Doctors who have both an MD and DO

[blondie68]

I have seen a few Doctors listed with both MD and DO credentials. Does anyone plan on pursuing both? Does anyone know what type of programs and residencies one must complete to be certified and licensed as both? Can you go to a osteopathic school and take both types of exams and then follow up with a residency program approved by both?
If anyone has any insight I'd sure appreciate your comments🙂
Thanks!

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[FutureDocDO]

I have seen a few Doctors listed with both MD and DO credentials. Does anyone plan on pursuing both? Does anyone know what type of programs and residencies one must complete to be certified and licensed as both? Can you go to a osteopathic school and take both types of exams and then follow up with a residency program approved by both?
If anyone has any insight I'd sure appreciate your comments🙂
Thanks!

Those docs must be ancient. I don't think you can do that in the States anymore. I've heard you can get your DO and "buy" your MD degree somewhere in the Caribbean but not sure. You CAN take both the DO exams (COMLEX I-III) and the MD exams (USMLE I-III) BUT you WILL NOT be awarded the MD degree. The school you attend will award you the degree so if you go to a DO school that's what you get. If you want an MD then apply to MD schools only and if that doesn't work out there's the Caribbean... study on the beach. You can go to a DO school then transfer to a MD school for your 2nd or 3rd year and get your MD but keep in mind it's not easy to transfer. Even when you transfer from a DO school to an MD school you will only be awarded with the MD degree upon graduation, not both. FYI, DO or MD will allow you to do the exact same thing. If you're so concern about the letters... nah I'll stop here.

 

[Vox Animo]

If you put the titles together, it almost spells doomed.

maybe its an omen...

 

[rcd]

If you put the titles together, it almost spells doomed.

maybe its an omen...

more like "em-da-due"

 

[Apparition]

The only DO/MD doctors I know about are doctors who were born in another country and became doctors there. Since there is no osteopathic medicine there, their degree translates into MD. In U.S. they finished osteo schools for a right to practice and now they list both degrees.

 

[vmgopal]

Well Historically,

The founder of Osteopathic Medicine had both degrees

Andrew Still Taylor, M.D., D.O.

 

[erleichda]

The only DO/MD doctors I know about are doctors who were born in another country and became doctors there. Since there is no osteopathic medicine there, their degree translates into MD. In U.S. they finished osteo schools for a right to practice and now they list both degrees.

This was the case with the DO I shadowed. He never lists both degrees though.

 

[gerido]

Those docs must be ancient. I don't think you can do that in the States anymore. I've heard you can get your DO and "buy" your MD degree somewhere in the Caribbean but not sure. You CAN take both the DO exams (COMLEX I-III) and the MD exams (USMLE I-III) BUT you WILL NOT be awarded the MD degree. The school you attend will award you the degree so if you go to a DO school that's what you get. If you want an MD then apply to MD schools only and if that doesn't work out there's the Caribbean... study on the beach. You can go to a DO school then transfer to a MD school for your 2nd or 3rd year and get your MD but keep in mind it's not easy to transfer. Even when you transfer from a DO school to an MD school you will only be awarded with the MD degree upon graduation, not both. FYI, DO or MD will allow you to do the exact same thing. If you're so concern about the letters... nah I'll stop here.

I've come across the website for this school - i think it was like after 6 weeks of schooling or something like that and then take exam and earn MD degree after you have your DO. I think it's American Univeristy or something like that, well it's on google. As for letters... hey it's like plastic surgery if it helps his/her self-esteem, then who are we to judge?

 

[Vox Animo]

Well Historically,

The founder of Osteopathic Medicine had both degrees

Andrew Still Taylor, M.D., D.O.

He had both titles, but he never attended any medical school.

 

[Bluemirage]

I have seen a few Doctors listed with both MD and DO credentials. Does anyone plan on pursuing both? Does anyone know what type of programs and residencies one must complete to be certified and licensed as both? Can you go to a osteopathic school and take both types of exams and then follow up with a residency program approved by both?
If anyone has any insight I'd sure appreciate your comments🙂
Thanks!

I've actually seen docs listed both under " MD" and "DO" also in the telephone listings. Some of these people I know personally and I know for a fact that they are either just MD or just DO and not both. They are listed in the telephone book like that in order to capture more advertising space. In other instances (eg hospitals) administrators who compile these lists forget or do not know that a doc is a DO and defaults them to an MD.

 

[PainDr]

In the 1960's or 70's California tried to abolish the DO degree and "sold" MD degrees to all the DO's. Also, as previously noted, some foreign physicians attend osteopathic schools in order to practice in the U.S. Those are the only LEGITIMATE MD/DO's. It is possible to basically buy an MD degree from one of the carrib schools, but it is a degree in name only. Your state license is issued because of your osteopathic degree and it is illegal to advertise yourself as an MD.

