Honest Question

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

huhmeds1

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
I am not trying to stir up any anamosity just had an honest question. Let's say that two docs (an MD and a DO) are trying to establish a practice in New York City. For patients who are so accustomed to MDs being the docs due to its prevelance in pop culture, and the universality of the degree world wide, wouldn't it be harder for them to recruit patients? I know the number of DOs in the states is rising each year but until they become even relatively close to MDs in numbers, won't this notion of MD=1 and DO=1a concept still exist? It seems like DOs would have none of this problem whatsoever in rural, underserved areas. I could be totally wrong but looking for some opinions and explanations.

Thank you

Members don't see this ad.
 
From my experience, for every patient that would say "Hmm what's a DO? I am not sure about this" there are hundreds and maybe even thousands that really don't care or even notice. I have a family friend who is a family medicine DO, and has four partners who are all MD's yet he essentially runs the practice and has more patients than any of his partners. You are more likely to be discriminated against for being a certain sex than for the letters of your degree.
 
I am not trying to stir up any anamosity just had an honest question. Let's say that two docs (an MD and a DO) are trying to establish a practice in New York City. For patients who are so accustomed to MDs being the docs due to its prevelance in pop culture, and the universality of the degree world wide, wouldn't it be harder for them to recruit patients? I know the number of DOs in the states is rising each year but until they become even relatively close to MDs in numbers, won't this notion of MD=1 and DO=1a concept still exist? It seems like DOs would have none of this problem whatsoever in rural, underserved areas. I could be totally wrong but looking for some opinions and explanations.

Thank you

It will not be hard for them to recruit patients. There is a shortage of physicians. If you set up a practice in a big city or a rural area, you will get patients. It doesn't matter if you're a DO or MD. Yes, there might be some people who won't see you because you are a DO. However, the flip side of this is also true. Some patients will actually seek you out because you are a DO (even if you don't practice OMM).
There are some patients who believe that by going to you (a DO), they are going to get more holistic care and not as much medicine. This simply isn't true. I know the AOA says that its true and that all of us say it in our interviews, but it's just not the case.
So, while there are some patients (a small number) who might not chose you because you are a DO, there are also some (a small number) that will chose you specifically because you are a DO. You won't have troubles finding patients.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
There are osteopathic hospitals where the majority of physicians are DOs. They get plenty of patients.
 
My father an MD, has in the few hundred hours of shadowing with him has never been asked about his degree. To most people it's a nonissue. To succeed affability, knowledge and skills are most important, as well as building up a good referral base. Being a mediocre physician with great people skills is better than being Gregory House. Most patients can't tell between an average cataract surgery and perfection. They do know how you treat them and unfortunately it's people skill rather than acumen carrying the day. Advertising helps as well. The letters behind your name serve as a means to an end. Most people won't care.
 
What people have said above is mostly true and scary. Since patients do not know or care what your initials are after your name, what do you think is going to happen when a whole bunch of "doctor nurses" graduate from DNP programs?
 
What people have said above is mostly true and scary. Since patients do not know or care what your initials are after your name, what do you think is going to happen when a whole bunch of "doctor nurses" graduate from DNP programs?

Unfortunately many patients won't notice. Most people can't tell between a mediocre and an excellent surgeon or physician. Since people tend to go to DNP for horses and not zebras most will never notice. The DNPs are pattern recognizers not diagnosticians. A cluster of symptoms which they may right of as a cluster headache or migraine might be a tumor in the ocipital lobe. They don't know the zebras which is fine in the 99% of the cases however it is the 1% that is the separator between the middling and the great. NPs don't know when to punt cases to specialists either.
 
NYC and the surrounding area has a pretty large amount of DOs practicing in the area - doing just as well as their MD counterparts. Partially because of NYCOM - it's one of the biggest medical schools (allopathic OR osteopathic) in the country in terms of enrollment. As a school that mainly takes/attracts NY residents, a lot of graduates stay in the surrounding metropolitan area to practice.

