Young Jock,
We've all posted our feelings on the issue. Keep in mind that this is primarily an osteopathic site; people show bias towards their own program and DO students/physicians are no exception.
Here is what you should do:
1. Think about why you're entering medicine. Do you want to be a family doc or work in OMM? Or do you want to do academic medicine or surgery? The latter two will be much tougher as a DO.
2. What are your feelings about OMM? I know for a fact that it does work, dramatically in my case. But will you use it? I won't--I want to get a residency in radiology.
3. How much do you want to have to explain yourself? I felt like I had done enough of it by going to college and doing well on the MCAT; by writing the bloody long AMCAS application; and by flying all over the country, at my own great expense, to promote myself. I don't have any patience for dealing with the ignorance of those many people who don't know a DO from an OD.
Lastly, get out there and do a lot of talking with people who are in the field. My first DO contact was a guy who works with three other docs, all of whom are MDs. The MDs told me that he doesn't do much OMM at all. It's a very demanding form of treatment that requires a lot of regular practice to be of any use to your patients with it. Even the AOA laments the fact that DOs aren't using it very much, which makes them more and more like their allopathic counterparts--and weakens the argument for going into osteopathy in the first place.
