To answer a few of the recently posted questions...
Norman Gevitz wrote a book entitled "The D.O.'s: Osteopathic Medicine in America".
This book is often talked about as one of the must-reads for anyone interested in applying to osteopathic medical schools. It gives a good history of osteopathic medicine from its early days in the late 1800s up to the erly 1980s when the book was published. It also talks about the struggle for DOs to establish themselves, but is fair in its assessment that much of the early bias was indeed justified based on the reluctancy of many DOs at the time to "get with the times."
Definately worth the read.
DO schools are similar to MD schools in that all schools are not created equal. There are currently 19, soon to be 20, Osteopathic schools in the United States. Because of the smaller number of DO schools you will not find a ranking system that ranks the DO schools. Those in the osteopathic community can easily pick out the schools which have the best reputation. These tend to be the older schools or the schools with larger university affiliation (PCOM, KCOM, MSUCOM, CCOM, OSUCOM).
Currently, a 20th school is being designed which will be affiliated with Virginia Tech. There are also talks of a 21st that will be in Utah somewhere.
Many of the Osteopathic schools are private schools, and even these somewhat favor in-state residents. For instance, UNECOM located in Maine favors New England students. PCOM, although private, has PA resident making up approximately 60% of the enrollment.
Tuitions are similar to MD schools as far as differences in out-of-state and in-state/public vs private tuitions. PCOM, for instance, costs approximately $27,000+ a year regardless of state residency.
There are many scholarships offered to future DO students, many of them from the state osteopathic associations. Federal money as far as Stafford loans and loan limits are exactly the same as for MD students. In fact, the government does not differentiate when it comes to MD or DO students as far as scholarship and loan money.
You will find many DO schools listed in the US News top 50 for primary care. Of the top 50, I think 3 or 4 are DO schools. DO schools also consistently rank well as far as rural medicine.
People have criticised DO schools for being weak on the basic science education and research money, but these accusations are no longer justified. In the 1950's and 1960's many DO schools did indeed lack the basic science education that was needed to become a good physician. Of course, DOs who graduated during this time are not and were not incompetent, their education simply had other focuses.
Now, DO schools do indeed have research and the basic science education rivals that of any MD school. A big argument is that DO schools don't get any money for research and therefore are not worthy of being more highly ranked. Well, last time I checked Harvard was still near the top due to the research money they get, and I know of several excellent MD schools that get overlooked because the "big dogs" get the money. DO schools do indeed get research money and there are several DO schools currently running research programs that are at the forefront of medicine.
Some of the DO schools have been around for a long time, KCOM being around 105 years old I believe, PCOM is at 103. Many of the DO schools are younger, with several being formed within the last 30 years. Some say that this contributes to the fact that DOs are looked upon unfavorably because the schools are looked at as diploma mill schools. However, these schools maintain the same standards as any US medical school regardless of the degree it awards, MD or DO.
Quite possibly the biggest argument is that you don't need to be as smart as someone going to an MD school to get into a DO school. Many people point out the GPA and MCAT differences. To that I ask, what exactly do GPA and MCAT show?
First of all, the fact that the numbers are drastically different is false. Many DO schools have GPA and MCAT averages/requirement that meet or exceeed some MD school. I hardly think that a 3.5 and a 29 MCAT are poor numbers.
Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration is the background of the people who make up first year DO classes. On average, the first year class at a DO schools has a higher average age than an MD school. Many older, non traditional students look more highly at DO schools based on several things. DO schools, as a general rule, are more open to these types of students. The admission process at DO schools is focused on an applicants past history, medical experience, desire to become a physician, and knowledge of osteopathic medicine...all secondary to excellent academic standings. In all fairness, can a non-traditional student several years out of college be held to the same standards as a 21 year old applying from his senior year? Will the non-trad perform as well on the MCAT if they are 10 or more years away from Organic and Biochemistry?
You can make your own conclusions. So, it is true that some DO schools have lower average MCATs that some MD schools, but this in no way means it is easier to gain acceptance. It simply means that the focus of an applicants profile lies elsewhere. And, just to give an example, the acceptance rate for most DO schools hovers around 7-12%...right around most MD schools.
Another argument often seen is that DO students do not perform as well on the USMLEs. Well, that's a no brainer. DO students are busy preparing for the COMLEX, the DO version of the USMLE, and can hardly be expected to complete one baord exam and go off and take another and be held to the same expectations. Many DO students do indeed take the USMLEs and score very well. Some argue that studying for the COMLEX is no different than studying for the USMLE, but each exam has different focuses and a different layout.
Anti-DO people also like to say that if DOs were so uch equal to MDs, why don't you see more DO neurosurgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons. There are several answers to this. First, there are 1/6 the number of DO schools as MD schools. Right there you can see that DOs are in the great minority, and therefore less likely to be seen in ANY area of medicine as compared to an MD. Secondly, DOs in general are more focused on primary care (IM, FP, PED, OB/GYN). This is a strong push in many DO schools to get their graduates interested in practicing in these areas. Many osteopathic schools send as much as 75% of their graduates into primary care specialties. Some DO schools, however send only 50% into primary care areas...and these numbers are not totally accurate because a good portion of the graduates going to internal medicine (a primary care residency) will end up completing a specialty fellowship in areas such as cardiology or pulmonary medicine. The third reason you see fewer DOs in these big-time specialties is the fact that people are still bias against DOs. How can you expect to get DOs into these programs when: #1. the program director is bias against DOs, #2. the program has never had a DO and therefore not fully aware of the scope of education of these graduates, and #3. there are few of these types of specialties associated with osteopathic institutions. You see, the biased MDs who keep saying "prove it...show me a DO neurosurgeon", are the very ones who are preventing that from happening as much as it could.
And, just to clarify, there are DO neurosurgeons. There are osteopathic neurogurgery residencies, osteopathic orthopedic surgery residencies, osteopathic head and neck surgery residencies, and others. DO's do become dermatologists and opthalmologists.
PCOM, for example, recently had more of its graduating class enter specialty fields than primary care fields. This seems to be the trend for many DO schools (unfortunately for the general public, this is the trend for most MD schools as well).
I hope that I have helped to clarify some gray areas. Please feel free to post more questions on this topic. Again, if your bias is because of personal experience with a DO, thats one thing...and remember, the person makes the doctor not the letters behind the name. But if your bias is based on what you heard or what you believe by looking at the numbers, remember this. The largest bias against DOs exists in the premedical community. In your 3rd and 4th years you will be doing rotations with DOs. In your residency, you will be working side by side with DOs. Residency programs thrive because of the teamwork that exists with all of the doctors. Your chief resident or program director may be a DO. They may be an MD who has a DO as a mentor.
If you are a condescending person towards DOs, take care in where you tread. The osteopathic community is growing faster than ever before and faster than the allopathic community. Bias towards DOs will never become non-existant, but it will diminish greatly from where it is now. You can choose to alienate the entire profession or be smart and realize that these people are in every way competent, caring physicians who are just as good as any MD. In some situations, maybe even better.
Take care.
