DO's in Pathology?

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arete

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Just curious if there are many DO's that enter the field of pathology? Are there any inherent difficulties or challenges that a DO would face in pathology in terms of recognition/respect in comparison to an MD.
 
arete said:
Just curious if there are many DO's that enter the field of pathology? Are there any inherent difficulties or challenges that a DO would face in pathology in terms of recognition/respect in comparison to an MD.

There is a thread that answers a lot of this which is very recent called something like "programs that accept DOs". I don't think there is much anti-DO bias out there. If you are a good doctor, work hard, get your job done, you will be respected. If not, you won't, just like an MD in a similar situation.
 
yaah said:
There is a thread that answers a lot of this which is very recent called something like "programs that accept DOs". I don't think there is much anti-DO bias out there. If you are a good doctor, work hard, get your job done, you will be respected. If not, you won't, just like an MD in a similar situation.


Well said, yaah.
 
pathdawg said:
Well said, yaah.


Let me rant for a sec because I had some hard ass frozen sections at 7am today and didnt have any coffee....

Why the hell have MD schools that cost 200 friggin grand and require absurd hoops to get into if someone can just get a DO and do the same thing? Who's ass bright idea was that? I dont see people the went to DO school slaving away in some undergrad research project/studying for MCATs/sucking up to OChem TAs so they can get the interview at HMS. What the hell is a DO anyway? Arent they supposed to be doing "physcial manipulations" AND I QUOTE FROM THE D.O. WEBSITE:
Osteopathic philosophy maintains that the human body is a unified system with a natural tendency towards health. However, sometimes dysfunctions occur in the muscles and joints that interfere with a person's well-being. Using a variety of techniques known as osteopathic manipulation, a DO is able to enhance the ability of the body to heal itself and restore normal function.

WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH PATHOLOGY??

Now Im pissed....(deep breath).... 😡 😡
 
LADoc00 said:
Let me rant for a sec because I had some hard ass frozen sections at 7am today and didnt have any coffee....

Why the hell have MD schools that cost 200 friggin grand and require absurd hoops to get into if someone can just get a DO and do the same thing? Who's ass bright idea was that? I dont see people the went to DO school slaving away in some undergrad research project/studying for MCATs/sucking up to OChem TAs so they can get the interview at HMS. What the hell is a DO anyway? Arent they supposed to be doing "physcial manipulations" AND I QUOTE FROM THE D.O. WEBSITE:
Osteopathic philosophy maintains that the human body is a unified system with a natural tendency towards health. However, sometimes dysfunctions occur in the muscles and joints that interfere with a person's well-being. Using a variety of techniques known as osteopathic manipulation, a DO is able to enhance the ability of the body to heal itself and restore normal function.

WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH PATHOLOGY??

Now Im pissed....(deep breath).... 😡 😡

A few points:
1) I am a D.O. and my schooling cost be around 200k.
2) After graduating, I did a year of internal medicine, then a very good (allopathic) AP/CP residency, then a cytopath fellowship. I am ABP certified in AP, CP, and Cytopath.
3) To suggest that a D.O. somehow has it easy as compared to an M.D. is simply inaccurate.
4) I would consider switching to decaf.
 
Well, despite natural methods and manipulation people still get cancer...As far as I can tell, many DO schools are actually more expensive than allopathic schools. And many people, honestly, figure out what they are going to be doing with their lives later than others. THey may have been an english major, or whatever, and DO school may be a reasonable option. I have never felt people going to DO school somehow don't deserve the same perks as allopathic grads. Sure, some people go to DO school because they didn't get into allopathic. But not everybody. And that doesn't mean they won't be great docs. I think everybody knows MD grads who frankly they wouldn't send anyone in their family to see because they don't trust them. Maybe they had great resumes but it doesn't mean they can diagnose a cold or put two sentences together. Heck, people get through high school these days without actually having to be able to read!

There is room for everyone if they are qualified and do the work. I would much rather have a hard working DO grad or IMG grad than a US allopathic grad who feels entitled and has a superiority complex, and doesn't work as hard.

However, I have always wondered about DO neurosurgeons (because they do exist)...
 
Why have this illusionary 2-tiered system?? What the hell is this? Are there 2 types of fireman working on the same fire? No. Are there 2 types of policeman doing the same thing in the same jurisidiction? No. When you go to school are there 2 different types of teaching credentials people get? NO.

