wordup said:
Whats up. How did the 4th go for you guys, pretty good here. Sharp how is your pissing match with OSUdoc going?
Ok here is my rant. There are a lot of threads dealing with how the DO's feel they are perceived and their reaction is kind of sad/frightening like they have some kind of minority persecution syndrome or something. Although I will admit that I have seen some discrimination. And from what I have seen I would break it down like this, mind you this is only MD's and not the general population of which I would guess 75% have no clue what a DO is or believe it to be a stepping stone to MD:
about 85% of MD's don't give a rats ass where you went to college unless you make it an issue
10% sort of like at DO's with apprehension and pity, not unlike how someone might look at a silly dog crossing the street
5% abhor DO's seeing them as blithering idiots that couldn't make it into an MD program, and DO's are only doctors due to the loophole in the system that is osteopathy, doing nothing to further the field of medicine, i.e. research, and unable to even define their occupation withouth relating it to "just like an MD" sort of like a skate upon a shark.
I personally like DO's and applied and was accepted to a DO program as was ad_sharp and I'm sure that OUdoc was as well but don't go around saying Oh I dropped my DO spot the second I got accepted MD. WTF is that? It makes it really hard to remain liking DO's when they have that attitude of defensiveness and egoism. For the most part they are good people. But DO es more geared towards primary care which is something that doesn't immediately interest me but might later. And I know that this one time this one DO got accepted to neurosurgery at Hopkins and specialization blah blah blah but in my accpetance letter to DO it states and I quote "As you know, the OSUCOM enjoys an excellent reputation in preparing physicians for the practice of osteopathic medicine, particularly in rural Oklahoma. I hope you will be warmly drawn to a primary care specialty, such as FP, peds, or general IM." Translation I'm probably going to spending lots of my clerkships in rural Ok in these areas. Now if it weren't for DO's and FMG's there wouldn't be a lot of healthcare where I'm from so I am grateful but that is just not for me. So why can't we all just be friends?
Well put. I was in fact accepted to two DO programs (OSUCOM and KCOM) as well as OU, and in fact, have up until just recently, planned on pursuing osteopathic medicine. What changed my mind wasn't a single issue, but instead a multitude of factors, many which have been covered by wordup. I was turned off by the "We're just like MD's, but different, and in many ways better" attitude. As well, I got tired of the constant whining I witnessed in the pre-osteo forums. The constant "little man syndrome", arguing about the scientific vs. anecdotal validity of OMM, bias threads, etc. etc. etc., made me question whether I would spend more time studying medicine, or validating myself for my choice. I finally decided to pursue traditional medicine after realizing the following things about myself.
1. I don't "believe" in osteopathic manipulative medicine. I am willing to accept its validity as a beneficial adjunct to traditional medicine, provided the same research is undertaken that would be necessary to back up any assertations about any other aspect of science. Testimony and anecdotal assertion are for the Benny Hinn's and vitamin salesmen of the world, not professional medicine. Yes, I realize there are a few studies out there on OMM. A few. As in a very limited few. For God's sake, get the research thing together.
2. I was turned off by the defensive "oh, well umm. one of our graduates is now a IM resident at Yale, blah blah blah.", stance. I want lots of them, not one.
3. The persistent "in your face" nature of the AOA, and it's insistence on remaining separate but "equal", all the while maintaining such posturing such as demanding access to allopathic residency spots while denying MD's spots in DO residencies, is reminiscient of a Miss Black USA paegant.
4. The blatant across-the-board lies by the osteopathic institution concerning the "we don't just treat the disease, we treat the person and the cause of the disease" statements are indirectly defamatory and degrading to their allopathic counterparts.
It is ridiculous and insulting to an MD to infer that allopathic medicine relies only on symptomatic treatment without concern for the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease process, as well as concern for the patient as a whole in general. While DO's may make this a centerpiece of the philosophy, the notion that MD's deny this vital component of comprehensive medicine is fallacious, separative, and in no way contributory to equality in medicine.
Finally, if the amount of time that I had to spend explaining to family, friends and others about DO's, DO's vs. MD's, etc., for the rest of my career was anywhere close to that of the year prior to entering school, then I wanted no part of it.
To close, I know and work with several DO's, the majority of which are competent, caring physicians. The gripes that I have with the profession stem in no way from the physician themselves, but in fact, from the representation of the field. I decided I wasn't ready to be a minority in medicine. For those who feel comfortable in dealing with the issues above, and for those who truly want to be DO's because of the philosophy, etc., then I say go for it. But don't get sucked into the whole aspect of "We care, and MD's don't". That's rhetoric BS, and if it's the only reason you opt to go DO, you'll be sorry. Reasons to go DO include, a strong vested interest in primary care, a true fascination with OMM, and YES, an inability to gain acceptance to an MD school due to academic reasons. Any med school is better than no med school, even if you have no desire to become the "osteopathic" part of "osteopathic physician". In the end, both are physicians, though to deny that becoming a DO opth/derm/neuro, etc is harder than becoming the MD counterpart is just being ignorant. I hope for the sake of both professions that the above situations resolve.
A few things that the osteopathic schools could do to further themselves:
1. Start doing more meaningful research. OMM and otherwise.
2. If the primary purpose is to provide primary care providers, then be HONEST w/ applicants and give them a realistic view about their post-graduate situation if they are interested in more difficult to attain specialties, especially those in which there is still a disproportional ratio of MD to DO's.
3. Ditch the AOA.
4. Beef up the osteopathic residencies and then allow MD's to compete for them. For those who would say that MD's are ineligible because of the very nature of the "osteopathic" portion of the residency, then fine. Go the other way, and make MD residencies "off-limits" to DO's in order to promote fairness and equality.
5. Lose the "we care, MD's don't" attitude. It's not helpful.
6. Spend a little money, take out some ads or something, and work to break the DO reputation as a lesser doctor in the community (especially the older age groups who still remember when DO's WERE a lesser doctor (at least legally).
Hopefully in the future, many of these factors can iron out and we can all get to the point that we want to be, that is, on equal footing as physicians without bias or disrespect between the two subsets of medicine and the community.
