DO not good for international interests?

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Dane07MD

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I have heard from multiple sources that if you want to pracitce medicine internationally at some point, going the osteopathic route can ultimately prove quite restrictive. is this true? Is this changing? Is there literature somewhere supporting this? Does anyone have thoughts on this? For what reasons is DO more restrictive than MD?? Thanks in advance for any info y'all can offer me!


Dane
 
If you're thinking doctors without borders or the like then no, it does not matter. If you want to actually set up a practice then it just depends on the country. Google works wonders. The list is constantly growing.
 
many foreign countries make it difficult for *any* non-citizen physician to get licensed for permanent practice. Please keep this in mind when looking at the DO international licensure lists.
 
Dane07MD said:
I have heard from multiple sources that if you want to pracitce medicine internationally at some point, going the osteopathic route can ultimately prove quite restrictive. is this true? Is this changing? Is there literature somewhere supporting this? Does anyone have thoughts on this? For what reasons is DO more restrictive than MD?? Thanks in advance for any info y'all can offer me!


Dane
Click to expand...

Check out how hard it is to get licensed in different countries even with the MD. What country are you talking about, there is a faq of DO international practice rights.
 
Dane07MD said:
I have heard from multiple sources that if you want to pracitce medicine internationally at some point, going the osteopathic route can ultimately prove quite restrictive. is this true? Is this changing? Is there literature somewhere supporting this? Does anyone have thoughts on this? For what reasons is DO more restrictive than MD?? Thanks in advance for any info y'all can offer me!


Dane
Click to expand...

My family lives in another country, and so this question was of great concern for me. The DO degree is accepted in my home country, but only if you went to an ACGME accredited residency. Several countries are like that.

Unfortunately, Chocolate Bear's link is just to a PDF of a wikipedia article which had a lot of inaccuracies last time I checked. Wikiepdia has cited this broken website as one of their main references. So Dane07MD, this is a rather difficult answer to find. You need to do a lot of searching, and then look at their references. Odds are they just looked at wikipedia.

Keep in mind for those of you considering the Caribbean schools: just because they give an MD doesn't mean the rest of the world will accept it. The American DO degree is more accepted than that particular MD degree. Period. Germany, the UK (minus Ireland), Finland, Denmark, these are all places where a US DO degree is recognized, but a Caribbean MD is not (yes yes, except for Puerto Rico I hear geography nuts shout 🙂).

In short, the MD/DO training 'distinction', if any, does create obstacles to getting licensed elsewhere, but so does the country where you got trained. Not all MDs are equal. Good luck firguring out what you want to do!
 
iloveDrStill said:
Keep in mind for those of you considering the Caribbean schools: just because they give an MD doesn't mean the rest of the world will accept it. The American DO degree is more accepted than that particular MD degree. Period. Germany, the UK (minus Ireland), Finland, Denmark, these are all places where a US DO degree is recognized, but a Caribbean MD is not (yes yes, except for Puerto Rico I hear geography nuts shout 🙂).

In short, the MD/DO training 'distinction', if any, does create obstacles to getting licensed elsewhere, but so does the country where you got trained. Not all MDs are equal. Good luck firguring out what you want to do!
Click to expand...

Not all Caribbean schools are equal. I think you'll find four that allow you to practice just about anywhere.
 
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Even if you are fully licensed and board certified as an MD you can have incredible hoops to jump through in order to practice abroad. In Germany, for instance, you have to first obtain a work permit, which is tough to do since they have as many doctors as they really need already. Then, in many German states you have to spen 12 to 18 months in a "residency" doing sugery, internal medicine and another specialty before you can even approach the licensing step. You then have to register with the local medical associations and prove that you have a great enough knowledge of the German language. How many people relaly want to go through that? You're much better off going to medical school in an EU country where the hurdles are much lower.
 
I have the same concerns as you. I want to be a dermatologist in mongolia, but I'm worried that the mongolian tribesman will laugh at my DO degree 🙁
 
Dane07MD said:
I have heard from multiple sources that if you want to pracitce medicine internationally at some point, going the osteopathic route can ultimately prove quite restrictive. is this true? Is this changing? Is there literature somewhere supporting this? Does anyone have thoughts on this? For what reasons is DO more restrictive than MD?? Thanks in advance for any info y'all can offer me!


Dane
Click to expand...

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine)

Section - International variations in the D.O. degree
"In France, Germany, and Switzerland, some osteopathic practitioners are MDs who take additional courses in osteopathy after completing their medical training. In the United Kingdon, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, "osteopaths" are trained in osteopathic principles and OMM but are not physicians.
According to the BIOMEA, in most countries outside the United States, D.O. stands for “diploma of osteopathy,” not “doctor of osteopathic medicine.” The difference is that osteopaths are not trained or licensed as physicians, and therefore do not carry the same practice rights, such as surgery and prescribing medication. However, osteopaths in some countries do act as primary care providers, coordinating treatment with fully licensed physicians."

