How did you discover Osteopathic Medicine?

[group_theory]

Well, look back at this year (which started May 2002 with the AACOMAS) - it's been a LONG stressful year.

However, I seem to have forgotten how I first learned about osteopathic medicine. I'm not sure if it was some website, or talking to a doctor, or a premed advisor. I just don't remember where (and when) I first learned that osteopathic medicine is a seperate yet equal branch of medicine in the United States.

Anyway, now I throw the question to you guys. Where and when did I learn about osteopathic medicne?

hehe, j/k

So, where and when did YOU learn about osteopathic medicine? What made you decide to apply?

All answers are acceptable, including "backup to MD schools", "I didn't get into MD schools 2X and this is my 3rd time", "I'm really into the philosophy" OR "What the heck is osteopathic medicine? You mean PCOM is not a regular medical school?" What I'm looking for here is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Thus, we will be kind when you say "BACKUP SCHOOL" because in all honesty - there are people who apply DO as backup.

Anyway, where and when did you learn about osteopathic medicine?
And what made you finally decide to apply DO instead of / in addition to mainstream allopathic medicine?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[abw]

My doctors have always been d.o.'s. I never knew there was a difference until I declared pre-med and all this hatred towards d.o.'s started flying around. Only then did I check out the letters after my doctors' names, and ask a few in the practice what it was all about.

I know theres's supposed to be this huge difference or something between the two, but I honestly don't see it (maybe bc i don't have enough experience with m.d.'s?? i dunno). I feel like you pick the best school to give you a foundation, and it is your own personal philosophy more than the school's/profession's that really matters and defines who you are/what you do as a doctor.

I was asked about the whole d.o./m.d. thing at an m.d. interview and told them this, and the interviewer agreed, saying that allopathic medicine is swinging towards the d.o. philosophy and right now the philosophies don't really differ. I don't know if he was just b.s.ing me, or what he really thought of that - i didn't get into the school.

I wish more people grew up with experience with d.o.'s. My friends who are applying (they all grew up in a diff. state without an osteopathic school, so maybe lack of exposure causes this?) think it's scandalous that I applied to osteopathic schools. They're like - don't you do all that "holistic" crap - thinking that I'm going to be using ancient indian rituals or something on patients if i go to one. They want schools that are more "science based" which again i think is funny, bc d.o.'s don't study science, right?

Anyway - i know i'm writing much more than was asked for in the question, but i'm so sick of all the stupid md/do threads and the ignorance & inferiority complexes. maybe i'm the one who's ignorant here and am missing some glaring difference (aside from the whole omm thing) . . . what do you guys think?

 

[Docgeorge]

Very painfully after walking into a light pole. LOL

 

[luckystar]

I found out about it through an MD. It was totally random. This was two years ago when I was a junior in college.

On a side note, this post-doc from a neighboring lab came to my desk today and asked me if I was a DO! I was like, uhhh, come back in 4 years and maybe I can help you Anyway, she's from France, and said that she saw a DO once when she just had her baby, had her thesis/presentation to write, and her grandmother just died, etc, etc. So basically, nobody was able to help with her stress-induced maladies, not her neurosurgeon father-in-law, not the three physical therapists she visited, except for this DO that "returned her to normal" after her first visit. But this was years ago, not in California, and she wanted to see a DO again, as she was, in her own words, "finished with MDs". She was really excited about my plans, and just goes to show there are some people out there who are grateful they have the choice.

 

[stacyg]

I found out about it through my wonderful pre-med advisor!!

 

[Kritenoel]

I think growing up in a state with an osteopathic medical school had something to do with me being aware that there were "two kinds of doctors." I've had the unique experience of being a patient at a family practice that has anywhere from 9-12 residents all the time (I was delivered by residents actually, and though my primary doctor is one of the ones on the staff I've seen many doctors in all stages of their residencies.)

The thing that cinched the "Do I want to go the MD or DO route?" question was my experience after I was run off the road and in a roll over car accident. I'd been seeing "My" DO for manipulation before the accident, but after the accident she was the health care professional that made the most difference in my recovery.

