DO vs MD

[The1]

Hi sorry to intrude--

I am not currently a medical student but I am heavily considering going into medicine. I've been conducting research lately and I am a bit confused and hopefully someone here can clear up my confusion. Most of the information I've been able to locate on the web has been a biased opinion. Can anyone tell me in plain English, what are the differences between DO and MD??? Are the opporunities to practice the same??? Is one regarded as more superior over the other???

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[mudbug]

I have a better question for everyone: What exactly should The1 enter into the search feature to yield what s/he is looking for? What exactly would you type into the little search box to find the best threads on this subject?

 

[Adcadet]

mudbug - good idea. I'd have to go with the following in order:
1. Flame
2. ego
3. (a few four-letter words)



But then again, we don't have to be harsh to our new friend.

I think the key is what The1 already mentioned - there are a lot of biased answers to your questions. You hear everything from "DOs are one step below witch doctors" to "DOs have the best training to practice medicine." Some say "DO schools are backup schools" where some say "DO schools look at the whole picture and thus their admissions criteria are actually better than allopathic schools." Some say "the USMLE Step 1 passing rate is much higher for MD students and horribly low for DO students, obviously DO students are just MD rejects" where other say "DO students don't get taught to the boards and thus it's impressive that they do so well." Some say that the differences are real, others claim the only thing really different is perception by some biased people.

 

[Winged Scapula]

The1...

What the others are implying is that there are literally dozens (hundreds?) of threads archived on this server dealing with just this topic. Please do a search....

but beware, you will not necessarily find an unbiased opinion here either.

 

[DrMom]

Closing. Posted in multiple forums. See the open thread in pre-osteo.