WHAT THE HELL. Who invented this crap?! It confuses patients as much as it confuses me!! My girlfriend walked into a clinic the other day and got pissed she wasnt seeing a doctor! He was an DO. Im not saying DO are *****s, by why all the mystery, why all the smoke and mirrors?? Why not just call everyone MDs and be done with it! Come on people, what is happening to this country?

So can someone just invent a medical philosophy out the blue, say call em DEHs (doctors of elite healing), base it on the healing powers of crystals and get government permission to Rx drugs?! Seriously, things used to be so much more simple. Madness I say...madness.
 
I believe these healing crystal doctors do exist, and I if so I have no doubt that someone is fighting hard to have them legitimized.

I don't know why there can't be just one title. One of the residents when I was on internal medicine was an MD but he had them put MD on all of his ID badges and his coat, because the secretaries in charge didn't have any clue anyway.

I would bet that a lot of the reason that DOs have separate titles and in some cases privileges are because the DO schools want it that way. There are a few hard-core DO proponents who believe their way of doing things is superior. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a two tiered system. It's almost like a parallel system. Having never been to a DO school, I don't know if the education is any different aside from the courses on spinal manipulation. I mean, I did 3rd and 4th year rotations occasionally with DO students so it can't be that different.

Then there is MBBS...

I don't know what is happening to this country. I have been wondering that for awhile. I blame Walmart and trial lawyers. And celebrities.
 
yaah said:
I would bet that a lot of the reason that DOs have separate titles and in some cases privileges are because the DO schools want it that way.


In what cases do DO's have separate privleges? That simply isn't true. I have been on staff at many hospitals (including allopathic university hospitals) and that could not be further from the truth.
Please don't perpetuate such untruths. Many young students and residents read these forums and take what is stated here as gospel.

BTW, to compare an MBBS with a DO is kinda silly. The fact that both have different initials from MDs is the only similarity, and it is a superficial one. DO's train under the same standards of care under which American MDs train. An MBBS cannot say that. The point you made earlier is correct, tho: To judge a physician soley on their initials is folly and simplistic.
 
LADoc00 said:
Why have this illusionary 2-tiered system?? What the hell is this? Are there 2 types of fireman working on the same fire? No. Are there 2 types of policeman doing the same thing in the same jurisidiction? No. When you go to school are there 2 different types of teaching credentials people get? NO.

WHAT THE HELL. Who invented this crap?! It confuses patients as much as it confuses me!! My girlfriend walked into a clinic the other day and got pissed she wasnt seeing a doctor! He was an DO. Im not saying DO are *****s, by why all the mystery, why all the smoke and mirrors?? Why not just call everyone MDs and be done with it! Come on people, what is happening to this country?

So can someone just invent a medical philosophy out the blue, say call em DEHs (doctors of elite healing), base it on the healing powers of crystals and get government permission to Rx drugs?! Seriously, things used to be so much more simple. Madness I say...madness.


Smoke and mirrors? Do you get in a tizzy over the fact that dentists can be a DMD or DDS, depending on where they went to school? Christ, I am amazed at the ignorance of supposedly smart people like physicians. There is no such two-tiered system. It does not exist. A DO is a fully licenced physician, period. Just like MDs. If there is some artifical difference in "philosophy", just get over it and move on.
I have always felt that people who bash DOs have a (poorly) hidden agenda, mainly a very low self esteem. People who are secure in themselves and what they do don't need to belittle others in order to feel better about themselves. Just an observation.

BTW, please explain to your girlfriend that DOs are indeed doctors (just like those scarry-smart MDs!). What would have she thought if that doc was an FMG with "MD" on this coat? Would she have considered him/her "not a doctor"? Ridiculous.
Sorry for the sarcasm, but I had a buch of pain-in-the-ass frozen sections today, too.
 
1) I am not comparing MBBS with DO. That is not what I said. Obviously they are both medical degrees but that's about it. The only similarity is that both are confused by people who don't know much about medicine.

2) The only separate privileges I am referring to is that I have heard there are residencies for DOs only, practices for DOs only. It has nothing to do with excluding DOs. What I meant was that if, by some random turn of events, all medical degrees in the US were to be awarded equal distinction and a common term (say we just call them all "D" for example), DO training institutions may object more strenuously than MD training institutions, because there is perhaps more pride in the letters and the distinction between what an MD is and what a DO is among many DO trainees. From what I have gathered, there are tons of MD graduates who have no idea what a DO is. That's all. There is no impuning or insulting going on.