I went to school out of state and had to make arrangements with people until I graduated (the accident was at the end of March, I graduated early May). The PT I saw was nice and could offer me *some* relief, but it was short term and seeing her three times a week was incredibly time consuming for me, a college student in my busy senior year. She helped me regain my strength but she only worked on my shoulders because that was "what needed to be worked on." I saw a chiropractor (he didn't just use high velocity manipulation - he used other methods as well) and for the short term he helped with my headaches but I wasn't seeing any progress (again, I was seeing him a few times a week and then once a week every week). I stopped seeing the chiropractor after a few visits but continued PT until she said I was "fixed."

After I graduated and returned home I saw my DO again. She took one look at me and knew what she needed to do - it was more then just my shoulder and one treatment from her could fend off the headaches for more then a week. It could have been the time that had passed, but I think it was that she had a real understanding of my body and the trauma it'd been through. I saw her once a month for 6 months and now I feel "fixed."

For me, OMT is perhaps the most important aspect of osteopathic medicine. I know some will never use it and some think it's a waste of time, but I can't imagine being a doctor and not using it to help my patients.

 

[Popoy]

Between Sophomore/Junior year in college.... I came upon a flier about "DO Panel".... Free pizza.... so I thought, why not ... free food and I can listen to whatever they had to say....

I sat there and listened to all these doctors and knew that this was the kind of medicine I wanted to practice.... the rest is history.... I don't know what I would do if I didn't hear about osteopathic medicine. It's one of the best things that happened in my life.... Almost felt like it was a calling.... corney as that may sound...

Funny though, I didn't even get a chance to eat any pizza because I was so interested in everything they had to say....

 

[awdc]

Way back when I was in high school, a COMP student came in to talk about osteopathic medicine.

 

[deleted6669]

had multiple PA school preceptors who were DO's, notably in FP and EM (all nice, easy-going folks).current EM chief is a DO(nice guy).never met a DO I didn't get along with(sample size>50).like the emphasis of DO education(clinically relevant vs allo model of basic science driven-compare comlex to usmle step 1 for instance).

had many MD preceptors who were pricks.

 

[DrInW8ing]

I was introduced to Osteopathic medicine by a chiropractic doctor. I was visiting a chiropractic school in order to expand my outlook on health care. One of the instructors informed me about Osteopathic medicine. He had mentioned DMU. From this point on I did my research on D.O. programs and had a few visits with some of the schools to find out more about osteopathy.

As I learned more about osteopathy, I found that this health care profession fit with my years of experience in preventative health and my experiences in caring for the communities in which I lived.

 

[MaggieD]

I had a battalion physician in the Army who was a DO. Before that I had a little second-hand experience with Osteopathic medicine, (from SDN, etc) but meeting him cemented the idea in my head. On top of that, since then, every DO I've met enjoyed their job, was'nt a jerk to me or the patients, and seemed to be happy with being a physician. I can't say that for all the MDs I met.

Also, the Pre-DO students are so much less into all the ridiculous BS that you see going on over in the other "Pre" forum. You all know what post I'm talking about. It makes me ashamed to be pre-med in general.
I know that I'll be quite happy with my life practicing 'blue-collar medicine'.

 

[PreMedAdAG]

I found out through my dad. He's a chiropractor, who after working in the field for 27 years, says that if he could go back and do it again, he would go the D.O. route. During a soccer tournament in 7th grade, we walked past an osteo convention and my dad told me something about it. So, when I got to college and noticed that our advisors had tons of information, I got really in to it. My other experience is that the doctor who diagnosed my knee problem (being a soccer player and all) was a D.O. and I had no idea. He's one of the most sought after physicians by athletes in the bay area.
My deal with the OMM is that I think it's great. Ideally it would be the coolest thing to practice, however I'm not an idiot and I do know that time is limited so that OMM often gets ignored. I'd still like to learn the techniques though. Also.. whoah I guess I have a lot of reasons... when I talk to curent Med students at a DO program versus MD programs I get a warm vibe from the DO students, like they're working hard but truly happy. I get the "I'm stressed out about life and live by myself in a dark hole" from the MD students. I just felt more comfortable around DO students than Med students.. Did that make any sense????

 

[CJLaw]

I'll be honest, I had no friggin idea what a DO was. Actually I thought it was some kind of OB acredidation. I found the answer, when I first started researching a medical career and came across PCOM's website. They offer a very in depth history and explanation of the philosophy.

