It depends on the specialty. For example, in emergency medicine, where I work, DO's and MD's are indistinguishable. I've met one DO resident who says that she will occasionally bust out the OMM for an ED pt, but it is rare. The rest say they just don't have time for it.
In other specialties, it might be a different story.
Keep in mind the original purpose of the DO: to be the versatile, all-encompassing primary care physician. The person you could go to for pretty much anything. You might get treated with meds, and you might get an OMM treatment. Or you might get both. The key is versatility.
These days, DO's have branched out to do everything else too, but the option of utilizing the versatility and extra skills in your practice may still be there.
As for the rest, yeah there are a lot of people who apply because they are unsure of their MD applications. There are also people who apply because they might feel they identify with the philosophy that the AOA talks about. In the end, this may not make them different doctors, but it does attract a somewhat different mindset, not necessarily always related to lower admissions numbers. There are also people, such as myself, who have a legitimate interest in manual therapy. That is not to say that I will definitely use it in my practice. Depending on what I go into, it may or may not be practical. However, I am certainly interested in learning it. I used to work in strength and conditioning, and I've used some manual therapy on my athletes before, so I am certainly curious about what all OMM could be applicable to.
That is how I'd approach it. Mostly because its the truth, and it demonstrates a functional understanding of osteopathic medicine.
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