Question

[Jonathan13180]

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Im considering osteopathic schools though i have very little knowledge of them. Is there a particular field most DO's go into? Are there fields where DO's rarely go into? (ie surgery)?? I know these might be hard questions to answer, i was just wondering thats all. I do know that there is a stigma (unfortunately) associated with DO's....to be honest i know a lot of DO students who make MD students look like peasants, so im not here to offend anyone. And what is OMM? I understand it has to do with a holistic approach, but then again, i hear that some schools dont even use it. Thanks for any help.

 

[donvicious]

Most DO's go into primary care but there are plenty that do surgery. My feeling is that since most DO students are older, they don't want to take the time to specialize.

 

[donvicious]

OMM is training on manipulating the bones and muscles of the body to alleviate a variety of symptoms, mostly somatic pain.

You can think of it as another class or it can define you as a physician.

It may or may not be incorporated into your practice. That's up to you. You will be tested on it when you take the boards (just COMLEX step 2 I think).

 

[OSUdoc08]

Im considering osteopathic schools though i have very little knowledge of them. Is there a particular field most DO's go into? Are there fields where DO's rarely go into? (ie surgery)?? I know these might be hard questions to answer, i was just wondering thats all. I do know that there is a stigma (unfortunately) associated with DO's....to be honest i know a lot of DO students who make MD students look like peasants, so im not here to offend anyone. And what is OMM? I understand it has to do with a holistic approach, but then again, i hear that some schools dont even use it. Thanks for any help.

The "stigma" is more commonly found among students, and is in reality rare once in practice.

DO's go into every specialty. Most go into primary care because of the "holistic" philosophy.

 

[(nicedream)]

DO's are over-represented in Family Practice and Emergency Medicine, equally represented in Anesthesiology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Neurology, ObGyn, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Radiology, and Pulmonology, and under-represented in Allergy, Internal Medicine, Neurological Surgery, Ophthalmology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Plastic Surgery, Psychiatry, Thoracic Surgery, and Urology.
However, much of the representation statistics are a result of CHOICE on the part of osteopathic medical students and not what they are able, or not able, to get into. This is apparent by the under-representation in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry, which certainly aren't competitive. Many students are simply drawn to osteopathic school because they are drawn to Family Practice which is a traditional purview of osteopathic school.