@MYOS1634 Good question. I know there are students at our school who prefer the DO model and purposely head that direction. Most just want to be a doctor - no specific specialty in mind. Reading about the current changes has been interesting. I wonder how it is going to affect the schools/training. Will there still be a difference?
Actually there’s virtually no difference in the education of MDs and DOs right now. DOs do OMM training, but otherwise the topics covered in both types of med schools are identical. With the residency merger and single accreditation system, residency training will be identical & interchangeable. It’s even rumored that COMLEX is on its way out and all med students (DO or MD) will be required to take the USMLEs within the next 5 years.
The biggest difference between MD and DO is that MD programs are required to invest in and maintain robust research programs as part of their accreditation; DO programs aren’t. Research in the relevant specialty is a de facto CV requirement for students wishing to enter the most competitive fields.
MD programs tend to have more robust clinical rotations than do DO programs because MD programs are most often associated with a large academic medical research centers where the patients have more complicated pathologies and more serious illnesses/injuries. Academic centers also offer students exposure to a broader range of specialties and subspecialties. However, this difference may be diminishing since there a number of newer MD programs (Commonwealth-Geisinger, Seton Hall, Carle, for example) that aren’t associated with major academic research hospitals, and their clinical sites are more in line with what DO programs have traditionally offered–community-based clinics and smaller community hospitals.
More interestingly, DPMs will be taking the USMLEs within the next 5-8 years. It’s already be using on a experimental basis at 2 DPM schools. DPM residency will be increased from 2 years to a minimum of 3 in 2022.
As I understand it, the plan is that the first 2 years of education for all medical students --MD, DO and DPM-- will be identical and will cover all the same topics and all students will take the same USMLE exams.
It depends on the long-term goals of the individual. If the individual just wants to a general practice FM or pediatrician, then either the MD or DO path will do just fine. However, if the individual wants to sub-specialize, go into academic medicine or get involved in state or national healthcare policy, then a MD is preferable because a MD opens more doors. It is a more recognized and more widely accepted degree. That may change as osteopathic medical programs gain more recognition and acceptance broadly across the US. As I think I’ve mentioned before, DOs are not evenly spread through the US. DOs may be common in MI, OH, and PA, but they’re not common elsewhere.
(There’s also the issue that everywhere EXCEPT the US an osteopath is not a physician, but someone who provides massage therapy so the potential for mis-identification and misunderstanding what a DO is is high. With few exceptions, a US trained DO is not able to obtain medical licensing outside the US.
I am also old to remember when DOs were widely considered to be quacks who advocated homeopathy --which they did-- and other types of alternative medical therapies not based upon scientific evidence. So there is that too.)
Re: time, expense and difficulty.
Osteopathic med school is on the whole more expensive to attend than most MD programs. DO schools are mostly private (and a small but growing number are for-profit) whereas most states have 1 or more public medical schools which are significantly lower in cost.
The time and difficulty involved in applying to DO program is not much, if any different, than applying to MD programs. Testing & application fees are the same. Interview travel costs are the same. DO schools require high, immediate seat deposits ($1000-$3000 is common) upon acceptance that are NOT refundable. (Something the LCME does not allow.)
DO schools expect the same ECs that MD programs do and the same LORs with the addition of mandatory DO LOR for DO applicants.
And while the stats of accepted DO applicants tend to be lower than MD applicants, on a applicant per seat basis, DO programs receive more applications per seat than do MD programs, making the overall DO acceptance rate lower than the overall MD acceptance rate.
@WayOutWestMom Thank you. That was very helpful!
The above is probably the biggest issue with DO. Most DO programs are private and start at 50k+ tuition. I am aware of State funded schools in Texas and New Jersey but not sure which others have instate tuition vs OOS for DO programs.
^^Michigan.
Michigan State offers both a MD and a DO program on its Lansing campus. MSU-COM (osteopathic program) has differential tuition rates for in-state vs. OOS students.
First as an MD, I fully agree that a DO CAN get into any residency. Times have changed. Second, getting into a DO program is not much easier than a osteopathic program currently . Third the one down side of going DO is that many programs still require you to find some of your rotations on your own, which requires connections. As someone who works as adjunct professor at local Osteopathic program, I can say that over the years I have received more than a few desperate pleas to take take a DO student for a month or two.
Oklahoma, too. OU is an MD school, but OSU is a DO school. The kids I know who went to OSU were super smart and wanted to be primary care doctors.
“DO schools require high, immediate seat deposits ($1000-$3000 is common) upon acceptance that are NOT refundable. (Something the LCME does not allow.)”
Not $1000-3000, try $5000, we went through this 4 years ago. D was accepted by a DO School with 5-6 campuses. The first campus she was asked for $5000 deposit, non-refundable, it must be paid in two weeks if you want to hold that seat. Then she got admitted into another campus of the SAME school, well, the first one does not count, you need to pay another $5000. We told her not to go to the third campus II, because we would be out of $15,000 if she does not go to any.