why were there 100 doctors speaking at this convention, yet only one was a DO?

[chewsnuffles]

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So I am at the lynn sage breast cancer conference in Chicago, going through all the speakers, there must be like 100 total, and only one out of all of them was a DO!

This is slightly disquieting, since often speakers at these conferences are considered "leaders in their field". Somebody, give me some sort of news to lift my spirits, because I have a good chance of going DO, but I wonder what is going on sometimes!

The only thing I figure is that since breast cancer is something that attracts research type people, potential oncologists would be more drawn to the allopathic route with its focus on research, while DO's are more drawn to fields specializing in clinical practice and application...

-Edit: I meant to post this is pre-osteopathic, could someone move this?

 

[JeetKuneDo]

So I am at the lynn sage breast cancer conference in Chicago, going through all the speakers, there must be like 100 total, and only one out of all of them was a DO!

This is slightly disquieting, since often speakers at these conferences are considered "leaders in their field". Somebody, give me some sort of news to lift my spirits, because I have a good chance of going DO, but I wonder what is going on sometimes!

The only thing I figure is that since breast cancer is something that attracts research type people, potential oncologists would be more drawn to the allopathic route with its focus on research, while DO's are more drawn to fields specializing in clinical practice and application...

-Edit: I meant to post this is pre-osteopathic, could someone move this?

My guess would be that there are a lot more MD's than DO's out there, so I guess it's just mere numbers. What you said is also probably true, DO's being more drawn to clinical practice while MD's are may be more drawn to research.

 

[dragonfly99]

Agree with the above.
Remember that there used to be far less DO's (and spots in DO schools) than there are currently. Also, probably in the past fewer of the DO's specialized, vs. doing general practice, etc. That will likely change. Also, remember when the DO's started out (? about 100 years ago) they didn't believe in giving drugs/meds much at all, partly b/c there were a lot of toxic patent medicines being given out. Probably some of that distrust of "giving drugs" might have persisted and therefore oncology (with its emphasis on chemotherapy, etc.) might have been less attractive as a specialty for DO's - also in the past there was more bias and even some dislike between MD's and DO's. The MD's felt they were "better" and the DO's wanted to show they were "different" and keep themselves apart. But now you have more DO's doing different specialties and allopathic residencies (or subspecialties like oncology) taking people with DO's. So I wouldn't obsess over this - if you really want to do oncology you can do it coming out of a DO school. You an always apply to both DO and MD schools too, and see what happens.

 

[sexyman]

only 6% of physicians in the country are DOs. So maybe there should have been 6 of them there?

 

[jason3278]

Ok, I've just had a similar experience. I just got back from the American Society for Bioethics & Humanities Annual Meeting in Cleveland, OH. There was a crapload of people there. MDs, JDs, MAs, PhDs, MPHs, BSNs, MSNs, and every possible combination of those. There were absolutely NO DOs there. Not presenting, not even attending. There were a few DO students there. Only from MSUCOM. I don't mean this to be an attack on DOs. In fact, I am applying to only DO schools. I am just really disappointed that there was ZERO interest by any practicing DO, or anyone from the AOA, in a conference whose topics (I would think) should be the strong points in osteopathic medicine.

 

[andexterouss]

Ok, I've just had a similar experience. I just got back from the American Society for Bioethics & Humanities Annual Meeting in Cleveland, OH. There was a crapload of people there. MDs, JDs, MAs, PhDs, MPHs, BSNs, MSNs, and every possible combination of those. There were absolutely NO DOs there. Not presenting, not even attending. There were a few DO students there. Only from MSUCOM. I don't mean this to be an attack on DOs. In fact, I am applying to only DO schools. I am just really disappointed that there was ZERO interest by any practicing DO, or anyone from the AOA, in a conference whose topics (I would think) should be the strong points in osteopathic medicine.

Maybe some of the DOs were listed as MDs? I have seen it happen sometimes with hospitals and charity organizations.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

Maybe some of the DOs were listed as MDs? I have seen it happen sometimes with hospitals and charity organizations.

Excellent point 👍. I've seen several instances where physicians were to check the box by their title ("physician"), which was later extrapolated to "M.D." for the purposes of a program/brochure/whatever.

This happens with a lot of other titles/abbreviations too--it's not that big of a deal. But it's good to remember when trying to draw conclusions from the published makeup of a crowd, which may or may not be accurate down to the fine details.

