Originally posted by Sharky:
•It seems like simply because the MD degree is much more widely recognized and prestigious most people would opt for it if they did have the opportunity.•
While your question is a fair one, it is also laced with presumption.... there are far more MDs and allopathic schools in the world than DOs and osteopathic schools. If you look at the major media (ie television), most doctors are thought of as being MDs. It all contributes to a public perception.... which really needs to change.
So to answer your question... "why become an osteopathic physician?" Besides the OMT skills, the answer is both simple and complex. The simple side of it is that most allopathic schools (traditionally) teach you to approach your patient and their illness in a certain way.... The stereotype being the doctor that is so focussed on the illness that they forgot they were relating to a human being. If you were to poll thousands of patients, you would probably lose count of the number of times this occurred. The complex side of it is that allopathic schools are changing and trying to teach their young physicians more balance, but change comes slowly and with lots of growing pains.... not to mention, that not all allopathic medicals schools are even making the effort.
In contrast, most (to varying degrees) osteopathic schools teach their physicians the importance of the doctor-patient relationship. This is further emphasized by the fact that new DOs do a general internship which is intended to ground them in basics of good medicine before they specialize.
So for the above reason AND the fact that OMT is a unique skill that gives me more versatility as a physician, I would choose a DO school over an MD school.
If there are any other opinions or insights, I would love to hear them.