Section - International Practice Rights
"Every country has different requirements and a different way of licensing or registering osteopathic physicians and osteopaths. The only osteopathic practitioners that the U.S. Department of Education recognizes as physicians are graduates of osteopathic medical colleges in the United States. Therefore, osteopaths who have trained outside the United States are not eligible for medical licensure in the United States. On the other hand, US-trained D.O.s are currently able to practice in 45 countries with full medical rights and in several others with restricted rights.
The following is a table of International Practice Rights of U.S trained Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, as listed by the American Osteopathic Association. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine#cite_note-Int.27l_table-2An update of this listing was released in December 2007.
(Table lists Country, Medical Practice Rights, and Requirements for Licensure, updated to the 2007 version)
 
prefontaine said:
Are you sure?
Click to expand...

There's more to German medicine than one two-year old article. In 2005 Germany had nearly 4 doctors per 1000 inhabitants. However, there were areas of eastern Germany where shortages were prevalent and still are. Yet, many of these "shortage" areas still have more doctors per capita than most European countries. Germans have simply become spoiled by the traditional availability of doctors. Until 2007 doctors in Germany were required to retire at age 68 because there were too many of them-- at least according to the government. Those restrictions have been released in some areas. Also, nurses have been given the abilities to perform a lot of "doctors work" in some shortage areas-- something that many organizations have called an "innovative solution". They've also begun recruiting eastern Europeans who are out of work to fill the gap. Those guys are more than willing to take the decreased pay that rural docs in Germany have been getting forever. Further, Germany limits the number of physicians in any given locale that can accept the government's statutory insurance, and it's unlikely that any new German medical graduates will be opening shop in these shortage areas any time soon.

The bottom is that there are still more physicians per person in Germany than most developed countries. They are not evenly disbursed among the country, however, and it's not likely that they will be any time soon. Your chances as an American looking to practice there are still severely limited.... unless you mary a native.
 
Walk down any random street in most areas of Germany and you will see a doctor's office on at least every other block. I wish I were exaggerating. I lived in very very east Berlin in the most residential area imaginable and we still had 3 docs within 5 minutes walking distance. The German healthcare system has a lot of issues right now but their shortage is far different than ours. They work a fraction of the hours most American doctors work as well. The population density there is off the charts compared to areas of the US. I don't think I could drive more than 5 minutes in the most rural of areas without running into a tiny village. The population is around 82.5 million for a country about the size of Montana (<1 million).
 
Boges said:
Not all Caribbean schools are equal. I think you'll find four that allow you to practice just about anywhere.
Click to expand...

That is wrong. SGU is licensed in about 35 countries. Not 'everywhere'. If you mean anywhere in the US, then it is true.
 
Thanks for the correction 🙂. That is still less than the American DO degree though.
 
coffeeeandtea said:
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine)

Section - International variations in the D.O. degree
"In France, Germany, and Switzerland, some osteopathic practitioners are MDs who take additional courses in osteopathy after completing their medical training. In the United Kingdon, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, "osteopaths" are trained in osteopathic principles and OMM but are not physicians.
Click to expand...

Coffeeandtea, read the article carefully. As the title suggests, DOs trained in other countries are not always physicians, there are variations in the DO degree. However, US trained DOs can practice in several of those countries with unlimited rights as physicians.

"On the other hand, US-trained DOs are currently able to practice in 45 countries with full medical rights and in several others with restricted rights, according to the AOA International Licensure Summary (available to AOA members only at: http://www.doonline.org//index.cfm?PageID=lcl_main&au=A&SubPageID=lcl_interntnl). The AOA works with foreign health ministers and other health authorities to gain licensure and registration for its members on a daily basis. According to the AOA International Licensure Summary, the United Kingdom and New Zealand granted practice rights to US-trained DOs in 2005."

Here's Canada

There are two pathways for D.O. registration in British Columbia. The first recognizes the COMLEX examinations and two years of AOA certified post-graduate training. The D.O. has a limited license, and is restricted to a practice of musculoskeletal medicine. This pathway is primarily intended for the D.O. that wishes to establish an OMT focused practice. The second pathway requires completion of the MCC examinations and two years of a ACGME residency program. The D.O. will then receive an unrestricted license.
 
iloveDrStill said:
Coffeeandtea, read the article carefully. As the title suggests, DOs trained in other countries are not always physicians, there are variations in the DO degree. However, US trained DOs can practice in several of those countries with unlimited rights as physicians.

"On the other hand, US-trained DOs are currently able to practice in 45 countries with full medical rights and in several others with restricted rights, according to the AOA International Licensure Summary (available to AOA members only at: http://www.doonline.org//index.cfm?PageID=lcl_main&au=A&SubPageID=lcl_interntnl). The AOA works with foreign health ministers and other health authorities to gain licensure and registration for its members on a daily basis. According to the AOA International Licensure Summary, the United Kingdom and New Zealand granted practice rights to US-trained DOs in 2005."
Click to expand...

haha thanks, but that's why i included the second section entitled "International Practice Rights" in my post, which says the same thing that you said 🙂 i guess highlighting the part where it says "but are not physicians" was kinda misleading, my bad 😛
 
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