For those practicing DOs out there (Fixed)

[Insert]

The first thread got messed up some how. My question was the following.

I am curious how often patients actually do ask about what a DO is. Does it happen almost daily or once a week or not even that often at all. I'd hate to have to explain my degree almost daily. It would get tiring.

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[DocWagner]

once every two weeks.

In ohio most know what a DO is. Oddly enough they rarely associate DO's with any other hospital than purely "DO hospitals"...so I always get asked if I am a resident at "Grandview etc etc", I politely tell them that "No I have never been there, but I have friends that are there".

Often times you hear from nurses how they "prefer DO residents, because they are nicer". But as a general rule, the younger you are (average age of DO residents and students are older than MD), the more difficult it is to elicit respect from nursing or technical staff. Unfortunate but true. So if you appear older, then it is EASIER for many nurses to accept orders or to "joke around" with you.

 

[Homunculus]

Originally posted by Insert
The first thread got messed up some how. My question was the following.

I am curious how often patients actually do ask about what a DO is. Does it happen almost daily or once a week or not even that often at all. I'd hate to have to explain my degree almost daily. It would get tiring.

i deleted your messed up one.

-your thread deleting caveman

 

[DrQuinn]

Since starting my EM residency in July, I have never been asked what a DO is, even though it says it right on my lab coat and on my ID badge.

Q, DO

 

[Insert]

Originally posted by Homonculus
i deleted your messed up one.

-your thread deleting caveman

Thanks I didn't know how to delete it.

Any more DOs who want to chime in. It seems like two conflicting views being posted here.

 

[Sessamoid]

Originally posted by Insert
Thanks I didn't know how to delete it.

Any more DOs who want to chime in. It seems like two conflicting views being posted here.

Maybe Q's patients just assume that the "DO", mistakenly left off the "C" on the end?

 

[Chris_Topher]

I get asked about once a month in the ER. Other times I get patients who say "Oohh, you are a DO!", whatever that means.

 

[Maire]

I met a student who said that his grandfather asked him what kind of doctor he would be. He told him that he would be a DO. His grandfather said he'd never heard of a DO. He said, "Grandpa, your doctor is a DO, it says it on the building." His grandfather replied, "Oh, I always thought that stood for 'doctor's office'!"

Maire

 

[Teufelhunden]

Originally posted by Maire
I met a student who said that his grandfather asked him what kind of doctor he would be. He told him that he would be a DO. His grandfather said he'd never heard of a DO. He said, "Grandpa, your doctor is a DO, it says it on the building." His grandfather replied, "Oh, I always thought that stood for 'doctor's office'!"

Wow. Does that mean I can be a doctor's office when I graduate!?

I've always wanted to be an office building of some sort. Being a doctor's office would be awesome because I could fulfill that lifelong dream while at the same time contributing to healthcare (personally, I think the buildings never get the credit they deserve...imagine doctors and nurses trying to take care of patients on the street or in the parking lot...it would be terrible.)

 

[drusso]

I get asked once in a while. I usually say something along the lines of, "We're osteopathic doctors. DO's are physicians who train in medicine and surgery just like MD's and also learn manual medicine similar to chiropractic or physical therapy." That almost always suffices.

I've found that patients who mention my "D.O.-ness" are actually happy that I'm a D.O. As in, "Oh Good I'm glad they scheduled me with a D.O. today!"

 

[Insert]

Originally posted by drusso
I get asked once in a while. I usually say something along the lines of, "We're osteopathic doctors. DO's are physicians who train in medicine and surgery just like MD's and also learn manual medicine similar to chiropractic or physical therapy." That almost always suffices.

Yes, that sounds nice. I will use that when I am a DO.