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So what if in your interview you are asked why you want to be an MD rather a DO? Is this a common question at all? What would you say?
Interview question: why MD (and not DO)?
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I've never heard of this question being asked before. I think an answer of, "I don't connect well to their philosophy," would be fine.
Yea, they don't ask that because it is insinuating one is better than another.
I have been asked why medicine instead of nursing or PA. That's tougher. Especially if you set yourself up and say you enjoy patient care. Nurses spend more time caring for patients, while doctors "treat"
I have been asked why medicine instead of nursing or PA. That's tougher. Especially if you set yourself up and say you enjoy patient care. Nurses spend more time caring for patients, while doctors "treat"
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I have been asked "did you apply to Osteopathic Schools" at the time (my second round of applications) I didn't have a good answer, and honestly I should have applied.
The reason I wound up taking my allopathic acceptance over my osteopathic acceptances came down to a few simple points.
1.) Post-graduate education. At this time, it is generally the case that if you want to specialize or do a non-primary care residency, you will want to pursue an MD residency (even if you graduate from a DO school). If you do attempt this you will be required to take both the USMLE and COMLEX examinations.
2.) Curricular aspects. A DO graduate will learn everything an MD graduate learns. Plus, a DO graduate will have had several hundred hours of training in OMM. This translates to 9-5 class most days of the week.
3.) Research. At the end, I wound up getting to choose between a schools that would both provide me with the opportunity to perform research. This is the exception to the rule at DO schools though as many DO schools do not have much federally funded research.
4.) Cost. Again, both schools wound up being pretty comparable (the DO school was actually cheaper in this case but the other factors were more decisive). Traditionally, DO schools are private programs and very expensive.
The main point for choosing a MD program over a DO program was that the MD program wound up being the path of least resistance and the best fit. If you do wind up finding a DO program that works for you... by all means take it.
The reason I wound up taking my allopathic acceptance over my osteopathic acceptances came down to a few simple points.
1.) Post-graduate education. At this time, it is generally the case that if you want to specialize or do a non-primary care residency, you will want to pursue an MD residency (even if you graduate from a DO school). If you do attempt this you will be required to take both the USMLE and COMLEX examinations.
2.) Curricular aspects. A DO graduate will learn everything an MD graduate learns. Plus, a DO graduate will have had several hundred hours of training in OMM. This translates to 9-5 class most days of the week.
3.) Research. At the end, I wound up getting to choose between a schools that would both provide me with the opportunity to perform research. This is the exception to the rule at DO schools though as many DO schools do not have much federally funded research.
4.) Cost. Again, both schools wound up being pretty comparable (the DO school was actually cheaper in this case but the other factors were more decisive). Traditionally, DO schools are private programs and very expensive.
The main point for choosing a MD program over a DO program was that the MD program wound up being the path of least resistance and the best fit. If you do wind up finding a DO program that works for you... by all means take it.
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Would you guys say that MD's generally get more respect than DO's? simply because most applicants prefer MD's and people who can't get MD's often go for DO's?
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You mean as an interview answer? Hells no.
My thinking is that since both learn the same thing and both can make decisions that will kill you, both get the same respect.
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lol...not as an answer. im just asking what you guys think
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Respect is only a minor, non-troublesome symptom of the root cause--and I agree with Depakote--which, is wholly a practical concern of least resistance.
Politically correcticize or spin the hollistic approach up and down you still end up a 3rd and 4th year medical student facing the necessary completion of a double battery of tests an uphill battle for desirable residencies unless you don't mind practicing where most of your patients are familiar with the lost art of noodling and for an average cost that could purchase you a fleet of pontoon boats. For those kind of duckets I want the best return I can get.
Why not nursing? Why not DO? Why not nascar racing?
These questions are ridiculous. My problem will be taking the questions seriously enough not to offend the interviewer not in puzzling over what my point of view is.
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You'll find that this is very-much an undergraduate opinion. The practicing physicians (and even medical students) I spoke with throughout my application process all spoke very highly of the DOs they worked with, definitely treating them as equals.
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You will never be asked this question, so don't worry about it. In my experience MD schools/interviewers/clinicians are far less focused on DO than the other way round. Makes sense as there are so many more MDs and MD schools.
If an interviewer did ask you this, I would take it to mean that something you said in your interview or something in your credentials suggested you might be happier or more successful trying the osteo route. (Perhaps grades, philosophy etc. In other words your interview at that MD school was crashing and burning and you need to start backpeddling).
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Agree with two exceptions. DO is currently a very regional field -- there are many parts of the country still with very few DOs and, since no clinicians in such regions work with any, the opinions about them can run the gamut. The second exception is older physicians, who remember the time, not so long ago when DO's practiced exclusively out of their own hospitals and without some of the same medical privileges as MDs, and were not considered as equivalent/interchangeable in medicine. Both of these things will change as DOs become more prevalent and older doctors retire (or perhaps if DO gets merged into MD someday, as differences erode) but it is naive to think we have gotten there yet.
