what made you want to become a DO?

[brucecanbeatyou]

It's all of the training plus a living stipend.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Lokhtar]

Have you considered just doing a PhD and researching, or do you plan to do clinical work as well?? Also, I must say that an MD/PhD does have advantages as far as how much of the degree is financially covered. Is it almost all of the training that is paid for??

MSTP is all seven or eight years of training are paid for (you don't pay any tuition), plus you get a stipend of about $25k every year for the whole time.

I do plan to do clinical, but a significant amount of research with that. I work with a MD/PhD in his lab, and I pretty much want to be him. He spends about 75% of his time in research, about 25% of the time doing very interesting clinical cases that relates to his research.

 

[Rangermatt77]

its obvious that most people in the allopathic section only go to DO school simply because they were rejected to all or most of the allopathic medicine schools.

why do you guys choose DO over MD?

I am a paramedic, my medical director was a DO and many of the ER docs I drop patients of to are. In my experience I liked the way the DO's were better. Less arrogance more focused on patient care and just down to earth. ***Caveat*** I know several great MD's, its just all the DO's I know were awesome. Maybe my sample size was to small but it made up my mind.
Matt

 

[billydoc]

A DO changed my life. I had a shift in my C5-8 vertebrae, a group of DO's gave me a full recovery, when I was told that a spinal fusion was necessary. It was when I was in High school and at the time I was told such a procedure would ban me from all sports, and physical activities. So yeah, I believe in them!

I was .3mm from requiring a fusion and through OMM and rehab I was competing again 8 months later.

Good to hear that OMM helped you that much. But making a difference in your "C8" (?) should be a qualification for a Nobel Prize lol Did you mean T8 by any chance. Though in real life C7 and T1 could be quite close.

 

[Cp22kjer]

Good to hear that OMM helped you that much. But making a difference in your "C8" (?) should be a qualification for a Nobel Prize lol Did you mean T8 by any chance. Though in real life C7 and T1 could be quite close.

Ha good catch it was C4-7 I believe. All cervical and towards the bottom. I need to get those X-rays for fun, now that I think about it! OMM along with persistent stretching and strength training can do wonders with the right physicians and lots of patience!

 

[DrMidlife]

I would really like to read more about the philosophy behind both types of medicine. I'm not sure where to look for information. I have read over the AACOM info as well as the AMCA info. Is there anywhere/any book/whatever that has better information?

This question continued to interest me after my first response above. So I looked at the courses offered at UWash in the Medical History and Ethics department. There's a course titled "Philosophy of Medicine" described as follows:

Familiarizes students with central issues in the philosophy of medicine. Focuses on the nature of medical knowledge, the connection between theory and observation, the meaning of medical concepts, and the relationship between theories and the world. Recommended: prior courses in philosophy, history of science, or history of medicine.

The course has one required textbook: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. I read that book last year for no particularly good reason, and I learned quite a bit. Some folks on SDN lambaste it (look for extremely angry comments by Dropkick Murphy, for example), possibly because it portrays physicians in an unflattering light. Lots of med schools use this book in cultural sensitivity and ethics classes. Lots of med students hate those classes - see the allo forum.

However, what's interesting to me is that this book is JOURNALISM, vs. pedagogy. I would expect that medical philosophy textbooks exist, but my n=1 sample says to me that this is some very soft science.

 

[doodlesmcdoodle]

Sherwin Nuland wrote an incredibly boring and pretentious but somewhat worthwhile book called "Doctors" which takes you way, way WAY back to Galen and stealing corpses and vital ethers and runs you up to about 1980.

Western medicine (like Eastern) is incredibly old, and trying to find "the" philosophy behind it isn't really feasible. A doc practicing in a public community health center in New Mexico is not going to subscribe to the same daily care philosophy as a Bev Hills plastic surgeon, whether DO or MD. It varies by region, country, culture, religion, socioeconomics, etc. The stated DO philosophy is marketing, and it's hardly relevant in any but an OMT practice setting.

I seriously doubt that the average practicing physician feels that he/she practices "a type of medicine" or subscribes to any philosophy beyond the blurb required for his/her website, where nobody is going to say "I treat diseases, not patients. Visa and Mastercard accepted."

I respect your interest in getting under the covers, though, and I'd encourage you to read doctor memoirs and anything by Atul Gawande if you want to deepen your understanding. I heart Gawande bigtime.

Thanks for the information!! I appreciate it. Also, I am inclined to disagree with your statement that "DO philosophy is marketing and is hardly relevant in any by an OMT practice setting." Osteopathic schools teach in a different way than allopathic schools. They focus on treating the body as a whole and not clumping it into sections based on symptoms. Thus, there is a high degree of difference, in this aspect of medical care, between a DO and a MD. How could the average practicing physician deny that he or she practices a specific type of medicine? The approach taken to treat a malady is different based on the type of doctor you are.

 

[DrMidlife]

Thanks for the information!! I appreciate it. Also, I am inclined to disagree with your statement that "DO philosophy is marketing and is hardly relevant in any by an OMT practice setting." Osteopathic schools teach in a different way than allopathic schools. They focus on treating the body as a whole and not clumping it into sections based on symptoms. Thus, there is a high degree of difference, in this aspect of medical care, between a DO and a MD. How could the average practicing physician deny that he or she practices a specific type of medicine? The approach taken to treat a malady is different based on the type of doctor you are.

