MD or DO anesthesiologist?

[WholeLottaGame7]

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I believe he said junior IN high school, not in jr. high school.

Anyway, to the OP, copro is right in that you're going to get a biased picture when you shadow any doctor. You don't work the same hours, you get to see the cool stuff, and by nature of the fact that they're letting you shadow, they probably enjoy their job. And of course, you're going to get a lot of negative comments on any message board.

I think you need to weigh the good and the bad, see how college goes, and then worry about applying to medical school. You can do more research at that point on MD vs DO, but in general if you want to do an anesthesia residency I'd go MD. To my obviously uninformed opinion, it seems like people go the DO route for one of two reasons: 1) they couldn't get into an allopathic school, or 2) they like the osteopathic philosophy. #2 doesn't seem like it lends itself well in general to anesthesia, unless I guess you do pain medicine or something. And by #1 I'm not applying a difference in "intelligence" (whatever that means), but maybe they realized late they were interested in medicine (switching careers, partied too hard in undergrad, whatever) and an alternative route was easiest.

And before anyone jumps on me, I've personally known DOs who went that route for both aformentioned reasons, and there are also a lot of DO anesthesiologists at my institution, and they are some of the better teachers overall.

 

[justtesting]

No one has an incentive other than to warn people against our own mistakes in medicine. The field itself is getting worse and worse every day, not month or year. To be honest, none of us could have predicted the complete collapse of the physician 30 years ago.

The big problems I see in the future: ALL primary care fields will be taken over completely by midlevel providers. In a sense it already has. Over the next few years, specializations will be consumed by midlevels as well.

The average Primary care physician makes LESS than most CRNAs. In essence, 4 years of college, 4 years medical school, 3 years residency = less monetary worth than an online degree.

The big picture here is that we're not only saying don't do anesthesia, we're saying don't do medical school.

I'm saying:
Like surgery: be a surgical assistant
Like anesthesia: be an AA/ CRNA
Like Primary Care:be a PA/DNP/ Nurse Practitioner
Like ER: be a PA

good hell. i'm an ICU murse (i know i know 'down with the nurses!!') doing pre reqs for med school right now wanting to do anesthesia. i worked as an anesthesia tech for three years before and during nursing school so i know very well what it entails and i love the field. maybe it wasnt your intention, but everyone seriously has me thinking twice about this med school move. thanks a lot. 😕 I get so effing excited thinking about all joys and pains of med school, the long hours, the vast amounts of knowledge, the invaluable clinical experience, the fact that you have finished an educational ironman, i mean what an accomplishment. but after reading all this, it just makes me wonder... if there are so many people who wished they'd have known better before starting... will i be in that same boat?

 

[IDBasco]

good hell. i'm an ICU murse (i know i know 'down with the nurses!!') doing pre reqs for med school right now wanting to do anesthesia. i worked as an anesthesia tech for three years before and during nursing school so i know very well what it entails and i love the field. maybe it wasnt your intention, but everyone seriously has me thinking twice about this med school move. thanks a lot. 😕 I get so effing excited thinking about all joys and pains of med school, the long hours, the vast amounts of knowledge, the invaluable clinical experience, the fact that you have finished an educational ironman, i mean what an accomplishment. but after reading all this, it just makes me wonder... if there are so many people who wished they'd have known better before starting... will i be in that same boat?

Wow. I'm going to assume you are interested in anesthesiology or you probably wouldn't have stumbled in here. If so, I would aim my sights at applying to CRNA schools if I were you. Hell, you can probably apply in the next 12 months. You'd have way less debt, better hours and it would take way less time. Don't go to med school because its an accomplishment, go because no other path will allow you to do the things you want to do. But any more, it seems those things are becoming fewer- for right or wrong.

Edit- you did say you want to do anesthesia. You also sound like a non-trad applicant. I am a non-trad myself. With that little bit of info, I even more strongly suggest the CRNA path. I didn't catch it earlier because I am frazzled from studying which I will do until probably 1am so I can do more of the same after school tomorrow until probably 2 am and get up to go take a test Friday. Med school is great, LOL. Back to studying...

 

[badgas]

As the saying goes, the grass is greener on the other side. Having been through all of the premed, med school and residency crap, I don't think that the juice is worth the squeeze. However, I wouldn't really change anything. I'm glad I won't be wondering "what if."

 

[Gigantron]

I don't believe you are in Jr. High School. You write far too well for someone of your purported age.

I'm a Junior IN high school (a.k.a., the eleventh grade). >_>

I can understand why you want me to slow down, but the fact is I only have one more year of highschool left, then I start college. The fact doesn't change that I had this on my mind during my junior high years, however. I just didn't tell the whole world about it (even my parents).

