Growing too fast?

[24858]

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I read that another DO school is opening.
My question is, are DO schools opening up too fast?

 

[Docgeorge]

I think so. I think that post graduate education needs to be beefed up. I'm also worried about how the class sizes are so huge at the private schools. Theres a fine line between being a big respected medical school and being a puppy mill.

 

[deleted6669]

I am all for more DO schools as long as they are not in the midwest. a school in oregon/washington/idaho/montana would be nice. they also need to increase the number of osteopathic residencies, especially on the west coast and in the specialties. there should be a spot for every d.o. graduate in an osteopathic residency if they choose to go that route. currently there is not.

 

[stomper627]

emedpa,
where in the PNW??? Im an MSIII at LECOM originally from highly dominated area of UW physicians....Seattle ...and a WSU grad. Would love to go back to the area. PM me and let me know if you have any questions
stomper

 

[DOnut]

Personally I believe that the Osteopathic Medical Schools are expanding too quickly. Although quantity is important, we must maintain a high degree of quality as well. When a school has more than 300 in it's 1st year class, I'm sorry to say this, but they are expecting that several people will not make it. I don't want to see osteopathic medicine turn into a a goose that lays golden eggs. If any new Osteopathic Medical Schools are to open, I hope that they are in states, or regions without an osteopathic medical school. Is there really a need for a second DO school in Florida when there are very few DO's in states like Washington? Just my thoughts!!

 

[PublicHealth]

Another DO school in Florida doesn't make sense. I could understand setting another one up in California, given the droves of applicants from there, but why another one in Florida?

 

[GoForIt]

While DO schools are growing so fast and there's not enough AOA approved residency for all those DO graduates, it's time for those BIG 5 states to reconsider lisensure for DOs without AOA approved internship.

AOA should encourage, and make it easier for DOs to stay within the AOA family, rather than to alienate them. After all, it's not that DOs do not want to do a AOA internship, it's because there's not enough quality AOA residency available. It's not the fault of the DOs. Hence, why should they be punished?

I welcome your thought on this matter.

Thanks.

 

[bigmuny]

There is no need for another school, and openning new schools is a very bad thing for us(students DO and MD). This needs to be fought and I would urge all students, residents, and practicing docs to do so. The allopathic community has been very careful in regulating their growth and ensuring that they don't glut the market with new doc's. This keeps income high and jobs plentiful. Imagine if medical school became like law school, one on every corner, low admission standards, and in order to get a decent job(or any job) when you graduate you need to be in the top 15 percent of your class. The reason law is like this is because you can't spit in this country without hitting a lawyer. Could you imagine going through what will be a minimum of seven years of training, 180K in debt, and you can't find work? A scary thought and we all need to ensure that it does not happen. The people who run DO schools make alot of money doing what they do, and their interests are quite different from ours or practicing docs. There are enough schools and enough docs.

 

[doctorperez]

When a school is opened the determining factor is not whether there are hurdles of applicant in that state for a DO school..or whether there is not a single school in that state. The determining factor is UNDERSERVICE. There is a standard ratio of physicinas to state inhabitants which is used to determine if an area is underserved or not. Florida, hard to believe I know, is largely underserved. Much more than more states in the union. It is also largely underserved by spanish speaking physicians (relative to the # of spanish speaking patients).

The patient is the determining factor as it should be IMHO.

I am all for the Florida school and for more DO schools.

 

[GoForIt]

bigmuny, I think you hit the nail by the head. I agree with you. I think that AOA should feel that quality of physician should out weight quantity of physician. After all, it takes only one bad DO to mess up reputation of all DOs.

doctorperez, I see your point also. We have to take care of all those underserved population. There is a sever shortage of physician, especially in the inner city.

I do have a suggestion. How about encourage your state government official to open a state owned DO school to address the issue of underserved in your state. While it's state owned, you don't have worry those money thirsty suckers that rip you off with high tuition. A state owned college should be more stable than an individually owned school. Also, a state school attracts more state residents who tend to stay within the state after graduation.

 

[bigmuny]

Oh yeah underservice must be the determining factor we all know there is a horrible shortage of physicians in san francisco and phoenix. Thank god TUCOM and AZCOM openned to address the need. The fact that communities are underserved has nothing to do with to few docs, it has to do with to few funds. Docs don't want to practice in underserved areas because there is no financial incentive to do so.

 

[doctorperez]

That would be true if there were some areas overserved in Florida, however, as far as I know (I do not know about San Francisco and Phoenix - and of course there are exceptions to my underservice hypothesis) has no overserved areas. This is the reality with Florida - all of it is underserved. Some areas are more underserved than others. So the few funds argument does not hold much water in the case of Florida.

 

[bigmuny]

There are a number of reasons why an area might be "underserved," to few docs to address the need is not one of them however. Private DO schools open to make money and they make lots of it. An area being underserved or not has little to do with the decision, though claiming it is a factor is nice PR for the school.

 

[Dr JPH]

I just read this thread.

Check out my resposne in the "new DO school in florida" thread.