Where should you practice

[kundun]

I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself when asking this question. Nonetheless, I'm curious and quite receptive to the opinions and viewpoints of others. When it comes time to decide on where to practice, what factors should you keep in mind? Should one go to regions of the country where DO's are more concentrated (ie. Michigan, Philadelphia, New Jersey, ect...)? I am going to NSU-COM this Fall. I've noticed that even though the medical school is located in a fairly large city, the presence of osteopathic physicians is not very strong. As a future physician I truly hope this will change.

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[Gregory Gulick]

What constitutes, in your opinion, a "strong presence?" Florida does have a good number of D.O.s compared to other states. When I talk to Floridians about osteopathic medicine, I rarely find ignorant or misinformed people.

If, like me, you want to practice in a community that is largely osteopathic, consider Largo, Florida. It is about 40 minutes outside Tampa and is predominantly D.O. One of the NSUCOM teaching hospitals is located in Largo and I've had some good experiences with it. Anyways, most of the docs in Largo are D.O.s -- from primary care to the surgical subspecialties.

See you in the Fall.

Gregory Gulick
Accepted, NSUCOM '03
http://www.osteopathic.com/gregory

 

[Henry]

Florida has 4 medical school and one of them is a DO school. So Florida has a high percentage of DO compare to other states.

 

[StillBorn]

Arizona has 2 medical schools, and one of them is DO. Does that mean Arizona has twice as strong a DO community as Florida?

 

[Gregory Gulick]

*SIGH*

 

[2003]

I second that thought Gregory. Florida is listed as one of the states that osteopathic physicians tend to congregate. Likely it is because they have a school in the state (but I'm sure the weather also helps). In 20 years Arizona might be listed among that group of states (after their school has produced many physicians).

Anyway, I think you (Gregory) just convinced me to do some rotations through Sun Coast Hospital in Largo when the time comes.

 

[StillBorn]

While my post was sarcastic and intended to point out that the percentage of DO schools in a state probably had little to do with the DO "presence" in the state, I would point out that Arizona has an exceptionally strong DO community. It was one of the first states to grant DOs unlimited practice rights, and has a very strong state organization--perhaps that is why Midwestern built a school here and KCOM, CCOM, UHS, Iowa, and WUHS all send significant numbers of students to do clerkships here.

 

[2003]

Thanks for the info Stillborn. Arizona was not listed among the states I read (so thanks for giving me some info where I had none). There is some evidence, of course, that states with schools have much more of a DO presence than those that do not. You are wise enough to realize that other things (laws) can cause a stronger DO preference which, in turn, creates a good place for a school. It's important to realize it can happen both ways, you're right.

 

[RC]

Sun Coast hospital is affiliated with UOMHS and i was very interested in their rotations, either core or elective. i tried to get some info. on them through the web but had no luck. anyone with any insight on them??? also in my school booklet, i didn't see any hospitals listed in AZ that were affiliated with UOMHS, but appearently there some. bascially, my plan for my final two years is to do my core rotations in our affiliated hospitals and then travel around the country to complete my rotations in both DO and MD programs as a visiting clerk. mix business with pleasure. this way i hope to make my residency options, geographically, more diverse. those with insight on your or other medical programs, whether DO or MD, that are conducive to visiting clerks, please e-mail me or write about them. thanks, rene

[This message has been edited by RC (edited 01-24-99).]

 

[RC]

it's me again. is my above plan feasible or is the number of visiting elective rotations limited depending on the school???

 

[DOPhD student]

Sorry to contradict your perception about the presence of a DO school helping to make DOs more visible, but even within my county where the medical school is located, there is rampant ignorance about what DOs are or whether there is even a medical school situated here. The osteopathic hospital doesn't help much either. Go outside the county and you get wide eyes and blank stares, let alone go outside the city. By the way, the shool has been here for more than 2 decades just to give you an estimate of its "presence" or lack thereof.

 

[cliff]

I worked at UCLA for two years and only one person I met even knew that there was a 'medical' school in Pomona. And COMP has been around for 2 decades as well.

Most people I meet have in Southern California have never heard of osteopathic physicians , but after my explanation they promise that they will look for me in a decade here to be their doc.

I think that osteopathic medicine was a midwest thing, and it is therefore more prevalent there. I know that Michigan-ites love DOs.

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[2003]

By DO presence, I mean the presence of DOs. I do not mean that the lay person knows what a DO is. DOs are present in higher numbers (per capita) in those states which have schools.