DO=Physician?

Started by Helen Wheels
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Helen Wheels

Helen Wheels

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Has anyone else noticed the current poll on the SDN home page? As of today, 18% of respondents do not feel a DO has the right to be called a physician. Yes, I know that it isn't a truly scientific sampling but you'd think the people on SDN would be a little better informed.

:wtf:
 
FuturePittMed said:
Has anyone else noticed the current poll on the SDN home page? As of today, 18% of respondents do not feel a DO has the right to be called a physician. Yes, I know that it isn't a truly scientific sampling but you'd think the people on SDN would be a little better informed.

:wtf:
Click to expand...

Many people don't know what a DO is.
 
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I'm especially confused by the 4% who don't believe MDs are physicians.
 
angryazn88 said:
i bet you most of them are ignorant premeds
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We have a Dental, Pharmacy, Psychology, Therapy, and Podiatry forum. Not to mention you don't have to be logged in to vote. I don't think its malice but rather that people in those forum's haven't ever had experience with DO's. While of course I bet maybe 1-2% might be due to ignorant pre-meds and carib students, the main is due to uninformed persons in the other forums.
I think we tend to forget that SDN is more then Pre-allo and Pre-osteo.
 
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haha I was definitely opening this thread thinking someone was asking if a DO is a physician and I was hoping to convince them DO's really clean hospitals, they arent doctors😛 (as a joke)

"18% do not think DO is a physician" well i would love to have one of these people come into my ER in 10 years and I will make sure to write "saved by a DO" with a scalpul on their forehead lol
 
82% for SDN ain't too shabby. Think of all the people on this site who get their jollies DO bashing and couldn't submit the DO =/= PHYSICIAN HAHAHAHA results fast enough ... they were overwhelmingly wiped out by common sense in this poll.
 
:laugh: Well, apparently 12% of the people who voted feel that an Optometrist should be considered a physician...
 
How does it matter what others think.
It matters what do you you think and believe.
I belive that I will be a good physician. and do not care much what route it is.
Just have confidenance in yourself.
 
pcard said:
How does it matter what others think.
It matters what do you you think and believe.
I belive that I will be a good physician. and do not care much what route it is.
Just have confidenance in yourself.
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It isn't so much that any of us care what they think, so much as being suprised by the ignorance
 
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I think the poll is significant because if the general population on a pre-health careers forum thinks this way, the public may not recognize the role DOs play in health care as well as we'd like them to.
 
taylormade2006 said:
I think the poll is significant because if the general population on a pre-health careers forum thinks this way, the public may not recognize the role DOs play in health care as well as we'd like them to.
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And 5% of the pre-health people don't think MD=physician...yeah this is crazy signficant. My guess is a good portion of people aren't checking "D.O." more along the lines of holding some grudge than not knowing what role DOs play in healthcare.
 
FuturePittMed said:
Has anyone else noticed the current poll on the SDN home page? As of today, 18% of respondents do not feel a DO has the right to be called a physician. Yes, I know that it isn't a truly scientific sampling but you'd think the people on SDN would be a little better informed.

:wtf:
Click to expand...


Yeah, more likely it's just that people responding to the survey have never heard of a DO. I'm sure there are few hardcore people out there who believe that only an MD can be referred to a as physician, but I'm pretty confident that those are in the minority.

Interesting story - my school's white coat ceremony includes other health professionals (dental, podiatry, etc). One of my fellow students overheard this when they were sitting in the crowd:

Person A: "What's a DO?"
Person B: "I don't know, I think they're like fake doctors or something."
 
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I just took the poll and voted for MD, DO and DVM. I was disappointed at the DO poll results (sheesh) but more surprised that only 20% of pollsters viewed a veterinarian as a physician. Come on...the only profession that's completely analogous to MD/DO and has to know many more physiologies than we do? Puh-leez.
😎
 
primadonna22274 said:
I just took the poll and voted for MD, DO and DVM. I was disappointed at the DO poll results (sheesh) but more surprised that only 20% of pollsters viewed a veterinarian as a physician. Come on...the only profession that's completely analogous to MD/DO and has to know many more physiologies than we do? Puh-leez.
😎
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Not calling someone a physician isn't saying that they know less medicine or are somehow inferior. Veterinarians are highly qualified, but they aren't qualified to treat humans...which in my mind would preclude them from being called a physician. But maybe thats just me.

This is really dumb and splitting hairs anyway. Who cares.
 
Physician = MD/DO only IMO.

Vets, DPM, dentists, etc are all highly trained, excellent professionals, but they aren't physicians. There is nothing wrong with it, but, to me, I just don't see how they are physicians??? If you walked into an office that said:

"Dr. John Doe, Physician"

on the window, my guess is that you'd be pretty shocked to open the door and see the guy working on a horse.
 
