow:
 
Shinken said:
You mean to say that *gasp!* the real world is not like SDN ?!?!?! :wow:
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Yeah, that is a stunner!
 
to tell you the truth, i didn't expect such an emotional response with my thread. to give you a little insight about my background, i am currently not in medical school. however, i have an excellent chance at attending an unnamed osteopathic school next year, or wait a 2-3 years for an allopathic school. so those of you who suggested that i just go to allopathic school, it doesn't make sense temporally. i had questions about osteopathic medicine because my long-term goal is pursue third-world medicine. and with a little research, one will find that some countries are less accepting of D.O.s vs. M.D.s. and that is why i initially asked about the prereqs for a D.O. to become a M.D.

by the way, the reason i have no posts is because i just got a new screenname. i forgot my last screename.
 
Doc 34, take no offense. DO's are tired of Pre-MD's being a royal pain and only attending osteo as a backup plan. Maybe I'll see you this August 🙂
 
the response by doc34 was by kyleg82. i used a public computer that was already logged on by another user. doc34, my apologies.
 
:scared: how do you forget a screen name that is at the top of this page?????????????????????????????? 🙄
 
FowlersGap said:
check the old posts; i read once that there's a carib school that lets DOs take online classes for 6 months or a year or something and they get an MD degree from there school...this is after you've gotten your DO and take this "transition course"

True, but you can't practice with that MD, it simply sits behind the name. Of course, you wouldn't need it with a DO, but I'm just pointing out that the licensure would be because of the DO degree, not the MD that was earned later.
 
lirpa28 said:
well all of these other replies are great, but I figured I stick in my 2 cents. I am a 3rd year student who attends a DO school. I am currently rotating at an allopathic hospital for my clinicals - with a bunch of people from the Caribbean. I don’t feel that they have any advantage over me just because they will have an MD after their name; in fact I have been getting more questions correct on rounds and have been assigned more patients to care for 😀 . That’s beside the point – don’t go to an osteopathic school unless you want to be a DO. We have the same education (I think better) as MDs plus we have additional skills that we can use to help our patients. And don’t worry about discrimination, it doesn’t happen anymore and most programs love to see DOs apply.
Good luck!

Wow, you have been performing up to par with, or even slightly better than students from the caribbean!?? Five giant pats on the back for you! You have bested the best of the mediocre!
 
odieoh said:
Wow, you have been performing up to par with, or even slightly better than students from the caribbean!?? Five giant pats on the back for you! You have bested the best of the mediocre!


How can Caribbean students be mediocre?!? They have the letters M. and D. after their names. Those initials transform you into a semi-God, right? People travel halfway across the globe from the US just for those two initials, since DOs are indeed sub-par physicians with sub-par educations.

🙄

Wow...another DO vs MD vs Caribbean MD vs whatever.
 
.
I think this dog is looong dead 👎
 
OrthoFixation said:
.
I think this dog is looong dead 👎

Let's hope so. Either that or have the thread become an actual useful discussion (riiight...this is SDN. Who am I kidding?)
 
We still talking about this...
at least next time give it capital letters.

DO.vs.MD. (Round 235443664) and not that pathetic D.o....m.d.
 
Ortho,

You coming to GA-PCOM or still undecided?



OrthoFixation said:
Doc 34, take no offense. DO's are tired of Pre-MD's being a royal pain and only attending osteo as a backup plan. Maybe I'll see you this August 🙂
 
I am currently a 2nd year student and I feel obligated to give my 2 cents. Being a doctor is not about getting As and 4.0s and 30s on the MCAT. I will tell you from experience that there are a lot of people in my class who have steller records, grades, experience, etc but they are going to be terrible doctors. Tallking to some of them is like talking to a wall. Some have no people skills and it is obvious that their hearts are not in it. DONT do medicine because someone pushed you into it or because you just feel like its the next step b/c you have good grades or like science. Ask yourself, do you have a passion and compassion for people? Are you willing to work 20 hour days with your only grattitude sometimes being vomited upon by the drunk that you are obligated to take care of? Can you relate and put yourself into the shoes of the wife whose husband you just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has a prognosis of only weeks? My poinit is medicine is not for everyone. I am not in anyway implying that you fall into this catagory but I would seriously suggest you look deep inside and decide whether or not this is really what you want. If all you want is to be a doctor no matter what then be thrilled that you get the opportunity to be a physican whether that means being a DO or an MD. NO ONE CARES which that you are as long as you provide care that is patient oriented. Ask around. Lots of patients get treated by nurse practioners and PAs and they think they are doctors. Our goal is to take care of patients to the best of our ability and not get caught up in our title. If you get tripped up in the letters after your name then your priorities are definately in the wrong place. The only thing that allopathic residencies may require of a DO is that they take the USMLE step I and II. That is a piece of cake and lots of people do it.
 