I'm only saying this because the whole DO bias thing is very location-dependent in the US. If you were from, say, Norther California, my answer would be totally different, because the DO bias there is still fairly strong. In NYC, however, that bias is very small (and getting smaller) as the number of practicing DOs in the area increases.
 
Also Touro-NYC is in the city.

The only reason I wouldn't include Touro in my reasoning is that it's first class of students hasn't even graduated yet (pretty sure their first class enrolled in 2007) - it's not yet having the sort of effects on the state of osteopathic medicine in NYC that an older institution like NYCOM has.
 
I worked for many years at a mega clinic with both DO and MD providers. I know for a fact that numerous DO docs pulled down more referrals than some of the MD docs. I think its the quality of the doctor and not your initials...
 
The only reason I wouldn't include Touro in my reasoning is that it's first class of students hasn't even graduated yet (pretty sure their first class enrolled in 2007) - it's not yet having the sort of effects on the state of osteopathic medicine in NYC that an older institution like NYCOM has.

I think it has raised the visibility of the osteopathic community within NYC just by virtue of being there.
 
People get patients two ways: referrals and word of mouth. It's pretty rare for people to discriminate in either case.

As far as the NP thing ... it's a huge issue. Huge. Don't dismiss it for a second.
 
What people have said above is mostly true and scary. Since patients do not know or care what your initials are after your name, what do you think is going to happen when a whole bunch of "doctor nurses" graduate from DNP programs?

This kind of thing already happens all the time. Lots of patients at the family medicine clinic I was rotating at for my internship called the clinic's PA "Dr. Soandso" (and no I don't think she was trying to encourage that mistaken impression).
 
From what I understand, gynecology is a pretty competitive speciality. Yet my friend took at look at her gynecologist's card for the first time the other day and was like "Oh wow she is D.O. Ive been going to her for 12 years and I never noticed."
 
From what I understand, gynecology is a pretty competitive speciality. Yet my friend took at look at her gynecologist's card for the first time the other day and was like "Oh wow she is D.O. Ive been going to her for 12 years and I never noticed."

Saw my PCP for 20 or so years before going to apply DO and realizing he was one.
 
I agree with what everyone else is saying for the most part. When you look up doctors in the phone book they are all listed under "physicians" and the average person doesn't even notice if it's an MD or DO after the doctor's name. Given that most people don't even know the difference between the two when you ask them, it shouldn't make a difference in the ability to recruit patients. Half the time I looked at medical records that got sent to the doctor in the office where I volunteered, they would be marked as a patient of "Dr. XXX, MD" and he is actually a DO.
 
This kind of thing already happens all the time. Lots of patients at the family medicine clinic I was rotating at for my internship called the clinic's PA "Dr. Soandso" (and no I don't think she was trying to encourage that mistaken impression).

I completely understand why patients get confused. I've seen this happen to a patient before...a man comes in with a white coat on, stethoscope around his neck, a clipboard in his hand, and says "hi I'm Josh and I'm going to be taking care of you today." The person never says that they are a PA, and the patient never sees a physician. The patient probably just thinks...Josh is a cool physician because he doesn't go by Dr. smith. The patient, understandably, thinks that they were seen by a doctor. I think that PA's and NP's play an important role in healthcare...just not the role of physician.
 
dude!! opening an office and recruiting patients is all in the name of the office..not in the initials after the docs name.

patients look at an office and see "Spine Center of New York" or "Sports Injury Blah blah blah Center" and say hmm let me give them a call...they don't say what are the initials after the docs name..

if thats giving you a lot of trouble then when u get to that point in your career, hire somebody who majored in marketing to come up with a catchy name for the area that you work in...
 
Absolutely no issues with an MD and a DO opening a practice together, none. Whether we're MDs or DOs, we will work with each other in treating patients and providing the best care we can. From having worked in an ER for four years, where we had a significant number of DOs coupled with MDs, you couldn't tell the difference, especially from an outsider looking in. Patients will care the most about how you treat them, and that you treat them professionally, ethically, and empathetically, not whether you're an MD or a DO.
 
Top