MD compared to DO

[Gatewayhoward]

I've had someone try to tell me the difference between and MD and a DO and I don't completely get the whole difference. Can someone give me an overview or comparison of the two professions?

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[medhacker]

I've had someone try to tell me the difference between and MD and a DO and I don't completely get the whole difference. Can someone give me an overview or comparison of the two professions?

Do a search in the pre-osteo forum, the subject has 100's of threads. Best Wishes.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Here we go... *pulls up chair and popcorn*

 

[Phil Anthropist]

It is okay to discuss differences/benefits of each degree, but personal attacks and/or flaming are not allowed. I haven't seen any problems yet, so I'll keep this open for now.

The FAQ in the Pre-Osteopathic forum includes multiple links to answer your question. Please read these first:

DO or MD: Which one?

Osteopathic Medicine

An Overview of Osteopathic Medicine

What is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine?

American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine

 

[NiteOwl]

Here we go... *pulls up chair and popcorn*

*brings "drinks" (that should make it even more entertaining) and pulls up another chair*

 

[DropkickMurphy]

 

[silas2642]

I've had someone try to tell me the difference between and MD and a DO and I don't completely get the whole difference. Can someone give me an overview or comparison of the two professions?

I live in a state where there's an osteopathic school, and so the hospitals are very osteopathic friendly. From what I've seen, no one cares whether or not you're a DO or an MD as long as you are a competent physician.

I have heard a DO speak about osteopathic medicine-- they can do everything that a MD can do plus osteopathic manipulative medicine, OMM. Whether or not you believe in OMM is a matter of choice. I have no idea how it works, but I've heard from others that it can be a great tool in the healing process.

The common consensus on this forum seems to be that the DO philosophy sees the entire patient as a person when treating the disease, where as allopathic medicine tends to see a person with a disease.

The downside to becoming a DO is that if you want to practice outside of the US, the degree is not recognized in most other countries. The other possible downside comes to taking the boards-- you have to take COMPLEX and USMLES if you want to match into certain fields (although I've heard that less competitive fields like IM and psych have a lot of programs that will take just COMPLEX).

 

[Jaykms]

*brings "drinks" (that should make it even more entertaining) and pulls up another chair*

just waiting for the flames to start...

 

[TracksuitsRock]

Does anybody have a ten foot pole?
no?
oh ok, wouldn't use it anyway

 

[ddog01]

The downside to becoming a DO is that if you want to practice outside of the US, the degree is not recognized in most other countries. The other possible downside comes to taking the boards-- you have to take COMPLEX and USMLES if you want to match into certain fields (although I've heard that less competitive fields like IM and psych have a lot of programs that will take just COMPLEX).

Just a couple of corrections. Again, to the original poster, please see the links referred to above. Anyway, every specialty has a dedicated osteopathic residency that is available only to osteopathic physicians (from ophthalmology to neurosurgery and everything in between). None of them require the USMLEs to my knowledge. You MUST take the COMLEX exam (not "COMPLEX") (College of Osteopathic Medicine Licensing Examination, or something like that) to graduate from an osteopathic medical college, but you also qualify to take the USMLE although it is optional. Many graduates choose to take both so that they can compete better with allopathic residencies. Some people claim that the number of spots for some prestigious residencies, although naturally fewer in the osteopathic tradition (because there are fewer osteopathic colleges and hence fewer osteopathic physician graduates), are disproportionately fewer, and so even more difficult to land than in allopathic medicine. E.g. dermatology.

OK, tired of this. Read more stuff on the links above. Everything I have written and more is definitely found in one of those links. And please, no flame wars 🙂

Cheers and good luck.

-D

 

[mtDNA]

Just a couple of corrections. Again, to the original poster, please see the links referred to above. Anyway, every specialty has a dedicated osteopathic residency that is available only to osteopathic physicians (from ophthalmology to neurosurgery and everything in between). None of them require the USMLEs to my knowledge. You MUST take the COMLEX exam (not "COMPLEX") (College of Osteopathic Medicine Licensing Examination, or something like that) to graduate from an osteopathic medical college, but you also qualify to take the USMLE although it is optional. Many graduates choose to take both so that they can compete better with allopathic residencies. Some people claim that the number of spots for some prestigious residencies, although naturally fewer in the osteopathic tradition (because there are fewer osteopathic colleges and hence fewer osteopathic physician graduates), are disproportionately fewer, and so even more difficult to land than in allopathic medicine. E.g. dermatology.

OK, tired of this. Read more stuff on the links above. Everything I have written and more is definitely found in one of those links. And please, no flame wars 🙂

Cheers and good luck.

