Question about future job outlook

[CATSCAN]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi,
I would like to ask a question about the job outlook for a future osteopathic medical doctor. Well, whats the job outlook like? Is it the same as a medical doctor in all specialties, or Is it better in some specialities like PM &R where it seems that knowledge of anatomy is deemed to be important? Is it worse in specialities where the profession is based on purely biochemical and morphological study like pathology? I am not talking about residency options, I heard that DOs have limited options when it comes to residencies such as radiology or pathology, I am asking about job outlook , if say you do become a DO pathologist, or a DO radiologist?😕
Please also add comments about average salary and pay, and how long do you think it will take if one were to choose the osteopathic physician route to pay off the loans, considering the strikingly high tuitions at most of these schools.

 

[homeboy]

Hi,
I would like to ask a question about the job outlook for a future osteopathic medical doctor. Well, whats the job outlook like? Is it the same as a medical doctor in all specialties, or Is it better in some specialities like PM &R where it seems that knowledge of anatomy is deemed to be important? Is it worse in specialities where the profession is based on purely biochemical and morphological study like pathology? I am not talking about residency options, I heard that DOs have limited options when it comes to residencies such as radiology or pathology, I am asking about job outlook , if say you do become a DO pathologist, or a DO radiologist?😕

Before the barrage of smarta** responses, I'll just tell you the outlook is no different than if you're an MD, and the more important question is what the job outlook is for your particular specialty. I'm a DO grad (one of your aforementioned specialties) and I'm in an allo program...not concerned at all. Board certified is board certified, MD or DO. Granted, I'd take the MD over the DO just for simplicity reasons. I'm tired of attendings saying, "you're a DO? so what does that mean? was your school 4 years? do you take board exams?" etc... DOs make up like 7% of physicians, so chances are your fellow physicians (and especially your patients) will have no idea what the hell a DO is... it gets old explaining that you do the same thing but just went to a different school.

Do a search and you'll find plenty of threads on this topic.

 

[cliquesh]

Hey Homeboy,

What if you did an AOA residency? Do you know if that affects job placement?

 

[CATSCAN]

thanks for your reply homeboy, I knew DOs were fully licensed physicians, and are therefore medical doctors, but my question focused more on whether they were a preferred choice in some specialities, whether it has any effect on their pay rate if lets say they were in PM&R, or if they were not preferred in let's say radiology (because their education puts more emphasis on patient care, bedside manner, whole body approach) , anyway i guess it has no effect on pay scale or preferrence whether you are a DO or an MD. thanks for your time taken to reply.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Hi,
I would like to ask a question about the job outlook for a future osteopathic medical doctor. Well, whats the job outlook like? Is it the same as a medical doctor in all specialties, or Is it better in some specialities like PM &R where it seems that knowledge of anatomy is deemed to be important? Is it worse in specialities where the profession is based on purely biochemical and morphological study like pathology? I am not talking about residency options, I heard that DOs have limited options when it comes to residencies such as radiology or pathology, I am asking about job outlook , if say you do become a DO pathologist, or a DO radiologist?😕
Please also add comments about average salary and pay, and how long do you think it will take if one were to choose the osteopathic physician route to pay off the loans, considering the strikingly high tuitions at most of these schools.

I've been told by a number of people that the pay scale isn't any different. A doc is a doc is a doc is a doc, and I've seen no evidence to suggest that DOs generally get paid less when compared with MDs.

There certainly are DO pathologists around (one of them even posts on this board fairly regularly), and because pathology isn't one of those ultra-competitive residencies I wouldn't think you'd have any trouble becoming a pathologist with a DO degree. Radiology is one of the more competitive and/or challenging residencies to get into, but I believe there are AOA radiology residencies (correct me if I'm wrong), and it's certainly not impossible to get into an ACGME radiology residency as a DO.

With regards to your comments on the price of DO schools, I'm just going to add that not all osteopathic medical schools are pricey. LECOM (for instance) is very inexpensive for both in and out of state residents, and schools like UMDNJ-SOM allows even OOS students to become NJ residents after the first year and get the cheaper in-state rate.

 

[Old_Mil]

Hi,
I would like to ask a question about the job outlook for a future osteopathic medical doctor.

The short answer is "it depends."

If you see the # of osteopathic medical schools increase quickly and the expansion of the for profit model without an equal commitment to clinical and graduate medical education, then the DO degree will be devalued and job prospects will not be as good as they are today.

 

[USArmyDoc]

The short answer is "it depends."

If you see the # of osteopathic medical schools increase quickly and the expansion of the for profit model without an equal commitment to clinical and graduate medical education, then the DO degree will be devalued and job prospects will not be as good as they are today.

😴🙄

Doctor is a doctor....recession proof and always will have a job. Don't worry about the expansion

 

[homeboy]

thanks for your reply homeboy, I knew DOs were fully licensed physicians, and are therefore medical doctors, but my question focused more on whether they were a preferred choice in some specialities, whether it has any effect on their pay rate if lets say they were in PM&R, or if they were not preferred in let's say radiology (because their education puts more emphasis on patient care, bedside manner, whole body approach) , anyway i guess it has no effect on pay scale or preferrence whether you are a DO or an MD. thanks for your time taken to reply.

No, it doesn't affect pay scale.
Like I said, board certified is board certified.
If you go to an ACGME (MD) residency, your training (and consequently your certifications) from that point forward are all MD...if you want, you can cut ties with the AOA, and many people do.

But hospitals aren't going to discriminate against you if you went to an AOA residency; if you can get the job done, you're fine.

But that assumes there's no problems in your particular specialty and/or your particular location: if a hospital is looking to hire a radiologist, and they can choose between an MD from Duke radiology vs a DO from your avg community radiology program, on paper they might take the MD...that's not to say after interviewing you both they'd find the DO applicant better.

Bottom line, lots of things play into job hiring, and something that's always going to be a factor is whether or not you can do the job efficiently and not make mistakes, no matter what program you're coming from.