Dear friends,
Last year I applied to two in state allopathic schools and was rejected. This year I am taking the MCAT again (my only real application weakness-I blew it the first time and took the test w/out a prep course and never having had physics)and am applying to more schools including D.O. schools. I am a 33 year old Emory Law Grad that has been doing Constitutional Law and policy work for most of my career. Currently, I also teach at a University. As a physician I would very much like to continue teaching and would like to develop a preventive medicine practice and policy specialty.
The rub: I am worried that if I attend a D.O. school I will be less likely to realize these goals. I have worked very hard on my premedical studies and do not want to be forever viewed as a second rate physician (please forgive–I do not mean to offend). As a D.O., are there ample residency opportunities? Can I be taken seriously as a D.O. in an academic setting? Please be candid. Thank you!!!
I suggest you look at the faculty list of whatever med schools you are applying to and realize that there will be DOs in different departments all over the place. Obviously the ratio of MD:DO will be greater because there are more MD’s practicing at this point.
Also, the regions where there are more DO schools tend to have more DOs practicing.
From my experiences, the stigma of DO/MD really lies within pre-meds. There is nothing a DO can’t do that an MD can’t do in the medical field.
There are no limitations today on people with D.O. degree within the 50 states; anyone who claims otherwise is completely misinformed. There is no such thing as a second rate physician by training, only by disposition.
There have been many discussions on this topic in the past; try searching the forums and you’ll probably find answers to your questions pretty quickly. Good luck and keep at it!
I am absolutely sure that you’ll be able to pursue such interests as a DO. Hopefully Dave Kelley will weigh in at some point to tell the details of the program he’s doing at Dartmouth in public health / public policy - and he’s a DO. One of my resident colleagues, a DO, has an MPH and is definitely oriented toward these sorts of interests. I’m very confident in saying that you will definitely be able to do this.
Mary
- megboo Said:
While there may really not be a difference in career ops (I cannot comment on this), I beg to differ that the "stigma" is confined to the premed community. I am considering the DO route myself. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I solicit people's opinions of DOs. Many have no idea what a DO is. The ones that have heard of them think they are some kind of second rate physician.
My informal survey is of well educated adults, not an undergrad premed club. Based on my personal experience, I would have to say that there is a "stigma" attached to DOs - at least in the general population.
Again, my observations would have little bearing on you if you are to pursue an instructional career. I would assume that the medical community is aware of the training rigors of DO certification.
- hungry Said:
My informal survey is of well educated adults, not an undergrad premed club. Based on my personal experience, I would have to say that there is a "stigma" attached to DOs - at least in the general population.
Again, my observations would have little bearing on you if you are to pursue an instructional career. I would assume that the medical community is aware of the training rigors of DO certification.
The only "stigma" (a very harsh word) I see is that people in communities where DOs are not the norm, are simply unfamiliar with the idea. Once they realize that they're doctors like every other doctor, they don't seem to much care what the initals are. People ARE mistrusting of things with which they're not familiar, but they can be educated usually.
So I wouldn't call it stigma or even prejudice in the general population, simply unfamiliarity. This is similar to the debate about where doctors went to medical school. If you hang out on pre-med bulletin boards you see people putting a lot of emphasis on this - but in fact, out there in the real world, people want a doctor who seems to know what s/he is doing and communicates that to his/her patients. Very, very few people in the general population check to see if their doctor went to Harvard. They just check to make sure the doctor takes their insurance.
Mary R.