Weighing DO vs MD, I need HELP

[HoumanMD]

Help, please! I have currently been accepted to COMP, and I am fairly excited. I have a few questions however that would really help me decide my future.
1) What are the disadvantages of doing a D.O. program as opposed to an M.D. program?
2) Where does Western/COMP rank in relation to other D.O.'s
3) I want to probably do dermatology or plastic surgery, will going to D.O. hurt my chances? and by how much?
4) is going to a "2nd tier" med school such as NYMED or MCP Hahnmann better or going to COMP?
5) what are the advantages of doing an MD? and is it worth taking a year off to try that route?

Please help, i am burning out from trying to figure this out, but I do know, that worst case scenario I will finally, one day, achieve my dream of becomming a doctor!

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[Dr JPH]

1. Disadvantages: You may meet some discrimination by some in the medical field that an MD student would not have. This is constantly under debate and constantly being refuted by DO students all over. I, a future DO student, do not yet see any of this and I have witnessed very little (if any) discrimination. Again, the experiences are different for all.

2. I am not familiar with COMP. To tell you the truth, I never even bothered to read anything about it until recently. There have been some negative posts as of late regarding this school, but next month it will be another school under fire, so don't let that sway you. Students complain all the time about all schools, mostly about the same things. I think the recent complaint about COMP is regarding the administration...big deal.

3. Dermatology or Plastic Surgery. Well, right there you are shooting at a dime-sized target with your eyes closed and a crossbow in your left hand (made sense when I first thought of it). Two extremely tough areas to match into. Derm for the high salary and nice lifestyle. Plastic probably for the same reason...plus the free face lifts and boob-jobs for you wife. These will be tough areas to enter regardless of the school you attend. An MD school may be able to help you more here, but more than likely only if you attend a school that has a program associated with it. I don't know how many people match from DO schools into these areas. Many of the the numbers are skewed because DO students "traditionally" choose primary care specialties. This often leaves match rates and numbers that make good fuel for Anti-DO conversations, but as with any set of data, ignorant people infrequently take the time to look behind the numbers.

4. Well, this question leads me to think that you're already putting COMP below MD schools. Grades and board scores, not to mention letters of recommendation are what count in medical school when determining eligibility for certain residencies. It also helps if you do good on your rotations, too.

5. Advantages of going MD - people will immediately know that you are a physician. No wasted minute(s) explaining what a DO is. Umm...that's about it.

Here is a list of the match lists for COMP the last 2 years.
(2000 and 2001)

<a href="http://student.westernu.edu/aecuenca/DO2004/COMP2001Matchresults.htm" target="_blank">http://student.westernu.edu/aecuenca/DO2004/COMP2001Matchresults.htm</a>

Someone told me that a PCOMer matched into Derm in 2001. Not sure if that's true. I'm positive that DO's have macthed and are currently working in both of these areas. As many DO's as MD's? Of course not, there are more MD's than DO's around.

The AOA website currently reports 265 DO's working in Dermatolgoy throughout the country. I have found that there are often DO's who are not listed in this search and remember that the search only brings up the DOs who listed Derm ad their primary area of specialty.

The same website lists 51 DO's in Plastic and Recostructive Surgery. Same rules apply as above.

Find the exact names here: <a href="http://directory.aoa-net.org/cfm/PublicSearch.cfm" target="_blank">http://directory.aoa-net.org/cfm/PublicSearch.cfm</a>

Maneuvering around that link shouldn't be too hard.

Anyway...here's the deal.

If you are unsure about COMP, or any medical school (DO or MD), then maybe it isn't the right school for you. Don't take an MSI spot away from someone who wants to be a DO and who wants to go to COMP. If COMP is your only option, then it may be tough to drop it.

Getting into medical school once can be tough. Twice, well, that's more than I would want to put up with.

Either way, good luck to you.

I have this funny feeling, call it forsight maybe, that there will be far less discrimination against DOs in the future. The public is becoming more educated, residency directors are becoming more educated, and health care is making a swing (or should be) towards a more hands-on approach and preventive care system. That's where DO's thrive.

I'm not sure how it is in your neck of the woods, but in Philly, people don't care. They may or may not know the difference, but the fact is, there are a helluva lot of DO's around and they do juuust fine. Same goes for other areas of the country.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.

Good luck to you in the future, I am sure you will figure out what is best for YOU. I may have given you a bunch of information, but it doesn't mean squat unless you choose what is best for YOU.

Don't let anyone else decide your future.

Again, good luck.