kyleg82 said:
what if i choose to attend an osteopathic school, and go on to become a D.O. after many years of discrimination, i feel the urge to become an M.D. instead.

an associate of mine did this precise thing.

my question: how does a D.O. become an M.D. (assuming that s/he did an allopathic residency program)? that is, what tests/additional schooling does s/he have to complete?
I am fortunate to live in a very "D.O. friendly state." There is very little and i mean very little, discrimination . At MSU, osteopathic and allopathic students take all of their first year basic science classes together, I have a lot of friends at the M.D. school and there is no discrimination. One of the docs who teaches us in our OMM lab is an M.D. who did an OMM fellowship. Some M.D. schools offer OMM as an elective now. It may be different in different parts of the country, but in Michigan, I truly think that any anti-osteopathic sentiment that still exists, is fading fast. Osteopathic schools are getting more and more applicants who aren't attending a D.O. school because they couldn't get into an allopathic school, they are there because they WANT to be.
Good Luck to you in the future.
 
kyleg82 said:
what if i choose to attend an osteopathic school, and go on to become a D.O. after many years of discrimination, i feel the urge to become an M.D. instead.

an associate of mine did this precise thing.

my question: how does a D.O. become an M.D. (assuming that s/he did an allopathic residency program)? that is, what tests/additional schooling does s/he have to complete?

There is no way to do this other than start over at an M.D. school. There is a Caribbean medical school in Antigua that awards an M.D. so technically you could do that and claim the M.D. intials. However, I don't encourage that because everyone will soon discover you bought your M.D. title from a diploma mill and you wil the source of ridicule everywhere particularly when you are seeking hospital priviledges and they see you are a D.O. who acquired an M.D. title by some on-line correspondence course in Antigua.
 
Shinken said:
How can Caribbean students be mediocre?!? They have the letters M. and D. after their names. Those initials transform you into a semi-God, right? People travel halfway across the globe from the US just for those two initials, since DOs are indeed sub-par physicians with sub-par educations.

🙄

Wow...another DO vs MD vs Caribbean MD vs whatever.

Exactly, I'm a DO and I think it's ridiculous that a DO wouldn't be understanding of IMG's. As a DO, I can assure you that I have not met anyone in my class who said anything negative about an IMG. And to be honest with you, the overwhelming majority of U.S. M.D. graduates will not discriminate against you either. You will find that discrimination usually originates from people who have issues themselves. It's an individual thing.
 
Doc34 said:
to tell you the truth, i didn't expect such an emotional response with my thread. to give you a little insight about my background, i am currently not in medical school. however, i have an excellent chance at attending an unnamed osteopathic school next year, or wait a 2-3 years for an allopathic school. so those of you who suggested that i just go to allopathic school, it doesn't make sense temporally. i had questions about osteopathic medicine because my long-term goal is pursue third-world medicine. and with a little research, one will find that some countries are less accepting of D.O.s vs. M.D.s. and that is why i initially asked about the prereqs for a D.O. to become a M.D.

by the way, the reason i have no posts is because i just got a new screenname. i forgot my last screename.

Wow! People can be so harsh to strangers on the web! Sorry dude! Instead of road rage, it's like page rage in here.

Doc34 you have a legit question. DO and MD programs and degrees are distinct, and in the US they are legally equivalent. Abroad, it is complicated. It sounds like you are eager to start school and become a doc, and you are doing your homework on some really meaningful charitable work. I admire that a lot! Call the American Osteopathic Association, since they can probly tell you what overseas rights +/or limitations DO's have. Best luck! Maybe I'll see you at DO Touro Cali in fall?

Ciao!🙂 😀
 
I was just curious what people thougth of the Antigua MD program for DOs in training.
Would it help or hurt you in applying for residencies. Could you then bet your boards from AMA rather than AOA if you tried.
What are some pros/cons besides the cost of course.
Id think that if you had both DO and MD it would look pretty impressive.
Just curious what people's feed back is as far as getting into residencies.
Thanks.
 
I know that having a D.O. or M.D. doesn't matter in the hospital setting. Is there any difference when you go into private practice? I saw it mentioned on one of the earlier postings. I was just curious as to what you all thought about the different titles in the private setting.
 
eag said:
I know that having a D.O. or M.D. doesn't matter in the hospital setting. Is there any difference when you go into private practice? I saw it mentioned on one of the earlier postings. I was just curious as to what you all thought about the different titles in the private setting.

