do you ever feel glad that you're cool with osteopathic medicine?

[Doctor Bagel]

i was looking at the mcat board, and i've got to admit i'm grateful that we prospective do students can be a bit more relaxed about things like that. life's easier when you don't have to make a 40 on the mcat to be happy, you know.

anyway, i'm glad. i've gotten an acceptance, i'm going to be a doctor, and life's good. if i were deadset on going alloopathic, i'd probably be a much less happy place right now.

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[JohnnyOU]

i was looking at the mcat board, and i've got to admit i'm grateful that we prospective do students can be a bit more relaxed about things like that. life's easier when you don't have to make a 40 on the mcat to be happy, you know.

anyway, i'm glad. i've gotten an acceptance, i'm going to be a doctor, and life's good. if i were deadset on going alloopathic, i'd probably be a much less happy place right now.

Where do you think you'll go if you get a lot more acceptances?
With your stats and being an oklahoma native, you'll likely get in as OSU med school also.

Johnny

 

[crys20]

Amen sister. Applying DO has made this whole process sooo incredibly painless and relaxing...quite a reward after putting myself through hell for 3 years trying to rebuild a GPA, rock the MCAT etc. I learned about DO a little bit too late to save myself all of that!

 

[ambernikel]

This is going to sound super cheesy... but here goes... I am glad that I like osteopathic medicine because it is a more encouraging environment. But I am really glad that I've had the chance to go to and work with DO's and have had a chance to see how awesome they are. I wish more people and future med students were as lucky as I am!

 

[Daddydoc]

I agree with your Ambernikel. The first time I went on a tour of KCOM I was shocked at how encouraging they seemed. They acted like they wanted me to go to school there! I couldn't believe a medical school would act like that. After my interviews in the last few weeks I found it wasn't just KCOM--all DO schools are like that. Interviews are actually enjoyable. Even if I had no other reasons to go DO I would pick it just for the friendliness, support and encouraging atmosphere they have.

 

[HunterGatherer]

DO is where its at. I spent time in DO clinics, visited a DO school and those are my kind of people. Spent some time in 2 allopathic hospitals and it just did not seem like where I wanted to be. Pulled a 32M on the MCAT so I hope I get into my DO school of choice as I only applied DO. I agree with everyone here. Breaks my heart to read some of those distressed posters with 3.7+ GPA and 24 MCAT.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Where do you think you'll go if you get a lot more acceptances?
With your stats and being an oklahoma native, you'll likely get in as OSU med school also.

Johnny

i'm not even thinking that much about osucom since they're being such slowpokes. if i get an interview, i'll attend and assess it from there. when this process started, it was probably my top choice, but now i don't know. i've decided to not make any decisions until i have to.

 

[mhosseini]

I just learned about the DO program in May and loved it....
But on SDN, there seemed to be a lot of people who just weren't happy with Osteopathic medicine or DO and that made me sad.
so yeah, it is really nice to be happy with DO and already have an acceptance and not be worried about my future
thanx for this post...it was necessary

 

[USArmyDoc]

I like the DO philosophy and education. However, I am not going to lie when people go around saying its hard to do this and that with a DO I get a little worried. I learned to listen to the people who know what they are talking about though.

 

[Runtita]

Many people here at SDN are just blowing it out their asses. Not that this is specific to SDN- any online community has more than its fair share of blowhards.

To me the original question is kind of silly, sort of like, "Do you ever feel glad that you're still breathing?"

 

[OSUdoc08]

i'm not even thinking that much about osucom since they're being such slowpokes. if i get an interview, i'll attend and assess it from there. when this process started, it was probably my top choice, but now i don't know. i've decided to not make any decisions until i have to.

Interviews don't begin at OSU-COM until November. They haven't even began sending out invites yet for ANYONE.

 

[Hoberto]

Yeah, I'm cool with DO, but there are times when I am really frustrated by the lack of knowledge about DOs. This is mostly when I am trying to explain it to international students. I have yet to meet someone who wasn't born in the US who has heard of DO. To the these people DO sounds like some kind of crazy voodoo. The predominate questions are, why would I want to do something so weird and what if I want to practice outside of the US?

