percentage of DO to MD?

[onakasuita11]

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So in my search to find a primary care doctor to shadow, I have noticed that there are many more DOs in my town than MDs. I had no problem finding lots of MDs with specialties. Is this how it is everywhere? I don't understand why there are so little MD family doctors. If they were MD, I noticed most of them were from out of the country or were 70 years old.

I live in a fairly big town, about 100,000 people. I just find it odd how most of the doctors are DOs. What's you input about this?

 

[The Lady Grey]

So in my search to find a primary care doctor to shadow, I have noticed that there are many more DOs in my town than MDs. I had no problem finding lots of MDs with specialties. Is this how it is everywhere? I don't understand why there are so little MD family doctors. If they were MD, I noticed most of them were from out of the country or were 70 years old.

I live in a fairly big town, about 100,000 people. I just find it odd how most of the doctors are DOs. What's you input about this?

DO saturation is really regionally biased. I am originally from Grand Rapids, MI and there is a huge percentage of DO's, specialized and unspecialize. This is largely because of MSU-COM. But where I am currently located, South Dakota, there is a very small handfull, almost all doctors are MD.

 

[onakasuita11]

DO saturation is really regionally biased.

So what does that depend on? The nearby schools, the ease of getting a job in a certain area, or something else?

I live in New Jersey, by the way.

 

[NYEMMED]

So what does that depend on? The nearby schools, the ease of getting a job in a certain area, or something else?

I live in New Jersey, by the way.

Not sure there is a correct answer since its all speculation but the trend seems to be a higher saturation near schools. NJ is surrounded by 4 Osteopathic medical schools, and NJ also has a very high saturation of DOs in general in every field.

 

[EastWestN2grt]

DO saturation is really regionally biased. I am originally from Grand Rapids, MI and there is a huge percentage of DO's, specialized and unspecialize. This is largely because of MSU-COM. But where I am currently located, South Dakota, there is a very small handfull, almost all doctors are MD.

Lets clarify this, all doctors are specialized. This may be nothing more than a case of semantics, but it bugs me when I see (hear) it. Family Med, and general Internal Med, etc. require board certification in their respective fields of medicine. They are 'specialized' in their respective fields with practice and patient load more generalized in scope. Urology, Derm, Ortho surg (to only name a few)are 'specialized' in their respective fields, but with medical practice and patient load much, much more limited in scope.

 

[ruiner]

So what does that depend on? The nearby schools, the ease of getting a job in a certain area, or something else?

I live in New Jersey, by the way.

Exactly. I'm also from MI and DOs are very common, because MSU COM is huge and most of the graduates stay in MI to do their residency and practice. My bro and sister in law are pharmacists at two big hospitals in a southern state where there is not a DO school but 5 MD schools and he said there are very few DOs.

 

[NurWollen]

People always quote places like Michigan for having the highest percentage of DO's, but there is an multi-office urgent care clinic near me here in southern Idaho where 6 out of 8 docs are DO's. We also have a DO dermatologist and a couple of DO ENT's, just to name a few.

 

[Everglide]

People always quote places like Michigan for having the highest percentage of DO's, but there is an multi-office urgent care clinic near me here in southern Idaho where 6 out of 8 docs are DO's. We also have a DO dermatologist and a couple of DO ENT's, just to name a few.

They probably went to MSUCOM But really on an anecdote, MSU has a fair amount of students from Idaho.


To the OP:

http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/find-a-do/Pages/default.aspx

 

[NurWollen]

They probably went to MSUCOM But really on an anecdote, MSU has a fair amount of students from Idaho.

Really? Maybe I should consider applying there.

 

[Holderlin]

I have just the opposite where I am. It's almost discouraging how little DOs there are considering that I may go DO for proximity reasons.

The DO/MD thing is really playing games with my ego and I don't like it.

 

[NurWollen]

I have just the opposite where I am. It's almost discouraging how little DOs there are considering that I may go DO for proximity reasons.

The DO/MD thing is really playing games with my ego and I don't like it.

Don't worry about it. Let it go. Even in places with few DO's, I doubt it has anything to do with any discrimination.

Take Western, for example. Well established, respected program. Is there a higher-than-an-average percentage of DO's more than a few miles from the school (where the faculty themselves would raise the percentage)? Probably not. But look at the millions of people that live within 100 miles of the school. There are five, soon to be six, MD schools in SoCal. Not to mention dozens of residency programs. The area is a draw to people from all over the country, regardless of where they went to med school.

While those factors lower the percentage of none of that suggests that there is any bias against DO's.

As for my case, there are a lot of DO's because Idaho has no med school, University of Utah is really the only one that is nearby at all. People have to go out of state anyway, and the undergrad schools in the area all tend to send a lot of students to DO schools. People go away to school then come back to this (relatively underserved) area to practice.

 

[Holderlin]

Don't worry about it. Let it go. Even in places with few DO's, I doubt it has anything to do with any discrimination.

Take Western, for example. Well established, respected program. Is there a higher-than-an-average percentage of DO's more than a few miles from the school (where the faculty themselves would raise the percentage)? Probably not. But look at the millions of people that live within 100 miles of the school. There are five, soon to be six, MD schools in SoCal. Not to mention dozens of residency programs. The area is a draw to people from all over the country, regardless of where they went to med school.

While those factors lower the percentage of none of that suggests that there is any bias against DO's.

As for my case, there are a lot of DO's because Idaho has no med school, University of Utah is really the only one that is nearby at all. People have to go out of state anyway, and the undergrad schools in the area all tend to send a lot of students to DO schools. People go away to school then come back to this (relatively underserved) area to practice.

Thanks. I'm starting to get over it.

It just feels like I'm shooting myself in the foot when I KNOW I'll be gunning for an Allo residency. Whatever. I'll just have to get really creative and work my ass off. Assuming of course things proceed as planned in the short term.