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just want to clarify your first point. you worded it so that someone who knew nothing about DO's would think that you couldn't go through a DO residency program and specialize. this isn't true, there are DO residency programs in all specialties. Also, if you choose to go to an MD residency program you are not required to take the USMLE. many programs will accept the comlex in lieu of usmle and you will need to check with individual programs (though it does make it "easier" to compare you to other applicants if you take the usmle)
anyway, to answer your question, I was never asked that at an MD interview.. only DO interviews.
So do DOs NOT do research or something?!
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For the most part. The schools that get the least research money are almost all osteopathic schools, with DMUOMC coming in at $0. The focus is just different in DO schools, most of them go into primary care (with WVSOM at 87.3% primary care).
I've seen MDs joke around about osteopaths, but I don't think that they were truly hostile towards them. There are alot of osteopaths where I am from, and I would say that if you make the extra effort to get into an MD program, your efforts will be recognized by other doctors for sure, and by patients to a lesser extent. Of course, more than your degree, your reputation as a good doctor is what matters most.
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There are many questions not unanimously ridiculous.....yet, and people will continue to ask them again and again until they become one. But even then when all questions become so ridiculous, people might still continue to ask them as long as only about half of the applicants still give them the answers they'd like. Nothing will change until everyone either flunks or passes, I bet.
The best answer to the OP's question is most likely the OMM. I wouldn't try too hard for any ridiculous question, just avoid giving a ridiculous answer.
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Nurse practitioners can write and sign a prescription without consulting an MD. Physician Assistants can write prescriptions, but they have to get an MD to sign it.
DOs are primarily concerned with enhancing the body so it can heal itself. MDs are primarily concerned with using medication to heal the body.
MD vs. NP/PA: I would prefer to be an MD because of the trust that patients will put into me. I have seen NPs and PAs and I always prefer to see an MD, even if their training is comparable. I think that culturally, Americans feel safer in the hands of an MD.
MD vs. DO: Ooh, this is tricky, because when I landed myself in the ER I was cared for extremely well by a DO. My friend, who was in a car accident as a young child, still had back problems years and years later. After massage therapy and acupressure proved insufficient, he went to see a DO. The DO did a "ten second examination" and then showed him some stretches and suggested he wear a heel lift in one shoe. I have not had that friend complain half as much about back pain since. Had he gone to an MD, would the MD have just prescribed painkillers and told him to exercise? I don't know. Personally, I want to be an MD because like everyone has mentioned so far, they are able to do research and there are a lot of training opportunities for furthering allopathic education after residency, fellowships, etc. I am a very curious person and I've participated in research before so while I know that it's not what I want to do full-time because I love people too much, it's definitely an avenue that I want to have access to in my career.
Also, I don't see any real competition between the different health care professionals because I think that after awhile in the clinical setting, people start to gain the attitude of "I am not always right, it's always better to ask for multiple opinions" and the more people you have with various backgrounds, the more likely you are to reach the "correct" answer and offer the best care for your patient. I think that MDs and DOs and NPs and PAs and etc and etc learn to appreciate how their skills can complement one another's and eventually they see the title as nothing more than "I have clinical knowledge."
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Just retort, D? O? Huh??
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There is an objective difference in quality between MDs and DOs. The latter tend to have lower USMLE pass rates and scores. Not to say the training is inferior, but the difference does exist from an academic perspective.
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Counter the MD vs. DO question with specific reasons why you want to go to certain schools. I wouldn't target the philosophies because that's way to easy to attack the professions at the same time. Just say that the schools that you apply to have something special about them (and you might have to list them) that you couldn't find in any DO school. Of course, if you DID apply to a DO school, this reasoning is screwed, but then it really doesn't matter (you can say your end goal is to be a doctor and both lead to that end).
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You make good points. I've yet to interview so It's difficult to get a feel of the intent of certain question types without a consensus built on experience.
I would, however, differ, with your strategy about the OMM approach as a process of reasoning.....Although it occurs to me now that your approach definitely is a short answer which directs the interview quickly back towards more useful and positive criteria. Maybe you've got something in terms of strategy if in fact this question would come up at all.
I suspect there is greater probability that most of us would encounter a why not nursing scenario--which to me is better territory in terms of not offenending the physician body politic. Here again perhaps your take on quick non-political answers is a good one.
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Um, why don't you learn more about both professions and determine how you feel about it instead of searching for the right words to say to your interviewer? The questions are designed to determine whether this is the right field for you, not whether you know what to say. If you can't think of a good answer, maybe you should rethink it. You will be much better off in terms of your own happiness once you know the answer, and a heartfelt response citing your experience will be more meaningful than what everyone else says. If the problem is you can't think of anything besides self-serving reasons, then maybe it isn't a good idea, unless you're okay with being selfish...
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Because the most practical reasons for picking MD over DO will make you sound like an asshat during an interview.
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Precisely. I could waste precious interview time expounding on all the thought and dues I've paid to come to the conclusions I have, or I could take a tack that answers an angled, needling, pesky little question with a terse and direct response that redirects the interview to questions that answer suitability with more accuracy.
