Explaining DO

[radkat101]

I'm just looking for a short and sweet explanation for how DO is different than MD to satisfy the average Joe's curiosity. Personally, I fully understand the differences and will be attending a DO school soon, but when people ask me, I find my answers always become lengthy and confusing. Anyone have an explanation they like to use, or heard something clever that's brief yet effective in getting the point across to patients/ random people who ask?

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[group_theory]

"It's the same thing as an MD. We just spent a little more time with our neuro muscular skeletal section and learned a few extra tricks and techniques that MD won't cover, but otherwise it's the same."

In my many years of experiences, only had a handful of people ask me what's the difference, and all were satisfied with that answer. A few were fascinated and thought it was "neat". A few have asked if I still do manipulation (alas, haven't done OMT since med school) and those that asked were disappointed that I don't.

 

[OCDEMS]

I think the above answer is pretty good. I don't think the average DO student realizes how much, regardless of what speciality you inevitably choose, of your extra education was specific to the musculoskeletal system. Most people in the public inherently get the utility of this explanation because so many of their own complaints center on sore joints, muscles, etc.

 

[VisceralFlame]

Great answer above. Here's another way that you can explain it incorporating some of the osteopathic tenets:

We are fully-licensed physicians and surgeons in all 50 states. We approach medicine with a holistic view where we listen to our patients and treat them as individuals, rather than bodies with diseases. Along with traditional medicine, we are trained in additional musculoskeletal techniques where we use our hands to assess and treat the body's structure and organs.

 

[SLC]

I always inform people that there are two ways to become a fully licensed medical doctor in the USA, MD or DO. I then tell them that I chose to become a DO.

Nobody cares enough or knows enough to question beyond that explanation.

 

[Petypet]

Great answer above. Here's another way that you can explain it incorporating some of the osteopathic tenets:

We are fully-licensed physicians and surgeons in all 50 states. We approach medicine with a holistic view where we listen to our patients and treat them as individuals, rather than bodies with diseases. Along with traditional medicine, we are trained in additional musculoskeletal techniques where we use our hands to assess and treat the body's structure and organs.

MDs practice holistically too, this definition is what the osteopathic tenants were build on 100 years ago, but really its just mumbo jumbo. Regurgitate the holistic crap to get into a DO school, but after that, the end game is the same. We all want to treat patients and help them get better. Going to an MD school or a DO school, in my personal experience doesn't influence how holistic or caring one is.

KISS method: "I'm a practicing physician just like any MD that has training in a set of techniques which may help you get better faster"

 

[DocEspana]

all of your answers are disgustingly technical. The reason why none sound appealing it because they're so boring that they put me to sleep reading them.

 

[DocEspana]

I always inform people that there are two ways to become a fully licensed medical doctor in the USA, MD or DO. I then tell them that I chose to become a DO.

Nobody cares enough or knows enough to question beyond that explanation.

this is actually a good answer.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I would go with "DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. It is the same as an MD degree except for the fact that we learn something called Osteopathic Manual Manipulation, which is similar to what Physical Therapists do, and our schools put an emphasis on Holistic care."

 

[NontradCA]

I'd go with "I do bone magic."

 

[jaguar33]

I heard this:

" A DO is a fully licensed physician who has additional training in the musculoskeletal system, which is 60% of your body."

 

[DrEnderW]

all of your answers are disgustingly technical. The reason why none sound appealing it because they're so boring that they put me to sleep reading them.

Couldn't agree more. No one wants to listen to a dissertation defense of your graduate program. A one sentence "there are two medical degree in the US, MD and DO with same scope of practice" is sufficient. What an awful social conversation.

20% of medical school graduates are going to be DOs in the near future. If you drone on defending your degree (which you would be), it instantly discredits you. Give a short, succinct, adult response without sounding like a DNC rally regurgitating meaningless talking points.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

I think the above answers are kind of the opposite of what the OP is trying to ask. I think what he/she is looking for is a response for casual conversation, not for an entrance interview.

To that regard, I usually go with: its the same thing as MD, just with a slightly different philosophy behind it.

As far as friends and family, that is usually all they need or care to know.