-D

Hello. I have spent lots of time shadowing both MD and DO physicians, and have applied to both kinds of med schools. I agree with everything that was posted here by ddog01. Graduates of osteopathic schools typically apply to osteopathic residencies, so they do not need USMLE. There are plenty of osteopathic residecies available in primary care fields, but proportionally, most specialties seem to have more spots available for MDs. However, there is still plenty of oppurtunity for DO's to specialize, especially in big D.O. states such as Michigan.
Another important point is that most D.O.'s practice medicine the same way as their M.D. counterparts. That is, most do not use OMM.

 

[riceman04]

Nachos and hotdogs are here

cell phone off...check

 

[Ypo.]

Things have really cleaned up a lot since I've been here last.

FYI OP-in case you are surprised by all the hordes of crowds coming to witness the battle of the titans-that is because there can be a lot of DO vs MD competition and slander on these pre-med forums-but just so you know you will not find much of it out in the real world. Just like we all wouldn't 'say' half the stuff we post on these forums. 😉

 

[Gut Shot]

The common consensus on this forum seems to be that the DO philosophy sees the entire patient as a person when treating the disease, where as allopathic medicine tends to see a person with a disease.

Honestly, could someone try to explain to me what this actually means? Every time I see a statement like this I recall my medicine rotation (allopathic school), when we would write multiple pages of systems-based A&P's for eatch patients, and call at least half a dozen consults apiece. A typical list might look like: PT, OT, Psych, Chaplain, Resp Therapy, GI, Diabetes Management and Pain Clinic. Did we leave any stones unturned?

 

[ddmo]

Basically they are the same thing with the osteos learning OMM, which some of them may use in practice. As for the treating the whole person, that is just a marketing ploy on their part to smear MDs and keep their waiting rooms full. I take offense to that the same way an osteo would to me saying that the reason they went osteo is because they couldn't go allo. It's not true, and it shouldn't be said, period.

There are DO residencies, but since almost half of DOs go through ACGME(allo) residencies, many do need to take the USMLE. Keep in mind the way licensing works. In order to be licensed by the American Osteopathic Assoc. you need to do a transitional internship year before your residency. You could avoid this by doing an allo residency, although 5 states require you to be AOA licensed if you have a DO degree, making the internship mandatory regardless. Outside of those states, you can take the USMLE and apply to an ACGME residency and would be licensed like all the MDs out there, without the internship year (some specialties excluded). This is all outlined in the Osteo boards under the medical student section if you want more information.

 

[Gut Shot]

As for the treating the whole person, that is just a marketing ploy on their part to smear MDs and keep their waiting rooms full. I take offense to that the same way an osteo would to me saying that the reason they went osteo is because they couldn't go allo. It's not true, and it shouldn't be said, period.

Exactly. Well put.

 

[USArmyDoc]

Maybe I am wrong but I look at it as every doctor, MD or DO, treats the whole person.

 

[USArmyDoc]

Maybe I am wrong but I look at it as every doctor, MD or DO, treats the whole person.

 

[medhacker]

Maybe I am wrong but I look at it as every doctor, MD or DO, treats the whole person.

This is not true of anyone in general. I have seen DOs who in my opinion do not treat the whole person and the same for MDs. It just so happens that 99% of all MDs I have seen in action do not act as if they cared about the "entire person". I only heard an emphasis (whether for financial interest or not) when I first read a DO school website.

Does that mean only DOs have that emphasis. Most likely not. This is juts my experience, I know it is anecdotal, I think if you do a survey you will find most people who have been exposed to both physicians will say the same. Again, this is my own unique experience, make of it what you wish...

 

[silas2642]

Maybe I am wrong but I look at it as every doctor, MD or DO, treats the whole person.

Wow. For some reason I always thought it was the COMPLEX. I guess I didn't really look at the letters carefully or my subconscious just thought that it was a complex test. Anyhow, I think that this DO vs MD philosophy is more a thing of the past. It just seems that in the past years there has been more of a convergence of the two philosophies into one. Allopathic medicine seems to be trying to get their students to see their patients more as a person with a disease rather than just a disease. All I can say is that in the state where I live, there really isn't any difference except that osteopaths are trained in OMM.

 

[Gatewayhoward]

So an MD and a DO are essentially the same thing with the exception that they have different philosophies about how to look at the patient? Isn't a doctor so highly trained that they develop their own philosophies and focus? I didn't have a clue there is so much politics on the subject.

 

[silas2642]

So an MD and a DO are essentially the same thing with the exception that they have different philosophies about how to look at the patient? Isn't a doctor so highly trained that they develop their own philosophies and focus? I didn't have a clue there is so much politics on the subject.