No offense, but I think you bought the marketing. Let's chat in a couple of years about whether we were taught medicine according to some whole-body philosophy, or if we were taught a fairly traditional MD/DO basic sciences curriculum that prepared us to pass boards and practice contemporary medicine. Come rotations, let's compare notes with our MD colleagues and see if they feel that they view patients as a sum of symptoms any more than we do.

Only crappy MDs disagree with the DO philosophy. It's med school, not seminary.

 

[doodlesmcdoodle]

I didn't buy into the marketing. This comes from conversations with actual DOs. So how about you go discuss a few things with a DO and see what their approach to medicine is. Do we treat the symptoms or do we try to find the cause of the problem. Then well talk. Also, just because you say "no offense," comments do not become less offensive.

 

[DrMidlife]

I didn't buy into the marketing. This comes from conversations with actual DOs. So how about you go discuss a few things with a DO and see what their approach to medicine is. Do we treat the symptoms or do we try to find the cause of the problem. Then well talk. Also, just because you say "no offense," comments do not become less offensive.

Sounds like you talked to some good doctors. MDs can be good doctors too. I hope that your desire to be a DO does not rest on assumptions such as a better standard of care from DOs than from MDs, or that MDs generally ignore the "whole patient" and are not interested in disease etiology or patient well-being, or that no DOs prescribe drugs over the internet or treat their patients like imbeciles, or that DOs get paid to spend as much time as is needed to treat each patient as a whole.

I want to be a DO because I want to be a good doctor. I'd be a good doctor if I were an MD too.

 

[doodlesmcdoodle]

I'm actually not sure I want to be a DO. That is why I am wanting to do research. I want to be a surgeon. Because things are a little different because I'm not interested in internal medicine or that sort of thing, I need to figure out exactly which schools would be the best for me. For internal medicine I believe the best education would be DO. That being said, I do not believe being a DO makes you a good doctor. There are a multitude of wonderful physicians who are MDs. I just think its important to identify yourself with the type of education you believe will be the most beneficial. It is a very personal choice.

 

[udsoccer7]

if you think that the extra focus on musculoskeletal system and practicing OMM won't help you become a successful surgeon then you have issues....Sorry for the harsh response but I think it is somewhat warranted.

 

[doodlesmcdoodle]

Woah woah woah. The harshness is absolutely unwarranted. I am just wondering which part of I want to do more research to understand the decision I am making you did not understand. Simply stating that "extra focus on musculoskeletal system and practicing OMM" could really assist someone who wants to be a surgeon would be a way to give the same information without being hostile or condescending. I am not sure exactly how you feel it is warranted, but to each his own.

 

[medking]

I'm actually not sure I want to be a DO. That is why I am wanting to do research. I want to be a surgeon. Because things are a little different because I'm not interested in internal medicine or that sort of thing, I need to figure out exactly which schools would be the best for me. For internal medicine I believe the best education would be DO. That being said, I do not believe being a DO makes you a good doctor. There are a multitude of wonderful physicians who are MDs. I just think its important to identify yourself with the type of education you believe will be the most beneficial. It is a very personal choice.

Yea, it definitely seems like you are buying into this so called "marketing".

And for people that are just interested in OMM, MD residents can learn OMM if they wish to. Dont know how valid the study is but one study (very very small n value) I found on the internet said that the allopathic residents "learned" OMM for a month and were competent enough after their training.

 

[udsoccer7]

Woah woah woah. The harshness is absolutely unwarranted. I am just wondering which part of I want to do more research to understand the decision I am making you did not understand. Simply stating that "extra focus on musculoskeletal system and practicing OMM" could really assist someone who wants to be a surgeon would be a way to give the same information without being hostile or condescending. I am not sure exactly how you feel it is warranted, but to each his own.

My apologies doodles. When I read your initial post I thought by you saying you wanted to do research, you meant doing medically related research, meaning you were leaning towards the MD path. Now I understand that by research you meant learning more about the DOs, which is completely understandable. I do believe that you should restate the following though: " That being said, I do not believe being a DO makes you a good doctor." I'm not quite sure where you were going with this as the DO degree will not limit your capabilities as a physician. Moreover, you desire to pursue a career as a surgeon will have no limits if you pursue osteopathic medicine.

I also agree with Medking and believe that you are buying into the "marketing" that DO schools try to project to maintain their autonomy/uniqueness from MD schools. Just because they claim that DO schools are more primary care driven/focused doesn't mean they will not provide a great education in higher specialties and subspecialties. I have shadowed many DOs and two of them are in extremely hard and competitive fields. One is an ENT surgeon and the other is a Cardiologist. The cardiologist also works at the University of Chicago Medical Center which is one of the top 20 hospitals in the nation.

I say all of that to say this, the only way that the DO degree will limit your goals is by you not working hard enough or earning it. If you do not achieve your goals it is because of your incapabilities, not the degree to which you were awarded.

 

[mastamark]

My physician was a DO. Returning to school after some years, I did some research on osteopathic medicine and it just looked good to me. I am non-trad and like someone mentioned before I think it is more non-trad friendly(at least the admissions process is).

 

[mastamark]

I am a paramedic, my medical director was a DO and many of the ER docs I drop patients of to are. In my experience I liked the way the DO's were better. Less arrogance more focused on patient care and just down to earth. ***Caveat*** I know several great MD's, its just all the DO's I know were awesome. Maybe my sample size was to small but it made up my mind.
Matt

Hey where are you from? EMS director was also a DO.

 

[rockdascrubs786]

I wanted to become a DO b/c I like magic