@Wholelottagame: Thanks for your answer. At least I have some sort of clarity between D.O. and M.D. from yours (and other actual answers on here).

 

[tjaze]

Don't go to medical school.

If you absolutely want to be involved in healthcare, there are plenty of ancillary fields that are desperate for people. You will not spend a lot of blood and treasure getting through medical school only to be marginalized as a physician and told by administrators and JCAHO and other regulators what you can and can't do. You won't be >$150,000 in debt. You wont' spend 60-70 hours a week, on average, taking care of people most of whom can't possibly appreciate what you are doing for them always under the auspices of being sued. You won't have the constant threat of people threatening to limit your reimbursements or take your job away.

You will have a chance to have a life if you don't go to medical school.

If I'd known 9 years ago what I know now, I would've never done this.

-copro

if i had known that 4 yrs ago, i would've gone to law school. then the alternate future me could've sued the current future me for millions of dollars AND GET THE SATISFACTION OF A GRATEFUL PATIENT.

oh, well, too late now.

 

[coprolalia]

I'm a Junior IN high school (a.k.a., the eleventh grade). >_>

Then, the link I posted previously is even more relevant. Read it.

-copro

 

[combatwombat]

The salaries and the lifestyle weren't the reasons why I've wanted to go into this profession. Heck, what makes me giddy is being called "Doctor".

Making a difference in people's lives is what I am most interested in, even though it only involves anesthetics.

This kind of fresh-faced optimism is strictly forbidden in the anesthesiology forums. Click here immediately.

 

[IDBasco]

Being a CRNA is like being a CA 1 resident permanently, with better pay. I would never want to be a CRNA.

I'm not saying that being a CRNA is better, but when you are that close to being able to apply, I'd go for that. He probably only would need to take the GRE or whatever test they require. Unless he isn't an RN- I was assuming he is. Its definitely a personal thing though.

If I found myself as an RN with a year or more ICU experience wanting to do anesthesia, thats what I would do. Less gray hair and more time. Its all about trade-offs.

 

[diceksox]

If you are in 11th grade now, your first year of anesthesia residency would be the equivalent of the 22nd grade (assuming you go straight through). Keep an open mind man, and listen to what other people with no obvious agenda have to say.

 

[BCon902]

The answer to your question is far more complicated than DO vs. MD, and you'll realize this as you decide to pursue medicine.

 

[abuecker]

Gigantron,

My local newspaper asked me what I wanted to do when I graduated from high school. I said "I'm going to major in Pre-Law, and then go to Law School." Things do change! I went to nursing school, now I'm in Med School. The number of classmates I have that wonder what they've done and want out is staggering, and I'm pretty sure a ton of them "knew their whole lives" they wanted to be a doctor.

I've decided that the nontraditional route I took is not all that insane. Get a clear idea of who you are before committing to a career that will take 8 years beyond college (speaking of anesthesia in particular) and you better be ready to stay in for 20 years after that. Coprolalia is absolutely right in his assessment of this not being a decision to think you can make in high school. I keep discouraging my sister-in-law who's a freshmen in college of thinking she needs to know what she wants to do for the rest of her life.

Just wait till after you can vote, and hopefully you can help us turn the tide on the *****s who think they have more insight than health care professionals into how to deliver health care. Again, I otherwise agree with Coprolalia that I would steer away from medicine, and possibly this whole country if the current government decides to completely hose us all. Oh and speaking of that, if you must then, go for the MD, at least you can get a job outside the US.

 

[siednarb]

I am a DO who did an MD anesthesia residency.
Half of my residency class (6/12) were DO's
being a DO did not adversley affect me getting a job - I am the 3rd DO in my group of about 20 MDA's.

Then again I live in a DO friendly state.

Some places are still anti-DO so tread cautiously.

Change comes one funeral at a time.

Best of luck to the OP.

To the others, while I understand your sentiments and frustration we need to remember what it was like when we saw medicine in a similar altrustic light. We need to encourage individuals like the OP to pursue science and medicine otherwise who is going to be in the hospitals when we get older and sick?
I am not relishing the health care change that is probably coming but I'll still have a job - one that I do enjoy - and one that comes with self-respect. I'm
a DO, proud of it, enjoy teaching and allowing others to shadow me so that they can see beyond the walls of their high schools and realize they need to study hard and strive to be the best - if we don't encourage the next generation than the US of A is in even bigger trouble than we know.

 

[LonghornJPS]

I am a DO who did an MD anesthesia residency as well.

To answer your original question: which is better for residency? I'd argue MD. Do I have regrets? No. I didn't have any trouble getting into a good residency, and I didn't have any trouble getting a job.