JaggerPlate said:
If you walked into an office that said:

"Dr. John Doe, Physician"

on the window, my guess is that you'd be pretty shocked to open the door and see the guy working on a horse.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity I checked Merriam Webster and here is what it says is the definition of the word "physician":
1
: a person skilled in the art of healing; specifically : one educated, clinically experienced, and licensed to practice medicine as usually distinguished from surgery

2
: one exerting a remedial or salutary influence

I guess from a technical standpoint every profession in that poll is a physician. But the actual connotation in society is different as Jagger pointed out.
 
FuturePittMed said:
Out of curiosity I checked Merriam Webster and here is what it says is the definition of the word "physician":
1
: a person skilled in the art of healing; specifically : one educated, clinically experienced, and licensed to practice medicine as usually distinguished from surgery
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Am I correct in understanding this definition is saying surgeons aren't doctors?
 
JaggerPlate said:
Physician = MD/DO only IMO.

Vets, DPM, dentists, etc are all highly trained, excellent professionals, but they aren't physicians. There is nothing wrong with it, but, to me, I just don't see how they are physicians??? If you walked into an office that said:

"Dr. John Doe, Physician"

on the window, my guess is that you'd be pretty shocked to open the door and see the guy working on a horse.
Click to expand...

👍 I'm surprised any of this is even up for debate.
 
?
JaggerPlate said:
Physician = MD/DO only IMO.

Vets, DPM, dentists, etc are all highly trained, excellent professionals, but they aren't physicians. There is nothing wrong with it, but, to me, I just don't see how they are physicians??? If you walked into an office that said:

"Dr. John Doe, Physician"

on the window, my guess is that you'd be pretty shocked to open the door and see the guy working on a horse.
Click to expand...

Haha. I actually lol'ed.


I think podiatrists are physicians as well. They do procedures, prescribe drugs, see patients, etc.. just my take though.
 
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As a rule, I generally ignore 10-15% on each end of a poll. The middle 80% is what matters. Harper's Magazine publishes the Harpers Index every month and some of the polls cited are fascinating. A few months ago, they wrote that 20% of people over the age of 18 believe that standing up after sex is an effective form of contraception. (Don't hold me to those numbers -- I can't remember it exactly).

So when a SDN poll says 18 percent of people here think a DO is not a physician, I write that off as ignorance or polling error.

You've got to remember than a significant portion of the world is full of flaming idiots. SDN is not immune to this.
 
MightyMoose said:
?

Haha. I actually lol'ed.


I think podiatrists are physicians as well. They do procedures, prescribe drugs, see patients, etc.. just my take though.
Click to expand...

I've gotten wrapped up in the DPM = physician, podiatry school = medical school, etc, debate before ... and I stand by the DO/MD = physician (exclusively) statement. Podiatrists are highly trained, very good at what they do, work along side DO/MDs every day, etc, but when it comes down to it ... there are just very basic differences (scope, ability to specialize, school curriculum, board exams, script rights, etc) between the DPM and DO/MD.

I think I may be a bit more sensitive to this issue as well because it seems like just about every health profession in existence right now wants the right to prance around in a white coat, call themselves a physician, get reimbursed at physician rates, etc, BUT they do NOT want to put in the time, dedication, sacrifice, etc, involved with attending medical school.

Check out the huge DNP issue right now if anyone care to investigate further.
 
As a pharm student, I voted for DO, MD and DVM, because DVMs are physicians of animals. I didn't get this poll..it seemed like it should have said "Which of these should be called a doctor?" because I think it's obvious that Pharm.Ds, ODs, DPMs, etc are not PHYSICIANS. Will I be a doctor? Yes. (To those of you who disagree, you are welcome to go to a top hospital and refuse the help of the clinical pharmacists who are regularly referred to as doctor; it's your ass.)
 
Carboxide said:
As a pharm student, I voted for DO, MD and DVM, because DVMs are physicians of animals. I didn't get this poll..it seemed like it should have said "Which of these should be called a doctor?" because I think it's obvious that Pharm.Ds, ODs, DPMs, etc are not PHYSICIANS. Will I be a doctor? Yes. (To those of you who disagree, you are welcome to go to a top hospital and refuse the help of the clinical pharmacists who are regularly referred to as doctor; it's your ass.)
Click to expand...

How many pharmacists actually land positions working bedside in the hospital? I can't imagine very many per graduating class.
 
I know a girl in optometery school that calls herself a doctor! It annoys the crap out of me! I would rather call a dentist a doctor rather than her!
 