Go to the osteopathic forum and look at the "please read before posting" section. It's at the top, it's stickied, and it's very good. I would suggest reading posts by Malo, and maybe his blog. The thing about posting in the pre-allopathic forum is that most of the posters tend to be pre-allopathic; we are not practicing doctors, we are not even medical students.

Having met and worked with both osteopathic and allopathic physicians and talked with both of them I can tell you that for the most part they work side by side and don't even think about the letters behind their name. Neither do their patients. All they care about is whether or not their physician is competent and compassionate.

You do run into the occassional schlump who say that osteopaths have "inferior training" in comparison to allopaths. To me this is bs; I have seen very good and very talented osteopathic docs and not so good and talented osteopathic docs. I have also seen some excellent allopaths and some terrible allopaths. The only allopath who told me that DO schools offer inferior training was a 007-- licensed to kill, so I didn't take his words too seriously.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that each doctor develops his own philosophy in treating patients; in the end it isn't about what school you've attended that is going to make you the doctor you are, it's the decisions you make about how you're going to treat your patients.

All in all, I think that you do what's right for you. I applied to allopathic schools only because I didn't have the money for osteopathic schools, and I was only really interested in one DO school because staying close to home was really important to me. I think that you have to look at each osteopathic school individually just as you would an allopathic school; I know that I have seen some schools where I think I would be incredibly happy and other schools that weren't such a good fit for me. I'm sure the same would hold true if I had applied DO.

P.S. the other reason I didn't really want to go osteopath is because it's MORE training; I'm pretty sure I'm going to go down the psychiatric route so I ain't nevah gonna be touching my patients. I'd rather spend the 200 or so hours learning OMM sleeping. But that's just me! 🙄

 

[DrMom]

The common consensus on this forum seems to be that the DO philosophy sees the entire patient as a person when treating the disease, where as allopathic medicine tends to see a person with a disease.

The AOA has dropped the "treating the whole patient" promotional line & replaced it with "treating our family and yours."


There are some subtle differences between DO and MD training (and philosophy), but the vast majority of graduates are essentially the same in the end. (and even where there are differences in practice, they mostly entail those DOs who use OMM)

 

[snobored18]

Tons of politics...inferiority and superiority complexes abound...point blank both produce good physicians...to be honest I wouldn't choose to go to DMU over U of I CCOM but I'm not everyone I like research for me DO is a bad fit for others its a great fit...just focus on getting into med school, getting through med school and realizing you will work with both MDs and DOs and it doesn't matter all that much...

 

[Psycho Doctor]

just waiting for the flames to start...

well if everyone stopped looking for the flames, perhaps no one would put fuel on the fire

 

[Hoberto]

The downside to becoming a DO is that if you want to practice outside of the US, the degree is not recognized in most other countries.

Again, another topic that is best answered by visiting the FAQ in the DO forum. Really, this is the best place to get accurate, factual information.

Where can DOs practice?

 

[Beau Geste]

Honestly, could someone try to explain to me what this actually means? Every time I see a statement like this I recall my medicine rotation (allopathic school), when we would write multiple pages of systems-based A&P's for eatch patients, and call at least half a dozen consults apiece. A typical list might look like: PT, OT, Psych, Chaplain, Resp Therapy, GI, Diabetes Management and Pain Clinic. Did we leave any stones unturned?

.

 

[deuist]

You forgot speech therapy!

And nutrition.

 

[superkiwi]

So an MD and a DO are essentially the same thing with the exception that they have different philosophies about how to look at the patient? Isn't a doctor so highly trained that they develop their own philosophies and focus? I didn't have a clue there is so much politics on the subject.

i talked with a professor who has taught at an MD as well as a DO school... he basically said that every thing is the same; the difference is that a majority of DOs historically go into primary care and so say they have a 'holistic' view of the body, whereas lots of MDs go into specialties. this is not to say that specialists (MDs or DOs) have an 'inferior' or 'superior' viewpoint - it's just what each graduate tends to concentrate towards.

when i get a chance, i definitely want to read up on the history of medicine! 😀

 

[snobored18]

This is still going...oh boy...I'm surprised no one has decided to throw the gloves off and be politically incorrect...if you really really want to know the difference between MD and DO (the education is the same but something else is different) I suggest you head to you local Barnes and Nobles or Borders and spend a half hour browsing through the US News Ultimate Guide to Medical Schools...look at the stats of the class average and the admit rate (the MSAR has no data on osteo of course but US news does)...use these facts to formulate your own opinion and determine what course might be the most feasible for you...allo isn't for everyone and neither is osteo...all in all there is little difference in the education or the quality of the physicians each route produces BUT no one can deny that most of the allos are more competive and better funded its just how the cards fall...i really think the difference is in the numbers not the people.