why do you want to be osteopathic physician??

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MCATTT

MCATTT

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I am trying to work on my secondaries and need some idea.
I have been thinking a lot, but can't come up with ideas that are not so generic. (i.e, I like the philosophy, I like OMM, etc)
I shadowed a DO, but the doctor did MD residency and did not do any OMM.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Dont struggle so much with this question, regardless of what you say as long as your honest, straightforward, and coherent it will be a fine answer. Also, no matter what you say, for the most part, it will not be original, someone has used that before. Therefore, ask you yourself

1- Why do I want to be a physician, why dont I want to do something else

2- As a physician what can I bring that will be different from others

3- What about ostepathic medicine first attracted me to it

Remember your goal is not to think of why you do not want to be a MD, or why being a DO is/isnt better than MD. You want to think about only DO and why you wish to do it.

I dont think I helped you much, prolly made it worse. Sorry.
 
What about ostepathic medicine first attracted me to it?
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The fact that it's another 20 some odd chances to become a doc? :laugh:
 
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Alot of us are going DO for a number of different reasons. Some are going DO just because they are going to be physicians like their MD counterparts, some go DO just because of the OMT training they will get, some for the philosophy and some for all of the above. People have different preferences.

My suggestion would be to NOT be vague with you intentions of going Osteopathic. I would point out the good differences that only an osteopathic medical education would provide. Those who interview you and make the decisions want their students to have a distinct understanding of osteopathic medicine and what sets them apart (often in a better way) from other med schools. If you were to say in a statement that you plan never to use OMT and to pursue an allopathic residency (which is not bad to do at all in general), I would be really surprised if you ever were considered for interviews. This doesnt go to say that many DO med students dont get into good allopathic residencies and some may never use OMT again; others feel totally different. Its a preference thing, but I would research very hard and talk to as many DO's as you can and get their take on what makes them unique. DO NOT use the MD vs DO thing when talking about why you specifically chose to pursue osteopathic. If you want, you can PM me and I can email you some excerpts from my statements, so you can get an idea. If you steal some of my work, however, I will have to kill you.🙂 🙂 🙂

Good Luck......
 
I think to a certain extent, your answers are not going to be totally unique. Many people are going to want to be a DO for OMT, many are going to do it because it's holistic, many are going to do it because they're non-traditional. So what you need to do is take that possibly non-unique answer and make it unique by putting your personal touch on it.

It's almost like the question "Why do you want to be a doctor?" and we all pretty much say "We want to help people." What person who wants to be a doctor doesn't want to help people? But what makes all of our personal statements different is that we bring in our experiences, goals, etc., which are of course all unique.

So what I'm trying to say is that, yes, it will seem like what you're writing about is what everyone else is as well, and that's okay. It's up to you to make it personal. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the inputs. Really appreciated.

I am wondering if anyone can describe why they want to be an osteopathic physician in one or two sentences. Just want to get a sense.
 
MCATTT said:
Thanks for the inputs. Really appreciated.

I am wondering if anyone can describe why they want to be an osteopathic physician in one or two sentences. Just want to get a sense.
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You cannot describe in one or two sentences but here is what was my response to this question during interview.

" There is nothing wrong with traditional medicine but if I can rely on the body's self defence to fight the disease, why not use it first by performing OMT. If OMT does not work, I can always prescribe them medicine. By performing OMT, you are avoiding the side effects of the drug. As a physician, I want to learn every techinques out there to treat my patient in effective manner. "

This is just my personal response. I could be wrong but I was able to get into my first choice of medical school. I wish you good luck.
 
Doc2007 said:
You cannot describe in one or two sentences but here is what was my response to this question during interview.