Edit: Dr Ender posted ^ while I was typing. His/her post is a better version of what I meant.

 

[radkat101]

Thanks for everyone's response so far, y'all have been helpful. And yes, I'm not looking to sound defensive nor am I trying to come across as better than MD's but usually I feel like I'm sounding like one or the other.

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

MDs practice holistically too, this definition is what the osteopathic tenants were build on 100 years ago, but really its just mumbo jumbo. Regurgitate the holistic crap to get into a DO school, but after that, the end game is the same. We all want to treat patients and help them get better. Going to an MD school or a DO school, in my personal experience doesn't influence how holistic or caring one is.

KISS method: "I'm a practicing physician just like any MD that has training in a set of techniques which may help you get better faster"

couldn't have said it better. Do you really think going to a DO school makes you more holistic than the MD students? You think they don't have professors and clinicians lecturing to them about being holistic, avoiding unnecessary/overly aggressive treatments, encouraging them to find the underlying cause to a patient's pathology? If you answered no to any of those questions.....it's time for you to wake up and do a little research.

 

[VisceralFlame]

couldn't have said it better. Do you really think going to a DO school makes you more holistic than the MD students? You think they don't have professors and clinicians lecturing to them about being holistic, avoiding unnecessary/overly aggressive treatments, encouraging them to find the underlying cause to a patient's pathology? If you answered no to any of those questions.....it's time for you to wake up and do a little research.

Nah. Absolutely not. I don't think that osteopathic is any better or any worse than allopathic. But that's what osteopathic medicine began as and continues to be. It doesn't matter that MDs are also holistic. My explanation was explaining what osteopathic medicine is, not what allopathic isn't. I think that having a holistic doctor is something that appeals to most patients, whether it's an MD or a DO. The holistic approach is not unique to DOs, but it's a defining feature in my opinion. I think my explanation is great if you're looking for a way to explain it without just mentioning that we're "like MDs." Taking the latter route seems more defensive than explaining the philosophy behind it, but that's just my opinion

 

[guylewis]

Nah. Absolutely not. I don't think that osteopathic is any better or any worse than allopathic. But that's what osteopathic medicine began as and continues to be. It doesn't matter that MDs are also holistic. My explanation was explaining what osteopathic medicine is, not what allopathic isn't. I think that having a holistic doctor is something that appeals to most patients, whether it's an MD or a DO. The holistic approach is not unique to DOs, but it's a defining feature in my opinion. I think my explanation is great if you're looking for a way to explain it without just mentioning that we're "like MDs." Taking the latter route seems more defensive than explaining the philosophy behind it, but that's just my opinion

DOs learn OMM and MDs do not. That's pretty much the only current difference between the two. I made sure to never mention the holistic thing during my application season because I was warned that it's very insulting to MDs. We are all taught to look at patients holistically. Both MDs and DOs are taught this the same amount, DOs have no monopoly on it

 

[VisceralFlame]

DOs learn OMM and MDs do not. That's pretty much the only current difference between the two. I made sure to never mention the holistic thing during my application season because I was warned that it's very insulting to MDs. We are all taught to look at patients holistically. Both MDs and DOs are taught this the same amount, DOs have no monopoly on it

Yup. I definitely agree. The implication and how you phrase it is key. I'm not saying to approach it as "DOs are holistic and MDs are not. Find a DO if you want a holistic experience." Both MDs and DOs are holistic. I like to include the holistic aspect because that's what the roots of osteopathic medicine is based in. My explanation doesn't mention MD at all; just what osteopathic medicine is. It isn't a competition

 

[NurWollen]

"It's just like an MD." Then if they ask for more I explain the history.

My Mom is an RN who worked in a DO's office. So my immediate family get it. My in-laws just know I'm in med school. My mother-in-law's dermatologist and rheumatologist are both DOs and she didn't even know it... though she does remember going to a DO as a kid, probably an OMM specialist.

 

[Mad Jack]

It's like an MD, but instead of starting with an M and ending with the D, it starts with the D and ends with an O. Also we have bone magic.

 

[loltopsy]

It's like an MD, but instead of starting with an M and ending with the D, it starts with the D and ends with an O. Also we have boner magic.