As one of the other posters recommended, if the initials bother you that much then either keep trying until you get into a US allopathic school, or go the carrib route. 🙄

 

[blondie68]

Thanks for some information in the replies. I am VERY supportive of DO's. I was curious how Dr.'s had both degrees, or were at least listed that way. I'd never thought of foreign Dr.'s practicing in the US having received their first degree abroad, or just an advertising issue. If anyone might want to do some service out of the US I've read that it can sometimes be difficult for DO's, and also have heard of some DO students taking both COMLEX and USMLE exams. I thought these might be reasons for someone trying to license in both areas. Guess I was way off, thanks for the info.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I have seen a few Doctors listed with both MD and DO credentials. Does anyone plan on pursuing both? Does anyone know what type of programs and residencies one must complete to be certified and licensed as both? Can you go to a osteopathic school and take both types of exams and then follow up with a residency program approved by both?
If anyone has any insight I'd sure appreciate your comments🙂
Thanks!

The fact that you asked this question clearly demonstrates that you are not familiar with what a DO degree is.

To answer your other question, I did take both types of exams (USMLE and COMLEX) in order to be more competitive at MD residencies.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Thanks for some information in the replies. I am VERY supportive of DO's. I was curious how Dr.'s had both degrees, or were at least listed that way. I'd never thought of foreign Dr.'s practicing in the US having received their first degree abroad, or just an advertising issue. If anyone might want to do some service out of the US I've read that it can sometimes be difficult for DO's, and also have heard of some DO students taking both COMLEX and USMLE exams. I thought these might be reasons for someone trying to license in both areas. Guess I was way off, thanks for the info.

The "working abroad" issue really isn't true anymore.

Licensure through the both the USMLE and COMLEX exams is possible even if you have only a DO degree.

 

[WestcoastMedicine]

I would guess they either had a DO, and received an MD also during the 70s in California. Otherwise check their credentials. I know many docs near me who have an MBBS degree, but list on their business cards and their whitecoat MD. As long as the physician has passed national boards and is a competent physician, I'm not really worried if they are MD, DO, MBBS, or whatever else other countries award.

 

[Dr JPH]

The "working abroad" issue really isn't true anymore.

This is not true. A physician with an MD degree vs a DO degree has a significantly easier time gaining licensure and practice rights in many countries. True, there are some places where it doesnt seem to matter which degree you have but you still need to go through a lengthy process of filling out forms and appealing to the local Department of Medicine where you want to practice.

Just because certain places have allowed DOs in the past does not make the task an easy one. Make no mistake, in these cases an MD degree certainly makes the process an easier one.

With that said, an MD degree from a Caribbean school is not an easy way around this situation. Foreign countries willing to accept doc trained elsewhere are well versed on the difference between a US MD and a Carribean MD.

Final point, Dr. Still was never a D.O.

 

[OSUdoc08]

This is not true. A physician with an MD degree vs a DO degree has a significantly easier time gaining licensure and practice rights in many countries. True, there are some places where it doesnt seem to matter which degree you have but you still need to go through a lengthy process of filling out forms and appealing to the local Department of Medicine where you want to practice.

Just because certain places have allowed DOs in the past does not make the task an easy one. Make no mistake, in these cases an MD degree certainly makes the process an easier one.

With that said, an MD degree from a Caribbean school is not an easy way around this situation. Foreign countries willing to accept doc trained elsewhere are well versed on the difference between a US MD and a Carribean MD.

Final point, Dr. Still was never a D.O.

No countries that anyone would actually want to live in. You can be granted temporary licensure anywhere.

 

[dreambig2night]

So from where did Dr. Still get his M.D degree and from where did he get his D.O degree?

 

[Captain Fantastic]

So from where did Dr. Still get his M.D degree and from where did he get his D.O degree?

It was my understanding that he trained by apprenticeship, under his father. I was not aware he ever graduated from an allopathic medical school.

He developed the osteopathic philosophy and founded the American School of Osteopathy. He did not graduate from a college of osteopathic medicine -- nor did he need to since he invented it!

 

[WestcoastMedicine]

It is my understanding that he received an honorary DO degree. He also did not attend medical school to receive an MD, but that was fairly customary in the rural 1800s. The majority of physicians at that time just did an apprenticeship according to Gevitz's "THE DOs" http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0801878349&itm=1

 

[newyorkcougar]

It is not uncommon for foreign MDs to retrain in the States as a DO. NYCOM has an entire track for such emmigre physicians. They are then both MDs and DOs, and list their credentials as such. My personal family doc in New York was both an MD (from Russia) and a DO (from NYCOM).

 

[OSUdoc08]

It is not uncommon for foreign MDs to retrain in the States as a DO. NYCOM has an entire track for such emmigre physicians. They are then both MDs and DOs, and list their credentials as such. My personal family doc in New York was both an MD (from Russia) and a DO (from NYCOM).

Why don't they just take the USMLE?