Yeah, Fazzini's site is:
http://www.med.nyu.edu/people/E.Fazzini.html
The only thing I would add is that I think it is still possible to have a prestigous career at an osteopathic institution. UNT, UMDNJ and MSU turn out some decent research. From what I've read, if you are interested in Alzheimer's Disease, UNT is going to be a great place to be. But granted, they aren't Harvard, Yale, yada yada yada -- and for some, those are the only ones that count.
But honestly, I agree with you, DOPhD. I've been informally advising premedical students for years regarding ostepathic medicine. To those students who want to do things like subspecialty surgery and research I would say, "You CAN do that as a D.O., but it will be tougher to get there." For those students that feed on prestige, I also recommend they look elsewhere because, as you said, of the esoteric degree. And finally, I do not recommend osteopathic medicine to those who are ga-ga about allopathic medicine and concerned about being accepted by M.D.s (these people are too insecure to be D.O.s).
So I think you are right when you say that people need to assess the field
TRUTHFULLY. I feel that I do a pretty good job of that. I don't think that osteopathic medicine is the end-all of good medicine... but I do
KNOW it is where
I belong based on my years of experience in the field.
On a final note, I think we also need to assess the allopathic field
TRUTHFULLY. As you probably know, I'm a gerontology intern doing research at a fairly high profile allopathic institution. On many occasions I truly wonder what the allopathic profession did to win the prestige it apparently has. I'm not sure I want that prestige if it means I have to become aloof, close minded, and egotistical like many of the physicians I encounter.
Quick story: Recently in my hospital office, I was working on my research when a housekeeper came in to empty my garbage. We just started talking and she began venting to me about the way physicians treat her. Finally, she asked, "So what do you do?" I told her I was a researcher and that I was starting medical school in the fall. I also said, "BUT, I'll be studying something I'm not sure you're familiar with... osteopathic medicine." The woman's eyes lit up in her head and her expression changed from one of disatisfaction to one of hope. She was so excited that I was going to be "one of those osteopaths."
This woman was a "nobody" in the medical world. But after seeing her expression change so quickly at the words "osteopathic medicine" I decided that I would take her admiration any day over any other physician in the hospital. Her admiration was sincere and from the perspective of someone who might someday need my help. And I shun anyone who wants the perception of D.O.s to be identical to that of M.D.s if it would lessen the expression of hope in this woman's face.
This whole experience was very eye-opening. I realized that if I had all the respect in the world from my physician colleagues but not from my patients, then I'd be a less effective healer. And yet if a few of my colleagues did not respect me because of my D.O. degree, it would not reduce my effectiveness as a physician one bit.
Just some thoughts.