Carboxide said:
As a pharm student, I voted for DO, MD and DVM, because DVMs are physicians of animals. I didn't get this poll..it seemed like it should have said "Which of these should be called a doctor?" because I think it's obvious that Pharm.Ds, ODs, DPMs, etc are not PHYSICIANS. Will I be a doctor? Yes. (To those of you who disagree, you are welcome to go to a top hospital and refuse the help of the clinical pharmacists who are regularly referred to as doctor; it's your ass.)
Click to expand...

If you teach, your students will call you Dr. Carboxide. That's why the question was phrased as "Physician" and not "Doctor." Because if it wasn't everyone with a PhD and any title essentially ending or containing a "D" would also be included in the poll and most likely voted for. 😉
 
DoktorB said:
How many pharmacists actually land positions working bedside in the hospital? I can't imagine very many per graduating class.
Click to expand...

Overall? About 30% of pharmacists work in non-retail. The majority of that is hospital.

At my COP, though, I think 77% went into hospital or a PGY-1 last year.
 
MightyMoose said:
If you teach, your students will call you Dr. Carboxide. That's why the question was phrased as "Physician" and not "Doctor." Because if it wasn't everyone with a PhD and any title essentially ending or containing a "D" would also be included in the poll and most likely voted for. 😉
Click to expand...

Of course they will. But so will the attending physicians, patients and other staff on the multidisciplinary team.
 
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Carboxide said:
Overall? About 30% of pharmacists work in non-retail. The majority of that is hospital.

At my COP, though, I think 77% went into hospital or a PGY-1 last year.
Click to expand...

I always thought being a clinical pharmacist would be a sweet job. Too much pharmacokinetics/dynamics for me to want to get a pharmD though 😀
 
MightyMoose said:
If you teach, your students will call you Dr. Carboxide. That's why the question was phrased as "Physician" and not "Doctor." Because if it wasn't everyone with a PhD and any title essentially ending or containing a "D" would also be included in the poll and most likely voted for. 😉
Click to expand...

Exactly. Technically, anyone with a doctoral degree is a 'DR' of whatever. The question is who qualifies as a physician ... the answer is DO/MD.

With regard to the DVM thing again ... if they can call themselves a physician, can I call myself a vet (I'm a DO med student)?
 
Carboxide said:
Of course they will. But so will the attending physicians, patients and other staff on the multidisciplinary team.
Click to expand...

I'm not discounting that. I think any physician worth his salt will value his PharmD and respect that individual by calling them Dr. So and so, but my point was to differentiate why the question was phrased using the term "physician" and not "doctor." 😉
 
JaggerPlate said:
Exactly. Technically, anyone with a doctoral degree is a 'DR' of whatever. The question is who qualifies as a physician ... the answer is DO/MD.

With regard to the DVM thing again ... if they can call themselves a physician, can I call myself a vet (I'm a DO med student)?
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you. DVM =/= physician. They are veterinarians, which is their own special title.
 
MightyMoose said:
I'm not discounting that. I think any physician worth his salt will value his PharmD and respect that individual by calling them Dr. So and so, but my point was to differentiate why the question was phrased using the term "physician" and not "doctor." 😉
Click to expand...

Very true, and we agree completely. I just found it curious that they DID phrase it that way, because I have a hard time seeing anyone other than a medical doctor making a case for being a physician. (Vets, in my opinion, are medical doctors...for animals 😀).
 
painmd87 said:
As a rule, I generally ignore 10-15% on each end of a poll. The middle 80% is what matters. Harper's Magazine publishes the Harpers Index every month and some of the polls cited are fascinating. A few months ago, they wrote that 20% of people over the age of 18 believe that standing up after sex is an effective form of contraception. (Don't hold me to those numbers -- I can't remember it exactly).

So when a SDN poll says 18 percent of people here think a DO is not a physician, I write that off as ignorance or polling error.

You've got to remember than a significant portion of the world is full of flaming idiots. SDN is not immune to this.
Click to expand...

Well... Yea...

It's called gravity... :laugh:
 
Precisely my line of thinking. I sure as heck expect an animal physician's expertise when I take my lame dog to the vet hoping he can help her walk again...(he did, thank you, and thank God for steroids).
😉
Carboxide said:
As a pharm student, I voted for DO, MD and DVM, because DVMs are physicians of animals. I didn't get this poll..it seemed like it should have said "Which of these should be called a doctor?" because I think it's obvious that Pharm.Ds, ODs, DPMs, etc are not PHYSICIANS. Will I be a doctor? Yes. (To those of you who disagree, you are welcome to go to a top hospital and refuse the help of the clinical pharmacists who are regularly referred to as doctor; it's your ass.)
Click to expand...
 
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