Interview: the why DO question

Started by elegantorchid
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elegantorchid

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Hi I recently interviewed at a school and as expected the why DO not MD question came up. I kinda described how DOs had a more holistic approach to patients and the interviewer said "so you dont' think MDs can take a holistic approach?" I was kind of taken back by this (although technically I kinda had the same qusetion myself).

How would you answer this question and why???
 
I told them the truth.

That I've spent a lot of time around very unhappy MD students, but that the DO students I'd had the pleasure of interacting with seemed very happy and pleased with their educational experience. They were honestly the only ones who didn't try and steer me away from medicine/tell me they wouldn't do it again if they had the chance.

That was enough for me to only apply DO.
 
I approached it from my whole shadowing perspective. I had shadowed both and I felt I had legitimately observed the DO having a more personal connection with her patients so I spoke to that. Along with the holistic stuff. If you take the discussion in the direction of something you honestly percieved they really don't have much of a way to tear that one down, aside from flat out calling you a liar.
 
well i think my truthful response is i dont' particulary care if I'm a DO or a MD. I just wanna be a doctor(preferably one that can take the holistic approach)

actually on another note. what do you guys thinka bout the interviewer's question concerning MDs taking a holistic approach.
 
I feel like if I hear someone associate DO with "holistic approach" one more time... my head is going to explode. It's such a cliche now, and it's getting annoying in my opinion. While DO does hold the holistic philosophy, it doesn't explain why you think this "approach" is better to medicine. I made to sure to NOT mention "holistic" at all in my answer... and I think the interviewers appreciated that a lot actually.

I basically said that the DO philosophy and practice of medicine just makes sense. How else would you treat a patient but to examine the patient as a whole (notice, I avoided the word "holistic" here intentionally). The body systems are all interconnected with each other, so the thing that drew me to DO more-so than MD is that, even though both appreciate the natural biorhythm of the body, DO makes an effort to emphasize it by deeming it important enough to actually put in their philosophy of medicine. In addition to this... the DO philosophy stresses things like patient education, trust, and building lasting relationships between doctors and patients. I also mentioned how education was important to me, through all the tutoring, TA-ing, and mentor programs I established in the community.... and some observations I made about osteopathic medicine from my shadowing experience.
 
That was an appropriate question because the "holistic approach" is not unique to DO.
 
Iliketoytles said:
I basically said that the DO philosophy and practice of medicine just makes sense. How else would you treat a patient but to examine the patient as a whole (notice, I avoided the word "holistic" here intentionally). The body systems are all interconnected with each other, so the thing that drew me to DO more-so than MD is that, even though both appreciate the natural biorhythm of the body, DO makes an effort to emphasize it by deeming it important enough to actually put in their philosophy of medicine. In addition to this... the DO philosophy stresses things like patient education, trust, and building lasting relationships between doctors and patients. I also mentioned how education was important to me, through all the tutoring, TA-ing, and mentor programs I established in the community.... and some observations I made about osteopathic medicine from my shadowing experience.
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That all sounds very good and I'm sure your interviewers lapped it up... but how exactly is that different from MD? It seems like you're saying the same thing except you avoid the word "holistic".
 
sector9 said:
That all sounds very good and I'm sure your interviewers lapped it up... but how exactly is that different from MD? It seems like you're saying the same thing except you avoid the word "holistic".
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That's exactly my point. These days, there is so much overlap between the DO and MD philosophy, it's silly to say that DO > MD because it's more "holistic". OMM is about the only thing that makes DO stand out from MD, but it's not like MD doesn't appreciate the musculoskeletal system.

The main difference I was addressing is that DO actually mentions the importance of the integration of the mind and body in it's philosophy. MD and DO's both practice it, but I think having it chizzled into the foundation/philosophy of osteopathic medicine is really interesting and cool. And the emphasis of patient education and building patient-doctor relationships is practiced in both MD and DO as well, but again... it's something that DO philosophy seems to acknowledge as important and deems it worthy enough to actually be chizzled into the philosophy.
 
PhoenixFire said:
That was an appropriate question because the "holistic approach" is not unique to DO.
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True. The holistic approach should be taken by all physicians, whether MD or DO. Another tool to use in the holistic approach is OMM, which DOs can perform and MDs can refer to. I think DOs put a little more emphasis on viewing the patient as a whole and not just individual systems put together.
 
I didn't apply to MD schools so when they asked I basically said, "you are a full physician when finished, can do everything that an MD can do, plus they get OMM which works, so the way I see it, why not DO? That is why I didn't apply to MD schools." seemed to work very well for me.
 
Iliketoytles said:
That's exactly my point. These days, there is so much overlap between the DO and MD philosophy, it's silly to say that DO > MD because it's more "holistic". OMM is about the only thing that makes DO stand out from MD, but it's not like MD doesn't appreciate the musculoskeletal system.

The main difference I was addressing is that DO actually mentions the importance of the integration of the mind and body in it's philosophy. MD and DO's both practice it, but I think having it chizzled into the foundation/philosophy of osteopathic medicine is really interesting and cool. And the emphasis of patient education and building patient-doctor relationships is practiced in both MD and DO as well, but again... it's something that DO philosophy seems to acknowledge as important and deems it worthy enough to actually be chizzled into the philosophy.
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Oh I see.
 
Talked about the power of touch - how a businessman's handshake can show confidence, how a hug from a mother can bring comfort, how a kiss from a lover can stir up intimacy, etc.
Also talked about a more personal reason for how touch is influential.

Just be honest.. no right or wrong answer. They just want to see that you know why you want to besides thinking DO schools are easier to get into.
 
When I shadowed MD/DOs in the residency program I saw no difference.

When I looked at each school, I made sure that the opportunities offered were in tune with my interests and listed a couple of reasons for each school.

Finally, as far as the OMM is concerned, I said I was keeping an open mind about it and would love to learn more about it (cue laughter here when I'm bitching about it come fall). One OMS student said that if anything they felt a lot more comfortable with patients come time to learn about the physical exam and I liked that.
 
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