Did you apply to MD and DO?

[PACmatthew]

The reality of the situation for all you whiners is that we will all have to work well together once we are done with school and residency. In our practice, we have 2 MD's, 1DO, and 2 PA's. None of us are more qulaified than any of the others, and we all work together. When one of us is on call, the rest of us are at home with our families. The on call doc has to take care of anyone's patients who call, and I can promise you that patients don't ask what your credentials are at 2:00AM. I can tell you that as a PA, they are just happy to have a knowledgable person who can help them in their crisis time. So if a patient can learn to allow even a non-physician like me who is only a PA become their primary provider of medicine, then you can imagine that the title physician means even more. And thus, DO's and MD's take a slightly different route to get here, but we all end up at the same place, governed by the exact same laws of medical practice. So get over it you bunch of whiners, or create a new forum titled "Therapy outlet for those who feel the need to defend their profession". I liked this forum a lot more when it was more about trading good information.

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[med student]

The numbers from the poll do not lie because after 86 users voted 76% of those who voted said they applied to both DO and MD schools which is kind of what I expected. In a way this is the way I think it should because the difference in the education between DO and MD is becoming insignificant. Now I am sure there are DO or MD diehards out there that will argue that they are getting a better education because there are going to be a DO/MD school but every example they use can be found at another school from the opposite side. Like when people claim DO schools are better because they are patient oriented I can show you MD schools that are patient oriented. Or if DO schools are better because they take students who have more clinical experience but I don't think this is true either because something like 90% of MD applicants have some form of clinical experience. Also people like to talk about how much clinical experience they have but I don't think this is significant because once you have enough to be sure medicine is the field for you additional experience will not make much of a difference in the long run. I am sure that being a nurse for 5 years will make learning some procedures easier to learn in medical school but I don't think it will make a difference once you are out of residency. And finally the whole claim that MD schools are better because they have better research and clinical training is not a legitimate aurgument either because not all MD school have great research and clinical training and I am sure there are some DO schools that can beat MD schools in this area. So the point is people should be worrying about getting into the best school they can that fits their particular needs and not worrying about whether it is MD or DO.

 

[guardian]

I don't have anything productive to contribute, but I'd like to give a shoutout to my friend Allan . What's up? I'm finding any excuse possible to procrastinate .

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Mr. MD or DO:
•I'm also one of those people who only applied to DO schools. I've read many books about the history of medicine. Before any dispute or quarrel, I think it's important to see through our discussion in a more broad perspective. Medicine, as we know is not in an immutable state, nor any other areas of study. There's no ultimate truth not withstanding any change by nature. Long ago, people used to draw blood out or even punctured into our brain to cure mental/physical diseases. They were perfectly justified and accepted because they were some successful cases otherwise untreated and worsened if left alone. There were also the "breave souls" who ventured into digging graves to study the human body which was illegal back then to delve into study with real human body. The result was revolutionary, proving all the medical text books and all the miseducated professors wrong. There are much more unmentioned examples but my bottom line is who are we to judge which one is better/real/superior approach to medicine (MD/DO/Etc...). We should always remember that medicine is going through so much and very rapid changes. Personally I think going DO is more future oriented, in terms of its ideology. DO is more recent, revolutionary and better suited for today and future needs in medical care. As we deal more with psychological/emotional factors into diseases, then DO becomes the next phase in medicine, where MD represents the traditional medicine which worked and will still work but a bit out-dated concerning its approach to medicine. Well, If I really wanted to go the path much more traveled, then I would go MD, whether US or forign MD's. I think 3.6gpa, 30Mcat,my rec's and extracurricular's would get me a MD degree somehow. But I chose DO because I like DO for what it is. You can justifiably say MDs are more common, more well known, well reserach funded, have easier time getting preferred residencies, and you know what those facts motivate me even more. I started my life weak. I always preferred the underdog, the unlikely, against all odds, in this way, I gain more. Through more sufferings and difficulties in life, I find more opportunities to improve myself and find the true contentment that can only found by overcoming the hardship. "To live is to suffer and to survive is to find a meaning in the suffer" My beginning will seem humble, so prosperous my future be (according to Job 8:7).

SUNY at Binghamton 2001
UMDNJ-SOM 2006•••••

 

[DOjamie]

Just my two cents: I personally only applied to DO schools, although I know I could've easily gotten into an MD school. BUT: I totally think everyone is entitled to apply both ways. Consider this: I know I learned something new about osteopathic medicine in general and the school specifically every time I visited a new school. So maybe by applying to both kinds, it can be just another way of exploring options, much in the same way we all probably did before applying. I know the urge to be defensive about DO medicine can be tempting, but why not lead the way towards working together and respecting each other's degrees ( and differences/similarities) by trying to being open minded?

 

[gbey]

To Bobo:

You made my day! I really laughed until I cry, because your comments are so true and stated so humerously. I agree with you that every time I see this discussion forum, there are a lot of people who are so defensive about the DO. That to me shows some kind of inferiority feelings in this DO-seeking people.

I am applying to med school this coming cycle, and I asked some MDs whom I work with as lab tech,about this DO/MD thing. Their answer: "IT is b/s, same thing, they do the same thing, they get the same check, it is only upto you to be good".

So, I don't think you guys should be so defensive about it.

An other MD friend who is doing his residency told said of the DOs "They do every thing MDs do, the only thing different is that they have DO at the end of their names. I asked some of this questions b/c I needed some info for my self. And you know what I will apply to both type of schools, and go to wherever I get accepted, b/c I just want to be a Doc.

Good luck to all.

Gabe

 

[haujun]

Currently I have been accepted to MD (3) and DO (3) programs, and I've decided to attend the DO school this fall.
Four years ago when I first entered the application process I did not know about the DO program. With a low MCAT score of 25 and GPA of 3.7 from highly selective university I've received seven rejections from MD schools. I've spent next four years working in the U.S. Army Medical Department. In U.S. Army I learned about osteopathic program from a DO physician who cared for my ingrown toenail. Ironically, he was against me applying to osteopathic medical school. He told me that as an osteopathic physician I will encounter many obstacles and barriers.
I improved my statistics by investing in a good MCAT book diligently studying for six months. With a MCAT score of 29 I 've applied to both DO and MD school to maximize my chance of acceptance. Finally I am successful in gaining the acceptance to medical schools. However this time I must choose between two programs. Four years ago if I had applied to DO schools I probably would had a good chance of getting an acceptance. But now just because my MCAT score improved by four points these MD schools decided to accept me. So what if my MCAT scores improved by four points. That is not an indication that I will become a better physician. I strongly believe that DO schools evaluated me as a whole person which can be a difficult and time consuming way of selecting potential physican. I feel that I got into an osteopathic medical school not because of my grades and MCAT scores, but because they approved my total package. They believed in me and now I will believe in them. I just hope I will become a best possible doctor for my patients.

 

[annushka]

just wanted to agree with bobo...i also went to D.O. school simply because i did not get into any M.D. schools. but now i feel like d.o.'s have a more fresh approach to medicine, not necessarily because of some philosophy but because people who go to d.o. school want to practice medicine, above and beyond anything.

 

[medicine2006]

Jong,
I commend you for your loyalty to DO schools which you preceived to judge your whole package. But I have to say that you are not giving enough credit to allopathic schools many of which routinely turn down higher number people to get more compassionate doctors. I have been accepted to Howard which directly states that their number one criteria is not academics but personal attributes. This is why thier scores maybe a bit lower but they tend to get people who REALLY want to work in underserved areas/