Why MD?

[CLE18]

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Hello everyone,

I have been writing my secondary applications about a week now. As I fill out the boxes for both allopathic and osteopathic schools, I reflected on what I have learned about the distinction between the two. I have learned a lot about what distinguishes the osteopathic approach: treating the body in a holistic manner, finding alternative ways of treatment to help the body heal itself instead of immediately turning to medicine, focusing on health promotion and disease prevention in a patient's lifestyle, etc. But, what makes the allopathic route unique? Other than the schools are generally more prestigious and the average MD salary is higher than the average DO salary, in terms of the philosophy of the approach, why would a potential medical school student choose MD or DO?

 

[UBLI-EINSTEIN]

Maybe, MD offers better resources to study and opportunities for residency, especially for specialty.

 

[Saifa]

None of the characteristics you listed are unique to osteopathic medicine. Also, no allopathic medical school is going to ask you "why MD" because there is practically no reason to ever pick DO given the choice.

 

[UBLI-EINSTEIN]

None of the characteristics you listed are unique to osteopathic medicine. Also, no allopathic medical school is going to ask you "why MD" because there is practically no reason to ever pick DO given the choice.

I think OP was asking actually whether MD is unique to DO and what's the uniqueness.

 

[Saifa]

I think OP was asking actually whether MD is unique to DO and what's the uniqueness.

It's NBD I just don't think there's much "uniqueness" to be had, they're both perfectly good routes to becoming a physician in the US, one makes you learn OMT and one doesn't.

 

[Goro]

Hello everyone,

I have been writing my secondary applications about a week now. As I fill out the boxes for both allopathic and osteopathic schools, I reflected on what I have learned about the distinction between the two. I have learned a lot about what distinguishes the osteopathic approach: treating the body in a holistic manner, finding alternative ways of treatment to help the body heal itself instead of immediately turning to medicine, focusing on health promotion and disease prevention in a patient's lifestyle, etc. But, what makes the allopathic route unique? Other than the schools are generally more prestigious and the average MD salary is higher than the average DO salary, in terms of the philosophy of the approach, why would a potential medical school student choose MD or DO?

More doors are open as an MD
Clinical training will be better than most DO schools
Opportunities for research are better
Association with a teaching hospital, and related residencies

DO route is far more forgiving of early academic mistakes.

It is insulting to our MD colleagues to think that DOs have cornered the market of being holistic. Maybe 50-100 years ago this was true. But nowadays, when you hear this claim, demand citations.

I agree that there are differences. It's up to you to shadow both types and figure out what they are.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I have learned a lot about what distinguishes the osteopathic approach: treating the body in a holistic manner, finding alternative ways of treatment to help the body heal itself instead of immediately turning to medicine, focusing on health promotion and disease prevention in a patient's lifestyle, etc.

Fell for the 'ole propoganda I see...

 

[Gilakend]

In reality I think it comes down to people wanting more opportunities. A DO student going for ortho is generally going to have a harder time than an MD student going for ortho.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

In reality I think it comes down to people wanting more opportunities. A DO student going for ortho is generally going to have a harder time than an MD student going for ortho.

Actually before the merger I would have argued that it was easier for a DO to become an orthopedic surgeon

 

[Coltuna]

Actually before the merger I would have argued that it was easier for a DO to become an orthopedic surgeon

This is a slippery slope. Are you basing this off % matched or the fact that only DO's could apply to AOA?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

This is a slippery slope. Are you basing this off % matched or the fact that only DO's could apply to AOA?

No it's not a slippery slope. It's based off of DO orthos I have talked to partly, but mainly because of the AOA match. There were an over abundance of AOA ortho slots compared to the overall DO population. Obviously the merger makes this now obsolete.

 

[Coltuna]

No it's not a slippery slope. It's based off of DO orthos I have talked to partly, but mainly because of the AOA match. There were an over abundance of AOA ortho slots compared to the overall DO population. Obviously the merger makes this now obsolete.

Based on last year's match then? Most of the orthopods I've worked with have actually deterred me from going the D.O. route. n=6 though. If you were just basing this off the fact that only DO's have been able to match AOA in the past then one could say any competitive specialty is easier to match for D.O. It looks like you're using match statistics though. Maybe I'm not looking on the right website but a quick glance shows 118/121 and 119/121 AOA ortho spots filled for 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Edit: I think I misread your first post. You're saying there's relatively more spots offered/medical student in the match. A quick glance shows that (assuming all spots are filled), 1.68% of ACGME applicants matched ortho in 2017 vs 2.24% who matched AOA, so it looks like you're correct in saying statistics show greater chances; however, by this same reasoning, derm would be easier to match as a D.O.. In fact, virtually every specialty would be considered easier to match as a D.O.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

In fact, virtually every specialty would be considered easier to match as a D.O

Just matching to the specialties was actually easier, but that doesn't take into account that some former AOA programs weren't great (maybe they are the ones really laughing though because the grads are still orthopedic surgeons/derms/what have you). Even something like neurosurgery was easier depending on the year, in 2014(? Maybe 2015) there were only 19 applicants for 16 AOA NS spots. A few years ago people would genuinely choose DO because it was easier to become an orthopedic surgeon, I know this because I talked to someone who did it (ironically he isn't an ortho now but a urologist) and he said that he wasn't the only one he knew with this strategy. Again this all goes out the window with the merger.

 

[Coltuna]

Just matching to the specialties was actually easier, but that doesn't take into account that some former AOA programs weren't great (maybe they are the ones really laughing though because the grads are still orthopedic surgeons/derms/what have you). Even something like neurosurgery was easier depending on the year, in 2014(? Maybe 2015) there were only 19 applicants for 16 AOA NS spots. A few years ago people would genuinely choose DO because it was easier to become an orthopedic surgeon, I know this because I talked to someone who did it (ironically he isn't an ortho now but a urologist) and he said that he wasn't the only one he knew with this strategy. Again this all goes out the window with the merger.

Wow, this is interesting. It'll be interesting to see how the merger plays out.

 

[Gilakend]

Actually before the merger I would have argued that it was easier for a DO to become an orthopedic surgeon

Interesting, I don't know the actual numbers. I was just going off a podcast I listened to with a DO ortho and he was saying how hard it is to get ortho as DO. I'm not sure if this was before or after the merger though.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Interesting, I don't know the actual numbers. I was just going off a podcast I listened to with a DO ortho and he was saying how hard it is to get ortho as DO. I'm not sure if this was before or after the merger though.

Yeah the numbers show it used to be a little easier on the DO, through the AOA, side. Don't mistake "easier to get" for "not competitive". Even then it was still super competitive, because everyone seems to think they want to do ortho. It just sounds sexy

 

[CLE18]

Thank you everyone.