<p>I was currently accepted in NYIT's 7 Year B.S./D.O. Program, this program allows me to do a 3 year B.S. Degree and then automatically go to medical school without applying to it. However, the degree I will be recieving after I complete medical school will be a D.O. not an M.D. Is a big difference between those two degress? If there is, I'd rather go to a better college and get my B.S. in four years and apply to a medical school for another four years.</p>
<p>There is almost no difference between the two degrees. You do residency in the same programs, have the same prescribing powers, etc etc etc. The only difference is in the way things are taught in med school. With DO programs, there is an extra few courses on osteopathic medicine. (hence the Doctor of Osteopathy)</p>
<p>I think, but am not sure, that it depends on where you want to practice. Where I live now, many many people use D.O.'s as their primary physician, the most respected hospital has D.O.'s as well as M.D.'s on staff ( it wasn't always that way), and offers privileges to both.</p>
<p>However, in other states where I have lived, I had never heard of D.O.'s, so I'm not sure that they had the same licensing and abilities to practice.</p>
<p>Even here, there are many who are not familiar with D.O.'s and so don't use them or consider them "inferior."</p>
<p>So, if you plan to live in a place where you know D.O.'s are in the mainstream, you will be fine.</p>
<p>You should check with the AMA, the AOA and your state as well as any physicians you know personally. While the perceptions of lay people are always interesting to read and relevant in terms of how a D.O. is perceived by the public, you need definitive information from the correct sources. Here's one. Check others.</p>
<p>From a very practical standpoint, both in private practice and in academic medicine (I am an M.D. cardiologist on the faculty at U of Michigan), there is no difference between equally trained M.D.'s and D.O.'s. The important thing is your interest. D.O. school includes a more wholistic approach and includes training in chiropractic manipulation (the osteopathic part). The Board of Osteopathic Medicine requires a "flexible" internship with rotations in several specialties to become "board certified" as an osteopath. If this is not an issue for you, you can do specialty training in any specialty in either an MD or a DO hospital and be certified by the same American Board of Medical Specialties. So, decide which approach fits you best.</p>
<p>I was once in court and saw the defense present an opinion given by a D.O. The plaintiff's atty said "oh, so this person is NOT an MD!!" ...as though that nullified the exhibit. </p>
<p>I'm surprised to hear that they're equal. My uncle is a D.O. never thought he was as educated or degreed as a MD. </p>
<p>Good info!</p>
<p>We used a DO for our childrens pediatrician until we moved away. I found that he was much more knowledgable re: nutrition and how physical health affects development than other drs we interviewed.
I believe that with the increasing awareness of alternative medicine that which includes a greater emphasis on physical fitness and how it effects health as well as nutrition that a DO may have an advantage in training</p>
<p>There is no difference between MD and DO, although MD is of course more prestigious. They are IDENTICAL in terms of cirriculum and stuff. In the end, when you have a "Dr." in front of your name and you are a good and kind and competent doctor, that will be the measure of success, not where you went to medical school. In the end, Kansas School of Osteopathic Medicine and Harvard Medical School are the same if you are a strong student. In medicine, few people care where you studied. They care that you are competent and easy to work with.</p>
<p>This is true up to a point in terms of education. In residency selection for the more popular specialties such as ER, Orthopaedics and Ophthalmology the Allopaths, MDs, have an edge over the Osteopaths, DOs. It is possible for DOs to get an allopathic residency but often they do not have the high standardized test scores necessary. In fact many allopaths cannot get into these residencies. Although the Osteopathic training emphasizes a more general approach to medical practice there are a number of DOs who want to train in a specialty. This has lead the Osteopathic profession to create seperate DO residencies in the specialties with separate boards. Technically Allopaths are elegible to apply for DO specialty residencies but the requirement that the applicant do a separate DO internship keeps out the MDs. MD residencies in the specialties, recognized by the ACGME, usually match in the senior year of medical school.</p>
<p>To summarize, for most specialties the DO route can lead to a good residency if you perform well in school. For the more selective residencies however the MDs have an edge.</p>
<p>Fair point. You will have to balance whether you want a guaranteed admission to med school or whether you want to chance it for improved chances in residency. Depends on what you want to do, I guess....</p>
<p>DOs have a much more holistic approach to medicine than MDs.</p>
<p>I would caution that DOs do not usually have the same income level as MDs. They tend to serve a less-insured clientele (according to a DO friend). However, the malpractice insurance premiums are just as high.</p>
<p>^ I don't find that to be true. Income level depends more on the area they serve.</p>
<p>The only unfortunate thing is that DOs aren't as well known.</p>