Whatever is meant by self-serving in your syntax belies something other than the point you are ostensibly trying to make. How, I wonder, can one articulate why one is choosing a particular path over another which relates to one's professional predilection, can you answer with a framework that is anything other than something which serves the self.
"I want to be an MD instead of a DO or an RN because it is my altruistic destiny to be so..."
That's an entirely strange concept to me.
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While there are DO programs in almost all specialties, most DO students try to get an MD residency. Read into that whatever you will.
Many if not most of the good MD residencies will require you to take USMLE. If you even have an inkling that you may apply to an MD residencies, just take the extra exam.
See that's actually the problem...
Well put.
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Try this answer on for size:
"Because osteopathic philosophy assumes that there's something lacking or even wrong with the 'allopathic' approach to medicine. I disagree with this claim. I think that allopathic physicians are just as well educated in the areas of medicine emphasized by osteopathic schools, such as interaction between organ systems and the role of the muscoloskeletal system on our health, and I also think that allopathic physicians are just as attuned to the overall health of their patients as osteopatic physicians. I just don't want to be in an educational program that tries to emphasize a specific aspect of medicine."
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I was actually asked these questions in an interview. At the end of the interview they asked had I applied to DO schools to which I responded no. (I think this is because my state has one of the better DO schools in the country).
They then asked why MD over DO to which I responded that at that point I thought I wanted to pursue a residency with a surgical component and from my research, surgical residencies are made up of less than 10% DOs. I wanted to maximize my chances in the future and hence no DO applications. They seemed to be satisfied with this answer, but that is just my situation.
Don't lie or make up something whatever you do.
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Say you have a subpar applicant, who knows he will have to fight tooth and nail to get into MD school, and who really cannot imagine being happy as a DO (for various reasons.)
Would it be reasonable for him to not apply to DO schools at all? Might he be asked in interviews at MD schools, why didn't you apply to DO schools, since you might be more competitive there?
Would it be reasonable for him to not apply to DO schools at all? Might he be asked in interviews at MD schools, why didn't you apply to DO schools, since you might be more competitive there?
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Does anyone know how the DO degree is viewed internationally, compared to an MD degree?
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I have two additions to this.
1. Some countries limit medical practice to physicians who were educated and/or residency trained in that country...meaning: US MDs can't be permanently licensed in some of the countries that also don't permanently license US DOs.
2. The list linked above is info about becoming fully licensed (ie: move there permanently to work). It doesn't necesarily apply to temporary medical aid work.
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I just don't want to go to OMM class without any interest in it at all.
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I'm not sure if med students at my school are just snobby, but the general impression I get is that "only kids who can't make it to a respectable MD would goto DO."
Of course, there are exceptions to this crude generalization.
In my case however, I'm applying MD first cycle, and if I don't make it, well...
DO here I come!
Of course, there are exceptions to this crude generalization.
In my case however, I'm applying MD first cycle, and if I don't make it, well...
DO here I come!
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what is an asshat? i would like to see a picture.
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I think some definitions will do. No need for visuals.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ass-hat
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I know a very talented DO in emergency medicine. I was talking about my MCAT score and he said he had a 40. He also had fabulous grades. He could have attended most MD programs but he never applied. He really likes the DO philosophy. He landed an MD residency and is board certified through the MD programs.
He feels he is a well rounded physician because of the DO schooling and truly doesn't care what others think about his choice.
Some people apply DO because that is where they can get in. Some people want the kind of training DOs receive. IF everyone thought like that ER doc, it would be a lot harder to get into a DO program.
He feels he is a well rounded physician because of the DO schooling and truly doesn't care what others think about his choice.
Some people apply DO because that is where they can get in. Some people want the kind of training DOs receive. IF everyone thought like that ER doc, it would be a lot harder to get into a DO program.
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OMM is pretty much the only reason you wouldn't want to be a DO.
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This is a common situation, and the answer is Carribean MD schools.
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Yeah I never got that question. NP or PA vs. MD I got. I explained that I want to work in free clinics and would have more opportunites to work in/start free clinics as an MD than anything else. That was it. Short and sweet.
Obviously won't work for everyone but you don't need to go on some elaborate philosophical debate.
As far as DO vs MD if you get it (seems unlikely) be VERY careful. A guy last year had an interview at an MD school. He was going on and on (on his own) about how he prefers MD because DOs have a stigma, not as much power, etc. etc. etc and at the end of his rant the interviewer pointed out that he had a DO. So PLEASE know what degrees your interviewer has and watch what you say.
Obviously won't work for everyone but you don't need to go on some elaborate philosophical debate.
As far as DO vs MD if you get it (seems unlikely) be VERY careful. A guy last year had an interview at an MD school. He was going on and on (on his own) about how he prefers MD because DOs have a stigma, not as much power, etc. etc. etc and at the end of his rant the interviewer pointed out that he had a DO. So PLEASE know what degrees your interviewer has and watch what you say.