3) Those who impune all DOs are dolts.

4) Try this one on for size - I have a BA in chemistry. No one ever wants to buy my explanation that my college only gave out BAs. I don't know why I mention this, it's just that acronyms are interesting.

5) Too many frozen sections is definitely annoying. A resident told me about a case she had at the VA where they were doing some removal of a skin cancer near the eye, and the surgeon sent down ten frozen section margins (all from different places) all at once. And all 10 were positive. Total number of frozen sections at the end of the night: 65 or something like that. And that's far from the record.
 
pathdawg said:
Smoke and mirrors? Do you get in a tizzy over the fact that dentists can be a DMD or DDS, depending on where they went to school? Christ, I am amazed at the ignorance of supposedly smart people like physicians. There is no such two-tiered system. It does not exist. A DO is a fully licenced physician, period. Just like MDs. If there is some artifical difference in "philosophy", just get over it and move on.
I have always felt that people who bash DOs have a (poorly) hidden agenda, mainly a very low self esteem. People who are secure in themselves and what they do don't need to belittle others in order to feel better about themselves. Just an observation.

BTW, please explain to your girlfriend that DOs are indeed doctors (just like those scarry-smart MDs!). What would have she thought if that doc was an FMG with "MD" on this coat? Would she have considered him/her "not a doctor"? Ridiculous.
Sorry for the sarcasm, but I had a buch of pain-in-the-ass frozen sections today, too.

My point is many MANY people have no idea what the hell a DO is and it causes stress for everyone, the patient, the DO and the staff. My high maintanence girlfriend can be a serious bitch at time (she is a fashion model, go figure) and this exemplifies why o why would someone create a DO model. It doesnt make sense, it smells like a cat, looks like a cat, walks like a cat but we call it a friggin DONKEY? NO, NO I SAY.
 
yaah said:
1) I am not comparing MBBS with DO. That is not what I said. Obviously they are both medical degrees but that's about it. The only similarity is that both are confused by people who don't know much about medicine.

2) The only separate privileges I am referring to is that I have heard there are residencies for DOs only, practices for DOs only. It has nothing to do with excluding DOs. What I meant was that if, by some random turn of events, all medical degrees in the US were to be awarded equal distinction and a common term (say we just call them all "D" for example), DO training institutions may object more strenuously than MD training institutions, because there is perhaps more pride in the letters and the distinction between what an MD is and what a DO is among many DO trainees. From what I have gathered, there are tons of MD graduates who have no idea what a DO is. That's all. There is no impuning or insulting going on.

3) Those who impune all DOs are dolts.

4) Try this one on for size - I have a BA in chemistry. No one ever wants to buy my explanation that my college only gave out BAs. I don't know why I mention this, it's just that acronyms are interesting.

5) Too many frozen sections is definitely annoying. A resident told me about a case she had at the VA where they were doing some removal of a skin cancer near the eye, and the surgeon sent down ten frozen section margins (all from different places) all at once. And all 10 were positive. Total number of frozen sections at the end of the night: 65 or something like that. And that's far from the record.


I assumed you were referring to hospital privileges. My bad.
I personally would not care one way or the other if all US doctors had one unifying name. I think many DO's would have a problem with that, tho. They want to maintain their "unique identity". Whatever. It is interesting that MBBS' are referred to as "MD" in the US. If they were granted an "MBBS", shouldn't that be their identity? I never quite understood that.
 
LADoc00 said:
My point is many MANY people have no idea what the hell a DO is and it causes stress for everyone, the patient, the DO and the staff. My high maintanence girlfriend can be a serious bitch at time (she is a fashion model, go figure) and this exemplifies why o why would someone create a DO model. It doesnt make sense, it smells like a cat, looks like a cat, walks like a cat but we call it a friggin DONKEY? NO, NO I SAY.


Ah, if I had a nickel for everytime I have heard about "yet another pathologist dating a model" cliche...
 
pathdawg said:
A few points:
1) I am a D.O. and my schooling cost be around 200k.
2) After graduating, I did a year of internal medicine, then a very good (allopathic) AP/CP residency, then a cytopath fellowship. I am ABP certified in AP, CP, and Cytopath.
3) To suggest that a D.O. somehow has it easy as compared to an M.D. is simply inaccurate.
4) I would consider switching to decaf.

Additionally:

5. Up your dose of Prozac. Jackass.
 
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