I urge you to closely monitor how medicine changes over the next decade. The future is very uncertain.

 

[amyl]

OP: I am a DO currently in an MD residency. I went DO for proximity issues, much like it sounds like you might be considering. The DO school was an hour drive, the MD school would have necessitated a seperate apartment away from my now hubby. It was a no brainer for me. Residency-wise things would have been easier w MD behind my name than DO. I think I had to score better on the boards and have a higher class rank to match where i did vs. my MD counterparts. all things being the same: go MD, it will be easier.... if you have a good reason to go DO its not a problem to pursue anes. however, you really should do an MD residency. The standards are questionable for some DO anes residencies and thus as a graduate of a DO anes residency you may be seen as an unknown and might be limited somewhat in your job search.
there are some very wise people on this board, and you should consider what they have to say. i met an optho guy when i was premed that worked for a laser surgery center (ie walmart of optho) who made serious bank but hated every minute of the bs involved w the business men that owned the surgery centers. he begged me not to go to med school. i didn't listen. sometimes i wonder if i made the right decision. i left a pretty profitable gig in finance to be a doctor. 'course with the way the market is now it was probably a great decision, at least in the short term.
it may sound lame but i think this was my calling and i am mostly happy doing it. in the end, no matter what else anyone else says, you just gotta do what gets you out of bed in the morning not dreading your day. best of luck....

 

[Dejavu]

This is why we should start calling ourselves physicians.

Another thing I noticed where I'm at right now is that everyone wears the long white coats. The dietitians, the respiratory therapists, nurse managers etc. I think this is really starting to confuse patients.

Bingo!

I always answer queries about what I do with the word "physician", not "doctor". And I am willing to tell people why.

 

[error404]

I encourage you to follow your dream.

I think MD is easier-- fewer people question your career choice, mostly because the general public is just more familiar with "MD," and because some of the top programs really do discriminate against DOs.

/I need someone to take over my practice when I retire in 2038, roughly when my mortgage is paid off.

 

[climbingdocs]

OP, go for it, if you know what you want to do, just do it.

 

[Gigantron]

Thanks all for your replies. I've been able to shadow an Anesthesiologist for a good amount of time (100+ hours) since the creation of this thread. I'm actually in the process of applying to combined BS/MD and BS/DO programs throughout my area, and I can say for certain that no matter what degree comes after my name, I will be a doctor no matter what. I realized that a little bit after creating this thread actually, but I just wanted to see the replies. This thread can be closed now if it needs to be.

 

[Psai]

I liked the part where this guy was a junior in high school and continually harped on the fact that he wanted to do anesthesia since the third grade but dropped out of a bs/md program for whatever reason and ended up applying to podiatry school

 

[Wiscoblue]

Yeah we get some kids in high school who,want to follow us in the OR and 'I want to be a pediatric neurosurgeon'! And I'm like you should think about getting into college first and the medical school.


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[cbrons]

Coprolalia: I hope you read my second post in this thread. This is a profession that I have been wanting to do since the THIRD GRADE. Not many third graders on career day mentioned that they wanted to be an anesthesiologist, let a lone a physician, in my school. And I say that vaguely. This is something that I have been interested in for a long time. The salaries and the lifestyle weren't the reasons why I've wanted to go into this profession. Heck, what makes me giddy is being called "Doctor".

Making a difference in people's lives is what I am most interested in, even though it only involves anesthetics. And yes, over the years, many of my superiors (teachers, adults, parental figures) have tried to put me down on becoming an anesthesiologist, mainly because most of them were under the impression that I was merely interested in driving a mercedes benz with an "MD" or "DO" inscripted on my license plate and living in a McMansion.

No, I'm interested in the field of anesthesiology. I'm sorry, but no matter what you say, you can't change my mind with what I want to be in the future.

This is one of the best troll posts I've ever seen.... a classic thread.

 

[Gigantron]

I liked the part where this guy was a junior in high school and continually harped on the fact that he wanted to do anesthesia since the third grade but dropped out of a bs/md program for whatever reason and ended up applying to podiatry school

2009 called bud...but yeah I did fine enough on the MCAT to stay in (program wanted a 24, I scored a 29), graduated with around a 3.8 from undergrad, but decided to leave on my own accord because, yes, things change. You can step off your pedestal now. No need to be inflammatory and denigrate another specialty because I said a thing in high school. lol.

This is one of the best troll posts I've ever seen.... a classic thread.

We all had those moments in high school where we look back five or ten years later and just ask ourselves "what the hell was I thinking?"

But bumping this disaster was definitely unnecessary, which is why I've asked for it to be closed.