" There is nothing wrong with traditional medicine but if I can rely on the body's self defence to fight the disease, why not use it first by performing OMT. If OMT does not work, I can always prescribe them medicine. By performing OMT, you are avoiding the side effects of the drug. As a physician, I want to learn every techinques out there to treat my patient in effective manner. "

This is just my personal response. I could be wrong but I was able to get into my first choice of medical school. I wish you good luck.
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thanks. it was really helpful.
I think i gonna go dig up some interview threads to get ideas. 🙂
 
"I want to learn OMT."
 
MCATTT said:
What's the difference between OMT and OMM.

I am assuming they are referring to the same thing. correct?
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osteopathic manipulative medicine versus osteopathic manipulative treatment
 
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I wouldnt totally be mute about the philosophical aspect of osteopathic medicine. I would pick one or two core points about being a D.O. which are unique to your desire ie (holistic medicine, self healing, preventative medicine.) Most schools want to know why D.O. instead of MD. I think it would be a dangerous assumption to lump all those under one thesis.
 
The first thing I would do would be to really read up on osteopathic medicine and make sure you understand what it is, its history, and all it entails. Then, I would take that information and try to relate it to some experiences in your own life or certain personality traits, interests, etc. It is going to be somewhat generic because truthfully there is probably a limit to how many ways you can answer that question. Just make sure that you understand osteopathic medicine and be able to answer that question in an interview because you most likely will be asked. 😀 :luck:
 
They take a philosiphy and impliment it physically by using OMM. Add a more unique twist
 
OMT is probably the biggest difference, but DOs are also known to be more personable...more likely to be primary doctors, which should be mentioned if that is what you want to be...never bash allopathic medicine because that will refect poorly on your character...
 
More personable?

🙄

Careful about what you read here.
 
MCATTT said:
I am trying to work on my secondaries and need some idea.
I have been thinking a lot, but can't come up with ideas that are not so generic. (i.e, I like the philosophy, I like OMM, etc)
I shadowed a DO, but the doctor did MD residency and did not do any OMM.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...


Asking other people why they wanted to go into osteopathic medicine is ok for ideas, but ultimately you have to write from your heart as to why you want to go into osteopathic medicine ... that way your personal statement will be stronger and more meaningful and less generic-sounding.

Here's a good start - you were able to shadow a DO who did an ACGME (aka MD) residency but did not use OMT. Why don't you talk about it in your PS ... what unique aspect of this DO made him/her unique from his/her MD peers? What subtle differences did you observe?

Being an osteopathic physician is much more than doing OMT or doing a AOA residency ... and to talk about it in your PS will show that you have great insight into the profession, the philosophy, and the training that you are trying to and eager to pursue. And it will certainly stand out from your fellow applicants.

Good luck!!
 
I would pick one or two core points about being a D.O. which are unique to your desire
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1. Ability to practice medicine
2. Better anatomy training
3. Good osteopathic EM residencies

Do those count?
 
This is how I answered the question: I read the book The D.O.'s by Gevitz and as I was reading it I thought about how I felt. Was I interested in the stories and the founding of Osteopathy or did I think that it was boring and uneventful? Since I thought it was interesting I looked back in my own life and thought of how I did or could've tackled various personal health issues or other personal issues accordingly with the principles of Osteopathy. Once I thought of a few instances then I had my answer there. I hope this helps!
 
Gevitz did write a decent book. 👍
 
I"m choosing to pursue a DO because of the OMT. I have an interest in types of treatment that one can employ with little or no equipment such as accupuncture, etc. OMT is a skillset that I think would be valuable anywhere, be it in the clinic or out in the tulies on a search mission. Wilderness medicine is one of my many passions, and I think that there is a place for OMT in that specialty.
 
MCATTT said:
I am trying to work on my secondaries and need some idea.
I have been thinking a lot, but can't come up with ideas that are not so generic. (i.e, I like the philosophy, I like OMM, etc)
I shadowed a DO, but the doctor did MD residency and did not do any OMM.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...


You do not know why you want to be an osteopathic physician?
Then why are you applying to osteopathic medical school?

😕
 
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