I'm not sure. In the private sector its really about running your own business. U have to really sell urself regardless of ur title. The best thing to do regardless is to get ur name out and then ppl will refer friends and family to you. Do this by going to community events, church, etc. Or u can just join a large medical group, but then i dont think u really are in charge of ur practice then. "It's the dam administrators!!!" as a church friend who's a doctor told me. :laugh:
 
People when will you learn that this whole DO-MD thing is a huge issue as a premed, a smaller issue as a med student, AND a nonissue as a doctor in the real world. DOs work side by side with MDs each and every day. There are no problems with it. We have DOs that teach us AND MD that teach us at my school.

We have clinical experiences with DOs and MDs and guess what....we are treated equally good by both.

I don't care what will follow my name. I am going to be a doctor with patients to treat and the initials behind my name are not going affect how good of a doctor I am going to be. It simply is not an issue in the real world.
 
What about for licensure?
Say you went the DO route then wanted to apply to an allo residency. If you were accepted it might be useful to go to the Antgua program to get the MD so then you can save hassles with certification.
Im not sure this is just my speculation of one instance were the program might be useful.
It could be frustrating having to explain to people constantly why you got the MD from the Antigua program etc.
My question was more about the reputation of the Antigua program and would getting that extra degree help or hurt you in the future or be a total waste? Just curious what other people thing.

Thanks.
 
amccague said:
What about for licensure?
Say you went the DO route then wanted to apply to an allo residency. If you were accepted it might be useful to go to the Antgua program to get the MD so then you can save hassles with certification.
Im not sure this is just my speculation of one instance were the program might be useful.
It could be frustrating having to explain to people constantly why you got the MD from the Antigua program etc.
My question was more about the reputation of the Antigua program and would getting that extra degree help or hurt you in the future or be a total waste? Just curious what other people thing.

Thanks.

I don't know how true this is, but when I was in Australia in 2003 it was mentioned to people who wanted to do residencies in the US that IMG's are at a disadvantage when applying to residencies (as compared to US DO/MD grads)

Also in regards to the topic of the thread, I will share what my family practice DO said to me when I was applying. He and his two DO colleagues have been practicing for more than 30 years and have collectively done pretty much everything from teaching at medical school to heading up departments in both allo and osteo settings. He said that over his career the discrimination has decreased greatly. Yes, MDs might want you to prove yourself as a DO, but that's not going to be a problem as the training you will have received will more than prepare you to thrive in either the osteo or allo world. The only real negativity will be inside yourself. If you're not 100% comfortable with having DO after your name then don't go into it, otherwise it doesn't matter. I mean, docs from other countries don't get 'MDs', they just call themselves that when in the US. My dad is from Australia and got a Bachelor of Medicine.

The MDs in my family were furious when I decided to even apply to DO school. I'm slowly working on them🙂 But, I asked myself, am I going into medicine to practice quality healthcare or to keep up with the MD Joneses on the ski slopes?
 
dave262 said:
Isnt a DO what you get in optometry school?

*fans flames*
No, it's for Chiropractors. :laugh:


COMP 2009
 
drmanyee999 said:
The MDs in my family were furious when I decided to even apply to DO school. I'm slowly working on them

I find this statement interesting because it contradicts the commonly expressed idea on this forum that there is very little discrimination in the "real world" of medicine.

Thoughts?
 
JakeHarley said:
I find this statement interesting because it contradicts the commonly expressed idea on this forum that there is very little discrimination in the "real world" of medicine.

Thoughts?

Since this is my statement, I shall expand somewhat. These family members went to Ivy League Schools in th 70's and thought that DO was inferior to MD and thus wanted to disuade me from making that choice. They also live in a state which has a very small DO population and I believe doesn't have a DO school. Once I coaxed them into actually looking into the truth of the matter, not only did they find that this was not the case, they even found some of their colleagues were DO's!

In my example, it was prejudice rather than discrimination.
 
drmanyee999 said:
Since this is my statement, I shall expand somewhat. These family members went to Ivy League Schools in th 70's and thought that DO was inferior to MD and thus wanted to disuade me from making that choice. They also live in a state which has a very small DO population and I believe doesn't have a DO school. Once I coaxed them into actually looking into the truth of the matter, not only did they find that this was not the case, they even found some of their colleagues were DO's!

In my example, it was prejudice rather than discrimination.

Thanks for the informative reply!
 
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