JPH

 

[Ligament]

1. If you have a choice between MD and DO schools, do not go to a DO school unless you have a *strong* interest in manual medicine and muskuloskeletal specialties. Otherwise there is no reason to go DO. I'm just being practical and have nothing against DO's in non-muskuloskeletal specialties. Why spend more time in school learning OMM when you would not have to as an MD?

2. As far as Plastics and Derm, go MD. You will still have a shot as a DO but it is very very difficult. It is still very difficult as an MD. I do not say this because of discrimination at all. The allopathic institutions have to take care of their own students first, and that is PERFECTLY understandable. So given a choice between equally qualified MD and DO candidates I would expect that they would take an MD first.

But really, unless you believe you willl use manual medicine/OMM as part of your practice there is really no reason to become a DO.

Perhaps if you wanted to go into DO politics then, yes, go DO. Those who wish to have a holistic/alternative medical practice may also have an advantage over MD since the public and other health care providers can often see DO's as more naturally adept at alternative medicine.

You could say you agree with the osteopathic philosophy, but frankly you could be any type of healer and still abide by an "osteopathic" philosophy. It's all in your head, not on your diploma.

Regards!

 

[Dr. Nick]

If you feel strongly about plastics or derm, go to the best allopathic school you can gain entrance to.

If you feel drawn to primary care I would recommend a primary care oriented MD program or, alternatively, a DO program. What works best for you will depend on you.

Any of the 3 options above would be better than attending a foreign medical school (in terms of residency competitiveness).

 

[DOtobe]

My opinion on this is if you have any doubts AT ALL about becoming a DO, you should go the MD route. Especially if you are interested in plastics or derm, which are not specialties DO's commonly go into. Although I disagree that one should only become a DO for "musculoskeletal specialties." I have met DO's that are practicing in all specialties of medicine. Although they are less common, it is possible to become ANY kind of specialist by going the DO route.
I also agree with JPHazelton that the biggest disadvantage of being a DO is explaining to people what a DO is. My father was just recently telling someone I was becoming a DO, and he said, "So she's going to be working with feet?" No. "Oh, then she's going to be working with old people?" He said this even after my dad explained what it was.

 

[Dr. Nick]

Here's an instructive example of the kind of ignorance & disinterest you may face as a DO:

NOVA, the television series did a piece on the Hippocratic Oath as part of their Survivor MD series. On their website, they have two sections for audience feedback, one for doctors and one for non-doctors.

In response to the program a DO wrote the following letter posted on the website:

"I saw your Web site feature in regards to the Hippocratic Oath. However, you failed to mention the Osteopathic Oath. Do you not know that we are full physicians who do surgery, prescribe drugs, and exist in all specialties? M.D.'s are not the only physicians in America. Enclosed I have copied the Oath. Perhaps you will see fit to incorporate us into your feature. Please do not neglect us. We have a long and proud history.

[Osteopathic Oath]

Thank you for your time.

Anonymous"

Despite his explanation that DO's are, "full physicians who do surgery, prescribe drugs, and exist in all specialties," his letter was posted in the sections entitled: Non-Doctors Responses Set #1! Ouch!

<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_non010323.html" target="_blank">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_non010323.html</a>

 

[gas-x]

Hey HoumanMD,

got some things to say. I'm a MSIII DO student. Congrats on COMP. As far as considering MD schools...do it. Sure, discrimination is far less than before. MD/DO work together all the time. But, there is still some problems with residency.

Case in point:
In the past, anesthesiology couldn't get any bodies into their programs. The result? More DO and FMG's in their programs. So now, you see a bunch of them in the residency programs. Well, this past year, the interest in anesthesiology surged beyond belief. I met two future anesthesiology residents in California who said that they did not see many (fewer than 2) DO's during the interview trail. It was assumed that the surge in anesthesia did not REQUIRE the programs to consider DO and FMGs. Is that fair? No, but that's life.

So, since i'm interested in anesthesiology, i have been a bit worried. just gotta work harder. If I could go to MD school, I would. Not because it's superior, but simply it will creat fewer problems later. Once you get further into your training, the last thing you want is to worry about these ridiculous things.

later

 

[Kellishka]

As a recent DO graduate, I disagree slightly with Dotobe's comment about not considering DO schools if you have ANY doubts. Honestly, I think it's healthy to have some questions about where you want to end up- after all, you will have those two letters after your name forever. I say go where you see yourself "fitting" the best. The more I heard about osteopathic philosophies when I was applying, the more I realized they were very close to my own inherent philosophies about patient care. I would caution, as others have, that you WILL be explaining what you do to people for the rest of your life. For me, it's a pain, but in a way also empowering in that it forces me to be a strong advocate for my profession. But if you can't see yourself explaining that you are, in fact, a doctor, I wouln't do the DO thing.You have to be okay with being the underdog.