Physician vs. Osteopathic Physician?

[Statemed]

Hi, I'm almost done with my AACOMAS and recently started looking on previous threads for secondary application questions for the schools I am applying to. I noticed that many schools have questions like "what experiences and/or people have inspired you to become an osteopathic physician and what personal qualities do you possess that will help you become a successful osteopathic physician?" I am applying to both MD and DO schools. I do not have a letter from a DO but I have interacted with several of them while shadowing at the ER for over a year. I've noticed that DO schools seem to emphasize the "osteopathic physician" characterization and I am not sure how to write a proper response to that. I know what drives and motivates me to be a physician but not necessarily an "osteopathic physician". I did not observe any tangible difference in the way that MDs and DOs treated patients, at least not in the ER.

My question is, will it be acceptable to talk about my experience with medicine in general or do DO schools want to see something specific about osteopathic medicine?

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[mathnerd88]

Obviously DO schools want something more specific...anyone can write a generalized response on why they want to be a doctor. Adcoms read thousands of those.

Plus, the question specifically states why osteopathic physician. Since the PS for AACOMAS is already for osteopathic physician you can maybe mention briefly parts from your PS and then write about other new experiences with DO's.

 

[deleted407021]

DO = physician

Your reasoning for wanting to be a physician doesn't necessarily have to be tailored to osteopathic medicine, you just need to communicate it well, as far as I am aware.

 

[studentdocftw]

They want to see that you know the difference...even though there isn't much of a distinction nowadays. Just do what they expect..don't try to be a hero.

 

[mathnerd88]

You should be shadowing a primary care DO. ER DO's show much less of what a DO actually does than PCP DO's and what the basic tenets of what DO's do. Reason I say this is because ER DO's don't have as much time with patients as PCP DO's do, so you won't be able to see the OMM side of DO.

How did you write your PS for AACOMAS? They're asking pretty much the same thing.

 

[IDK22]

You should be shadowing a primary care DO. ER DO's show much less of what a DO actually does than PCP DO's and what the basic tenets of what DO's do. Reason I say this is because ER DO's don't have as much time with patients as PCP DO's do, so you won't be able to see the OMM side of DO.

How did you write your PS for AACOMAS? They're asking pretty much the same thing.

I think you should safe the "why specifically DO?" for the secondary essays/interview. PS should be about why you want to be a doctor in general.

 

[deleted480308]

Hi, I'm almost done with my AACOMAS and recently started looking on previous threads for secondary application questions for the schools I am applying to. I noticed that many schools have questions like "what experiences and/or people have inspired you to become an osteopathic physician and what personal qualities do you possess that will help you become a successful osteopathic physician?" I am applying to both MD and DO schools. I do not have a letter from a DO but I have interacted with several of them while shadowing at the ER for over a year. I've noticed that DO schools seem to emphasize the "osteopathic physician" characterization and I am not sure how to write a proper response to that. I know what drives and motivates me to be a physician but not necessarily an "osteopathic physician". I did not observe any tangible difference in the way that MDs and DOs treated patients, at least not in the ER.

My question is, will it be acceptable to talk about my experience with medicine in general or do DO schools want to see something specific about osteopathic medicine?

You'll absolutely help yourself at a number of schools if you specifically talk about osteopathic philosophy......osteopaths (at least the ones that run schools) love talking about how different they are

 

[mathnerd88]

I think you should safe the "why specifically DO?" for the secondary essays/interview. PS should be about why you want to be a doctor in general.

If the prompt is asking you why do you want to be in osteopathic medicine you don't respond with why you want to be a doctor. You answer the prompt. Do schools like that you are specific in your response and not just why physician.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the prompt this year is different than before with the new app.

Even in secondaries I can list more reasons why I want to be a do other than my personal statement. I can also reword my personal statement and add other reasons.

 

[Statemed]

Thank you all for the replies. I think shadowing a DO in a family practice would provide more specifics about osteopathic medicine than an ER.

 

[mathnerd88]

^ That's good. DO schools focus on primary care.

 

[Giovanotto]

If the prompt is asking you why do you want to be in osteopathic medicine you don't respond with why you want to be a doctor. You answer the prompt. Do schools like that you are specific in your response and not just why physician.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the prompt this year is different than before with the new app.

Even in secondaries I can list more reasons why I want to be a do other than my personal statement. I can also reword my personal statement and add other reasons.

Don't think it has changed. I answered Why DO? on my PS, but not in too much detail. Saving detail for secondaries.

I did good, yes?

 

[IDK22]

If the prompt is asking you why do you want to be in osteopathic medicine you don't respond with why you want to be a doctor. You answer the prompt. Do schools like that you are specific in your response and not just why physician.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the prompt this year is different than before with the new app.

Even in secondaries I can list more reasons why I want to be a do other than my personal statement. I can also reword my personal statement and add other reasons.

I'm glad you brought this up. I hadn't specifically read the prompt until now, I had just assumed from previous threads we were suppose to describe our desires to enter medicine. I'll make sure to add some DO specifics to my PS now. Thanks!

 

[mathnerd88]

Yeah, this is my first cycle applying for DO schools. Glad I could be of help. PS is your chance at making a good first impression before they send you the secondaries.

What's funny is that I just reread the prompt, and it was different than May 8th's prompt. I remember it exactly asking, "Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician?"

The meaning of the new prompt is the same, but the wording has changed.

 

[samac]

Is the personal statement question now why do you want to be an osteopathic physician?
That wasn't the question last year. That was all secondaries. If it isn't, I used the same PS for MD and DO applications and went into why DO on secondaries.

 

[xBODOMx]

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