Im kinda confused now

[melimi]

Ok, so I have come to understand that DO schools have the same curriculum as MD schools, same courses, same preclinical and clinical years, and same specialties after u graduate. like, i can be a neurologist with an MD or a DO. so like.....wtf is the difference? and why do people talk **** about DOs when apparently its the same thing??
(please no rants from those of u who trash DOs, i just want an honest answer)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[AStudent]

Spinal manipulation training, less Rx writing, more "holistic."

Ok, so I have come to understand that DO schools have the same curriculum as MD schools, same courses, same preclinical and clinical years, and same specialties after u graduate. like, i can be a neurologist with an MD or a DO. so like.....wtf is the difference? and why do people talk **** about DOs when apparently its the same thing??
(please no rants from those of u who trash DOs, i just want an honest answer)

 

[jeffsleepy]

They teach OMM, which is a type of physical manipulation that you may or may not be interested in. Additionally, their students tend to have lower numbers GPA/MCAT wise. Whether any of that matters is up to you.

 

[melimi]

ok. but are these things that the D.O. choses to do? like, say the doctor went to a DO because he believes in more holistic treatments; cant an MD do the same thing? i guess what im trying to ask is if they are both different/use diff treatments by choice or because DOs have certain limitations??
u see what im saying?, maybe im not being clear

 

[USCTex]

ok. but are these things that the D.O. choses to do? like, say the doctor went to a DO because he believes in more holistic treatments; cant an MD do the same thing? i guess what im trying to ask is if they are both different/use diff treatments by choice or because DOs have certain limitations??
u see what im saying?, maybe im not being clear

In the beginning (God created the heaven and the earth),

D.O. schools and M.D. schools used to be much different. For years and years and years, etc. D.O.s could not do Post Grad training at M.D. schools and they focused very much on more holistic healing techniques. Now, the line is more blurred. I know a D.O. who did an ortho residency at UT-Southwestern and is one of the handful of surgeons in the country who do titanium ribs in children.

So, if you believe in holistic treatment as an M.D....sure you can still do it...but you won't have the training in it that a D.O. does. But anyway, nowadays the gap between D.O. and M.D. is much smaller.

 

[AStudent]

DO's can do everything that an MD is taught, but ONLY DO's can do manipulation.

ok. but are these things that the D.O. choses to do? like, say the doctor went to a DO because he believes in more holistic treatments; cant an MD do the same thing? i guess what im trying to ask is if they are both different/use diff treatments by choice or because DOs have certain limitations??
u see what im saying?, maybe im not being clear

 

[melimi]

sweet!
thank u all. i get it now

 

[RAwe]

So judging from the responses, DO's do more work in Med school than MD students since they have to learn OMM? Is that true?

 

[MoosePilot]

DO's can do everything that an MD is taught, but ONLY DO's can do manipulation.

See, this kind of thing bothers me. There is only so much time in a school year. Med students usually speak as if they're working at roughly 100% of their sustainable effort. So how could a DO student actually do more? You'd have to do something less in order to do something more...

I'm not knocking DOs. I want to be a physician. Yet this type of claim causes fights just like people who knock DOs, in my opinion.

 

[dr.z]

So judging from the responses, DO's do more work in Med school than MD students since they have to learn OMM? Is that true?

Probably depends on the school. I read somewhere though that DO students will do extra 200 hours in class for manipulation and anatomy.

 

[Code Brown]

Probably depends on the school. I read somewhere though that DO students will do extra 200 hours in class for manipulation and anatomy.

This is true, but compare the total number of hours spent to this 200 hourss. I'm sure that over the course of 4 years (assume a very conservative 60 hours a week (include studying) times 200 weeks = 12,000 hours!) this 200 hours won't be noticed. This of course also assumes that schools have the same curriculums and spend the same amount of time on lectures each week. Say school X has lecture for 23 hours a week and school Y has lecture for 27 hours a week. This adds up to a difference of 800 hours overall (assuming we somehow translate the clinical hours to lecture hours).

On another note, I'm kind of sad that we won't be learning the OMM stuff in medical school. Maybe I can pick it up as a CME down the road.

 

[rpkall]

I have heard from DOs and MD friends of those DOs (after they're all out of residency, making similar salaries with similar professional responsibilities) that MDs have more extensive biochem and molecular pathology lectures, which go deeper into the "new research and future directions" arena and DOs have a more clinically-oriented approach that includes OMM.

I shadowed a DO once, and he said to me: "Well, you ask yourself, 'what are the MD students doing if they're not doing OMM?' It's not like they're sitting around not being medical students. They're going deeper into the traditional curriculum, that's all."

The guy was an ED attending alongside another DO and two MDs at a community hospital in Massachusetts.

Grade A evidence: anecdotal, of course. But at least it gives you an idea...

 

[akanene]

i also really like the holistic approach and am considering applying for DO schools... i worked in a clinic last year and one of the DO students told me if i could get into a MD school to go that way, just for the sake of getting into a better residency program, since there really isnt that much difference. she told me that either way its do-able, but just easier the MD track.. also does anyone know if MD or DO schools thing its bad if you apply to both at the same time??

 

[2112_rush]

DO's have to take 2 sets of board exams (if they want to do an allopathic residencyand a lot do). They have to take the COMLEX 1 and 2 to graduate DO school and take USMLE 1 and 2 to be able to get into an allopathic residency. It might be a little harder for DO applicants to get into a really competitive MD residency slot, but honestly, that's just the sense that I get and not based in any hard facts.

Some of the DO schools aren't associated with teaching hospitals so you might have to move around 3rd and 4th year depending on which school you attend.

 

[tupac_don]

Ok, so I have come to understand that DO schools have the same curriculum as MD schools, same courses, same preclinical and clinical years, and same specialties after u graduate. like, i can be a neurologist with an MD or a DO. so like.....wtf is the difference? and why do people talk **** about DOs when apparently its the same thing??
(please no rants from those of u who trash DOs, i just want an honest answer)

Ok my take on this issue is think of generic vs. brand. The MD is the brand and the DO is generic. MD has been around longer and is arguably more respected. DO's practically do the same thing as MD"s, but like someone said it's somewhat easier to get into a DO vs. an MD school and they generally are less competitive for the ultra comp. residencies like plastics or derm. However, if I had to pick b/w a Carribiean MD or American DO, I would do the American school DO. Also the DO's have that extra training that really wont' be useful, if you choose to go to an allopathic residency. So if you can go to MD school, but if you can't be choosy, DO is an ok choice.