My mother is an MD. When I told her I wanted to go DO, she was totally 110% supportive. We had a talk about this issue, and this is what she told me. First, you should in no way *believe* it when people tell you DO is "less than MD" or "not real medicine", because it is simply not true. Second, most MDs and DOs interact very well, and the only ones who try to put down DOs are probably the kind of stuck up bastards you don't want to talk to anyway. Third, there are a lot of people who know DOs but don't know that they do. For example, my uncle is kind of an ass, and he was grilling me about DO not being "real med school". My aunt shushed him and then
sotto voce informed me that *one of his physicians whom he greatly respects* is a DO. It's not like you're going to go up to people and say, Hi, I'm Dr. So-and-so, DO. Nobody does that. There are DO cardiac surgeons, orthopods, psychiatrists, ER docs, everything. The DO I shadowed under here is the head of infectious disease in my area.
Also, your friend's mother is being silly, because in CA and in the SF Bay area especially, the focus on more holistic medical practices actually means quite a few DOs. She probably just hasn't had that forcibly brought to her attention.
Don't let people tell you you are lesser. You're going to run into ignorance wherever you go, really, and you just have to learn to set them straight. It's all going to be fine, because we're going to go out there and kick ass and show them what great doctors we can be!