Doctor of Osteopathy

Getting your Doctor of Osteopathy degree through do medical schools makes you a physician/surgeon who has all the benefits and privileges of other doctors who have the Medical Doctor degree.

For instance, as an osteopathic doctor you are practicing modern medicine and your duties will include:

• prescribing medications
• performing surgery
• diagnosing and treating diseases/illness.

Osteopathic Doctor (DO) vs. Medical Doctor (MD)

What sets these doctors apart is their view on treating patients. As a DO your focus will be on helping individuals achieve wellness by emphasizing health promotion and disease prevention.

By attending one of the osteopathic medical schools you will spend an extra 200 hours of learning the art of osteopathic manipulative medicine. Don’t worry this takes place over your four years of medical school. Basically you will learn osteopathic manipulation to help your patients:

• alleviate pain
• restore motion
• support the body’s natural functions
• influence body structure to improve function

DO Training

Sorry there are no short cuts to becoming a doctor. To become an osteopathic doctor you must apply and attend an osteopathic medical school where you will graduate with the Doctor of Osteopathy degree. Medical school lasts four years the same amount of time it takes for allopathic medical students to earn their Medical Doctor degree.

From the first day of medical school osteopathy focuses on considering the patient as more than a collection of organs, body parts or systems which may become diseased and injured. Osteopathic medical schools produce doctors who rely on holistic training and form a partnership with their patients so they can lead healthy lives.

After medical school you may wish to further specialize by enrolling in a residency program. Your residency will be the same length as in allopathic medicine and you have access to all of the medical specialties.

Osteopathic Trends

Today, nearly one in five medical school students are training to become osteopathic physicians.

There was once a time when becoming a Doctor of Osteopathy was looked down upon by Medical Doctors but this view is changing as osteopathic doctors grow in numbers and become more commonplace.

Here’s a story….

I know a MD who is at retirement age and he states, “You can be a DO they do everything as a regular MD.” But the kicker is in his next line, “I’ll take a MD over a DO any day though.”

The point of the above is that there is some bias towards the osteopathic degree by allopathic doctors, so you must be prepared to face this if choosing the DO route. As long as you’re comfortable and know you’ll be a great doctor it doesn’t matter what type of medical school you attend.

A surprising fact is that most osteopathic medical schools produce doctors who practice primary care. But if you know the mission statement of these institutions you will understand why.

Osteopathic medicine is focused on providing care in rural and urban underserved areas. DOs make up 7 percent of all U.S. physicians by they are responsible for 16 percent of patient visits in communities with less than 2,500 people.
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