I mean, I like DO, I think ultimately these schools will be better for me than the allopathic schools but part of me wonders if I will be expaining those letters for the next 30 years.

 

[njaqua]

Yeah, I'm cool with DO, but there are times when I am really frustrated by the lack of knowledge about DOs. This is mostly when I am trying to explain it to international students. I have yet to meet someone who wasn't born in the US who has heard of DO. To the these people DO sounds like some kind of crazy voodoo. The predominate questions are, why would I want to do something so weird and what if I want to practice outside of the US?

I mean, I like DO, I think ultimately these schools will be better for me than the allopathic schools but part of me wonders if I will be expaining those letters for the next 30 years.

If it sounds like voodoo when you are explaining it maybe you should think about how your are explaining it and try a different approach. For example, many people will instantly form a bias when you use the word "holistic". It sounds like hippy, naturopathic medicine with acupuncture and herbs. However, if you explain the holistic approach (i.e. looking at the "whole person", social, behavioral, psychological aspects, etc. and how this is beneficial) without actually using the word "holistic", most people are very receptive. Unfortunately some buzzwords preculde people from actually critically thinking about a concept. Emphisize the similarities, same practice rights, prescription drugs and surgery, along with the "extra" care that D.O.s can offer. D.O philosophies are not wacky. They have a strong and often scientifically-supported basis. Some aspects (cranial, etc.) may have less solid foundations (read: dubious), but they are rarely used and certainly do not define the profession/philosophy.

 

[medhacker]

anyway, i'm glad

I hear you girl...and to give a comprehensive answer to other posters:

In my opinion:
So, some specialties may be harder for DOs...so what - I am not scared, I will do what needs to be done
So what if I have to explain the letters for 30 more years - I am not losing sleep over it.

again, this is my opinion about DOs which I think affords me quite a bit of mental health at the end of the day.

 

[JohnnyOU]

Yeah, I'm cool with DO, but there are times when I am really frustrated by the lack of knowledge about DOs. This is mostly when I am trying to explain it to international students. I have yet to meet someone who wasn't born in the US who has heard of DO. To the these people DO sounds like some kind of crazy voodoo. The predominate questions are, why would I want to do something so weird and what if I want to practice outside of the US?

I mean, I like DO, I think ultimately these schools will be better for me than the allopathic schools but part of me wonders if I will be expaining those letters for the next 30 years.

I don't see myself ever wanting to practice outside the US...
other than volunteering, such as Doctors w/o Borders...etc.. and they love DOs as much as MDs....so it's an irrelevant point.

fyi...most other countries do welcome DOs...some have guidelines they use though.

I haven't decided whether I'll be DO or MD yet since both my state schools (DO & MD) have nearly identical stats 3.6/~9+ mcat. But whichever way I go I'm not going to be worried about colleagues being childish about my not going to Washington, Duke, Harvard...or an allo school at all.

When the rubber hits the road I'll know how to care for my patients...nothing else matters.

Johnny

 

[Hoberto]

I explain it by first explaining that there are two roads to being a fully-licensed with physician with all the same rights. I then explain that either road can lead to any specialty. I tell them that the coursework for both disciplines covers all the necessary basic science, pharmocology and so on. Then to explain the DO specifically, I point out the emphasis on early clinical experiences in the schools and the clearer focus on patient versus symptoms. I rarely even mention OMM and then, only to people who have at least heard of DO.

I think the issue with some of my friends from overseas is the incredibly strong focus on knowledge and facts with little regard to interpretation and application of those facts. To many of them, being a doctor is memorizing all the details and using some kind of rubric to determine what drug to give or what surgery to perform. So, just the idea that I would want to be kind to the patient and talk to them is weird.

 

[ericado]

From my experience with both MDs and DOs, I think osteopathic physicians are a bit more down to earth and less arrogant. This is not to say that all allopathic physicians are arrogant...I have met some incredibly friendly ones, as well as extremely rude doctors.