Malpractice differences for DO and MD?

[DocBR]

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I was at my dentists office today and mentioned that I was accepted to AZCOM and will be attending in the fall. Anyway, he went on a rant about the differences between DO and MD and said that DO surgeons have higher malpractice rates because they were found to be a higher risk for insurance companies.

Normally, I would dismiss this as uninformed, but he said that came from his father who is a Professor/MD at my states allopathic school.

Now obviously I do not believe that an MD is inherently more capable than a DO, but I've seen weirder things come out of an insurance risk assessment.


Can anyone confirm or reject what he said?

 

[Tiagao]

Contact your local physicians' insurance company.

 

[DrMom]

I've never seen different rates for DOs vs MDs in the same specialty. Your dentist is misinformed.

 

[Toohotinvegas33]

I found this link where there was a study comparing malpractice of higher or lower tier school, US med schools plus IMG's
http://qshc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/12/5/330#SEC2

and heres a quote "Previous studies have shown strong links between physician characteristics and specialty and malpractice experience, but were unable to find any significant relationship between medical school attended and rate of claims or payments. "

 

[Onstarr]

Contact your local physicians' insurance company.

this is probably the best way to go

 

[Mr_Doc]

Malpractice differences for DO and MD?

yeah, i highly doubt it.

 

[Protease]

If DOs do pay higher malpractice insurance rates, then I'm withdrawing my seat now. 😀**

Do what Onstar said, he know what he's talking about.

Anyone going to see the Last Mimzy this friday. yes this has nothing to do with the topic, but I want to know.

**Sarcasm

 

[group_theory]

Why is it that all these non-DOs (dentists, nurses, CNAs, etc) claim to know more about the realities of osteopathic medicine than osteopathic students and DOs?

And why are people so willing to take the word of a dentist/nurse/CNA about the realities of osteopathic medicine so quickly instead of remaining skeptical and doing a little research?

In other news, today one of the senior citizen volunteers at a hospital told me that it is cannon law that a DO may only speak to an MD when spoken to. A DO may not go to the caffeteria until all the MDs and MD students on the floor have had a chance to go, and the only bathroom in the hospital the DO may use is in the basement, down a steep dark flight of stairs (populated by bats and arachnoids), behind a locked gate, and guarded by a fierce killer rabbit

I have no reason to doubt the veracity of this elderly volunteer's statement but I do have a fear of killer rabbits so I don't know if osteopathic medicine is right for me ... what should I do?

 

[dctrgreen]

Why is it that all these non-DOs (dentists, nurses, CNAs, etc) claim to know more about the realities of osteopathic medicine than osteopathic students and DOs?

And why are people so willing to take the word of a dentist/nurse/CNA about the realities of osteopathic medicine so quickly instead of remaining skeptical and doing a little research?

In other news, today one of the senior citizen volunteers at a hospital told me that it is cannon law that a DO may only speak to an MD when spoken to. A DO may not go to the caffeteria until all the MDs and MD students on the floor have had a chance to go, and the only bathroom in the hospital the DO may use is in the basement, down a steep dark flight of stairs (populated by bats and arachnoids), behind a locked gate, and guarded by a fierce killer rabbit

I have no reason to doubt the veracity of this elderly volunteer's statement but I do have a fear of killer rabbits so I don't know if osteopathic medicine is right for me ... what should I do?

lmao

seriously though, there is no difference in malpractice claims against MD/DO while there are predictable differences among specialties that these MD/DO doctors pursue.

 

[DocBR]

Why is it that all these non-DOs (dentists, nurses, CNAs, etc) claim to know more about the realities of osteopathic medicine than osteopathic students and DOs?

And why are people so willing to take the word of a dentist/nurse/CNA about the realities of osteopathic medicine so quickly instead of remaining skeptical and doing a little research?

If you read the post, that was coming from the dentist's father (who is a professor and MD). He was informed of this "insurance policy" because while he was in undergrad he was pre-allo, then when that did not pan out (he did not do well on the MCAT) he considered pre-osteo but his dad freaked out on him over it. Then he was pre-pharm which also did not pan out, and he finally arrived at dental school.

I would not take the advice of a nurse, CNA, dentist, etc - this was being piped down from a MD that trains physicians, so I assumed it warranted being looked into.

 

[Doc2007]

If you read the post, that was coming from the dentist's father (who is a professor and MD). He was informed of this "insurance policy" because while he was in undergrad he was pre-allo, then when that did not pan out (he did not do well on the MCAT) he considered pre-osteo but his dad freaked out on him over it. Then he was pre-pharm which also did not pan out, and he finally arrived at dental school.

I would not take the advice of a nurse, CNA, dentist, etc - this was being piped down from a MD that trains physicians, so I assumed it warranted being looked into.

The best way to get your question answered is to setup an appointment with your dentist's dad and talk to him.

 

[EastWestN2grt]

Just to add a little fuel to this discussion, and highlight the simple IGNORANCE of other health care professionals, in particular: Dentists!!!

I was one of three finalists for two $1000 scholarships at my Uni. Now, I pretty much believed I would be one of the lucky recipients since they were scholarships for any students applying to a health care profession who showed a committment to underserved populations in work, ECs, etc. I thought I had a major advantage since I work in the research lab of one of the professors on the scholarship board--he even wrote me a wonderful letter of rec. It seemed a guaranteed scholarship!

So a couple of days after the board met to make the decision about the scholarships, my research prof invites me in to his office, shuts the door, and tells me straight up that I got screwed! He then tells me the story of what happened in the scholarship meeting, and specifically how one of the other board members, a dentist, was against my winning the scholarship because I was applying only to DO schools, and he felt that the board was "lowering their standards" by giving the scholarship to someone becoming a DO! Not only could I not believe it, my professor could not either since he felt I was the most qualified candiate for the scholarships. He argued on my behalf that "if DOs have equal hospital privileges as MDs, they are just as good!" The interesting side note is my professor's father was an MD that disliked DOs and made his opinion known to his son growing up--but I was the one who changed his opinion about the profession and cleared up many of his own previous misconceptions. It was to no avail, and it seems many in the board may have had their own preconceived notions or at least sided with the dentist.

Needless to say this royally made me pissed off at dentists--Not only does going to a dentist for the most part always suck, this guy had the ignorance to say what he did. Im sure many of you have heard the crap dental students get from MD students about their own profession. I for one used to feel DOs, Dentists, Nurses, PAs, Chiros share a similar camaraderie at some level being the underdog to the allopathic field. So it felt like I was stabbed in the back. It sucks because I could have definetely used the money too👎