I'm not a pre-do student. Like I posted in the allo forum, I'm going to the best school that accepts me, whether it be DO or MD. But I do agree with one of the other posters, that the pre-do forum is much calmer than the other. Seems to me, that there are alot more non-trads over here-thus a lot more maturity than with the 20 year old pre-md gunners on the allo forum.

 

[Cookie Monster]

I learned about osteopathic medicine from OUCOM because I go to Ohio University for my undergrad. Before learning about it (and becoming very excited about osteopathic medicine) I was just like a lot of pre-MD's -- I didn't know anything about DO's therefore I didn't like DO's. I was ignorant and as a consequence, close- minded about it. So nowadays when I hear pre-MD's dissing us, before I get all worked up and start yelling and screaming at them, I have to step back and remember that I once thought that way too...

 

[Biodude]

I found out about Osteopathic medicine when I was bored and noticed a link at a pre-med website. "What's osteopathic medicine?" "What's a D.O.?" My curiosity took me to the AACOM website where I read a brief history on A. T. Still and the philosophy of osteopathy. I liked what I read. That's what started my curiousity in Osteopathic Medicine. I am glad that I learned about it before starting my undergrad, 'cuz now there are people who want to be primary care docs at my school and don't realize how primary-care focused D.O. schools are.

I have only received positive experiences with D.O.'s. Whenever I ask a D.O. "Would you do it all over again if you had to?" The response I usually get is an ENTHUSIASTIC "Yes, I would, because I love what I do and I would do it all over again if I had to!"

On the other hand, the majority of M.D.'s ask me why I am so interested in becoming a physician, with the work hours as they are, the decreasing compensation and the health care crisis. Go figure.

Interesting story of one D.O. that I met. He went to a physicians convention and the speaker asked the group of doctors which ones would support their kids if their kids wanted to become doctors. He was the only one in the room that raised his hand.

 

[phd2b]

1.) One of my research colleagues at the National Immunization Program at CDC was a D.O. (years ago).
2.) My wife's OB/GYN was a D.O.
3.) My orthopedic surgeon was a D.O.

All three were outstanding clinicians and human beings.

 

[ez073323]

I pledged UC Davis' premier pre-medical fraternity, Sigma Mu Delta, with the intent of strengthening my application, and every year at least one of my brothers was applying DO, so they were always more than happy to talk about it... If I get in to Touro, hopefully I will be able to pass on what I know to pre-meds at my alma mater through outreach programs like the one tonight!

Brian Enriquez
[email protected]

 

[jkhamlin]

I was fortunate enough to grow up with it, but I didn't realize what it was until I was much older. I have a medical family. My dad is a biomedical engineer, one aunt is a nurse, another aunt is a paramedic, my mom has worked in hospitals, and my uncle is a DO.

When I was a kid, I thought DO just meant "doctor," and it was just a different abreviation of the one doctor's degree. I thought that MD's could do the things that my uncle could. I just thought that Osteopathy was related to Orthopedics.

When I was a teenager, my dad got remarried and my step mother told me that my uncle (my dad's brother) "is not a real doctor." She was a speech therapist, and she felt that she should know. This was the first prejudice against Osteopathy I had encountered. Most people just know my uncle as "Dr. Hamlin" and not "The Osteopath." So, I checked out the difference and found that I was impressed with Osteopathy as a progressive and more comprehensive medical science. I have since seen examples that have convinced me that I would rather have a DO as a personal physician.

Growing up around medicine, I always was aware that this was probably what I would do. I thought about being an engineer like my dad. I even looked into law school, but biology has always been my favorite subject and medicine has always interested me more. I would rather become a DO than an MD. If I couldn't be a DO for whatever reason, I would consider MD, but only as a last resort.

 

[save10]

a fortune cookie

 

[Bevo]

My father first introduced me to it. He had just learned about osteopathic physicians recently, last couple years. He wasn't until he started working once and awhile with an emergency room physician at one of the hospitals where he has patients that he really started to learn about osteopathic medicine. So when I came home a last year I met with that doctor for coffee and he explained everything to me as best he could.

from there I went after books and articles on osteopathic medicine.