no beef at all with osteopathic surgical programs, but if you want to pursue an academic career then allopathic programs are a good option.
my experience is with ortho programs, but generally osteopathic = a lot of surgical experience/hands on but little formal didactics/research vs. allopathic = variable surgical experience but a lot of formal didactics/research.
so...it depends on what you want out of it. both programs will train you to be a competent general orthopod/surgeon but an osteopathic program may limit you from an academic career.
just my thoughts.
Your experiences but not necessarily true across the board.
My program requires research. We also have weekly didactic sessions just like all of the allopathic programs in the city. We also have formal training on robotic trauma simulators as well as training on a laparascopic surgical simulator (something most allopathic programs do NOT have).
DOs have our own surgical conferences just like the MDs. These include research symposia as well as lectures, demos, drug reps, etc.
Also, if you want to go into academics...well, there are 25+ DO schools that need surgeons in an academic capacity, not to mention clinical instructors for DO schools as well as DO residencies.
Lets do the numbers:
There are 250 Allopathic General Surgery residencies. Lets assume 6 residents per class (catergorical) = 1,250 allopathic residency grads per year (some will be DOs)
There are 40 Osteopathic General Surgery residencies. 6 residents per class (categorical) = 240 osteopathic residency grads per year
So of the graduating general surgeons on an annual basis (MD & DO) 20% of them will be DOs. Not bad when we make up roughly 10% of the physician population. Many osteopathic surgical residency grads go into subspecialty training as well (vascular, plastics, colorectal, trauma). In fact, some programs send 85%+ of their grads on to further training, both in allopathic and osteopathic programs.
SO I agree...if you want an academic spot at an allopathic institution, being an MD will generally help you...although DOs do hold academic positions at lots of larger allopathic medical schools and hospitals. (at least in Philadelphia)
You need to look at each program individually.
The PCOM program:
- requires research
- has formal didactic sessions
- trains their residents on a laparascopic simulator
- rotates residents through Memorial Sloan Kettering, Geisinger, Cooper, etc
- send nearly 90% of their grads into fellowship training
You cant tell me that I am going to be at a disadvantage in any sense.