FTFY.

tee hee penis

 

[Mad Jack]

FTFY.

tee hee penis

Bone magic is no joke. How dare you mock the legacy of A.T. Still with vulgar dick humor!

... Tee hee... Penis...

 

[001100010010011]

You have to stand up on a chair and yell: "Man is a triune!"

 

[DD214_DOC]

I tell them to google it

 

[MRSAful Fate]

It's like a Steven Segal movie except we are limited by our scope of practice to only deliver therapeutic cracking of necks.

 

[Dr. Zombie]

I tell them to google it

Don't. They'll end up on SDN where they'll read how bad DO's have it via pre-med posts.

 

[ED50]

I just say, " I've had additional training in the musculoskeletal system" Short, sweet and to the point. Not many ask questions beyond that. I stay away from the holistic crap because it makes us sound arrogant and is too much of a generalization.

 

[Eleventhirteen]

It really depends on who I'm talking to, but in general I just say a long time ago there was a lot of philosophical/political bull**** that resulted in the creation of a separate branch of medicine. Now days a DO is virtually indistinguishable from a MD, but we receive some additional training in musculoskeletal treatment based on vestigial philosophical differences. Most of the time you probably won't know whether your being seen by a MD or a DO, unless you're being treated by the very small minority of DOs that actually put the additional training to use.

 

[Dharma]

DOn't

 

[guylewis]

here's one thing I tell the average person following my explanation that MDs and DOs are basically the same and can practice the same: "a fourth of the doctors that you've seen are probably DOs, but you just probably never noticed the letters following their names."

that really drives it home

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

MDs practice holistically too, this definition is what the osteopathic tenants were build on 100 years ago, but really its just mumbo jumbo. Regurgitate the holistic crap to get into a DO school, but after that, the end game is the same. We all want to treat patients and help them get better. Going to an MD school or a DO school, in my personal experience doesn't influence how holistic or caring one is.

KISS method: "I'm a practicing physician just like any MD that has training in a set of techniques which may help you get better faster"

Pfft MDs can't summon the spirit of AT Still that cures everything, so we are extra holistic.

 

[DocEspana]

"We're osteopathic MAGICIANS!" Then I pull a rabbit out of my white coat and doves burst out of the cabinets of the exam room.

Then I inform them that the CT looks like lung cancer. And they pet the bunny and weep to themselves.

I'm sure it softened the blow.

 

[studocplsignore]

Basically the same thing as an MD with some chiropractic stuff thrown in. Everyone knows what chiropractor stuff is, nobody's heard of osteopathic medicine.

 

[Dr. Zombie]

Basically the same thing as an MD with some chiropractic stuff thrown in. Everyone knows what chiropractor stuff is, nobody's heard of osteopathic medicine.

And when they say "oh how nice! I actually was interested in seeing a chiropractor for lower back pain. How much do you charge?"

What will you respond, if by chance, you're in the majority of not doing OMM in your career.

We gotta be careful how we word it so we don't look like a dunce, when they think "why did you go to DO school to learn chiropractic stuff if you ain't gonna do it."

 

[studocplsignore]

I would say the same thing I would say if they asked me about ENT stuff if I was an ER doc. "Sorry, not that kind of doctor." or "That's not my specialty, so I wouldn't be comfortable doing that." I'd try to at least know (1) Low Back Pain (2) HVLA/ME. Those seem to be the two most useful things to know.

 

[croak]

I'm just looking for a short and sweet explanation for how DO is different than MD to satisfy the average Joe's curiosity. Personally, I fully understand the differences and will be attending a DO school soon, but when people ask me, I find my answers always become lengthy and confusing. Anyone have an explanation they like to use, or heard something clever that's brief yet effective in getting the point across to patients/ random people who ask?

I've heard DO colleagues over the years use this: It's the same only spelled differently.

 

[jakeislove]

It's odd (for me) to read how big a deal some make out of the OMT distinction. I only know one DO who performs OMT as a part of daily treatment.

Considering how rarely people do OMT (after school) is I'd actually feel more comfortable with a Chiropractor.