 

[bigyihoroi]

As most of you should know, DO tend to go into primary care and not many are research-oriented. Plus, DO are generally "anonymous heros", don't like to show off much...

 

[scpod]

I count 34 medical doctors listed on the faculty list and one was a DO:

http://www.lynnsagebreastcancer.org/faculty.htm

I don't see the disparity there. Besides, there aren't all that many DO oncologists around-- I'd guess much less than 3% of the total-- so DOs were probably over-represented if you look at it that way. I wonder how many MDs would attend an OMM seminar?

 

[Karen12345]

Maybe some of the DOs were listed as MDs? I have seen it happen sometimes with hospitals and charity organizations.

I shadowed a DO who signed as MD. Actually, he signed on the bottom of a form, that said "MD signature." He just used his signature, but still. The form didn't seem right.

 

[AgnesWickfield]

So I am at the lynn sage breast cancer conference in Chicago, going through all the speakers, there must be like 100 total, and only one out of all of them was a DO!

This is slightly disquieting, since often speakers at these conferences are considered "leaders in their field". Somebody, give me some sort of news to lift my spirits, because I have a good chance of going DO, but I wonder what is going on sometimes!

The only thing I figure is that since breast cancer is something that attracts research type people, potential oncologists would be more drawn to the allopathic route with its focus on research, while DO's are more drawn to fields specializing in clinical practice and application...

-Edit: I meant to post this is pre-osteopathic, could someone move this?

I think a lot of the reasoning other posters have provided is pretty accurate. Doctors are equated with the letters "MD," just b/c that's what most people seem to know and understand. I think the best way to move forward from that preconceived notion is just to raise awareness about our degree-- and this can happen in relatively simple ways, such as using the letters "DO" after our names on our business cards, instead of "Dr. _____" (which I have seen DOs do, by the way). Anyway, the real reason I am posting is to share that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer recently, and her radiation oncologist is a D.O. He is the only D.O. in a practice of 5, and nurses have said that he's probably the busiest of all 5 doctors. I think the issue is more of the low percentage of D.O.s in general, and not so much that D.O.s aren't interested in oncology or able to specialize. 🙂

 

[Sohcahtoa]

I shadowed a DO who signed as MD. Actually, he signed on the bottom of a form, that said "MD signature." He just used his signature, but still. The form didn't seem right.

a hospital is not going to make 2 sets of all forms to accommodate a title discrepancy such as this one. i think its unfair and shortsighted to label this doc as shirking his DO degree and signing himself as an MD by signing the form. maybe i'm misinterpreting your statement.

 

[rockdascrubs786]

Well, in response to the lack of DOs at the conference you are at, there is an AOA conference in Las Vegas this weekend. So I'm sure there will be plenty of research presented there....I haven't been and elected to take my time off and study. A lot of our professors flew out there, as did a decent portion of our class.

 

[WDeagle]

What a pointless thread. If it really bothers you that there was only one DO at Lynn Sage Breast cancer conference then dont apply to DO schools. Who cares? Besides, the big AOA confrence is this week, as was previously mentioned. There is usually a huge turnout for that conference from what ive heard.

 

[Karen12345]

a hospital is not going to make 2 sets of all forms to accommodate a title discrepancy such as this one. i think its unfair and shortsighted to label this doc as shirking his DO degree and signing himself as an MD by signing the form. maybe i'm misinterpreting your statement.

Maybe you are.

About hospital forms, I think it would make more sense to use "physician's signature" and then doctors could sign as
Joe Shmo, MD or Joe Shmo, DO

 

[chewsnuffles]

What a pointless thread. If it really bothers you that there was only one DO at Lynn Sage Breast cancer conference then dont apply to DO schools. Who cares? Besides, the big AOA confrence is this week, as was previously mentioned. There is usually a huge turnout for that conference from what ive heard.

I wasn't asking for whether or not I should apply to DO schools, I've already made that decision. Nor would I have any qualms about attending. What I was asking was a question that everyone else who has posted on this thread except for you seemed to be able to comprehend.

I'd consider it answered after pointing out that the overall % of DO's in oncology and radiation oncology is probably below the 6% national average, the AOA confrence this weekend, and the posability of mislabeling. Just to clairify, there are 36 docs on the faculity which one was a DO, but then there were 100+ speakers, and again there was only the one DO. So overall >1%. I'm not worried about this, but I was just wondering.