Gobi2.com - Information about Medical Degrees

Were you aware that in the U.S., a student can choose from two different academic tracks to prepare for a medical degree: MD (medical doctor) and DO (doctor of osteopathy). They are each recognized by accrediting and governmental bodies. There are five times as many American schools that award MD degrees as there are ones providing DO degrees. The nature of the material taught and the requirements for graduation are very similar between the two disciplines, and graduates from either type of school are usually welcomed to receive residency training by most teaching hospitals.

Andrew Taylor Still established osteopathy in 1892 in Kirksville, Missouri. Philosophically, osteopathy traces illnesses to misalignments within the skeletal-muscle system. The tradition deprecates the use of drugs and surgery to treat patients, in favor of muscle manipulation to cure diseases. However, this distinction has been somewhat de-emphasized in the training of medical students. Despite their numbers, especially in the less-populated regions of the United States, there may be some reluctance to utilize osteopaths due to a prejudice against the efficacy of their practice. But one should remember that ODs have the same licensing and accreditation as MDs, and can perform the same types of surgery. Indeed, it is rare to find ODs who limit their practices strictly to manipulative techniques. This has lead to a greater openness on the part of medical students to attend osteopathic graduate schools.

It may be a somewhat easier for graduates to enter a DO program because there is usually less competition for open slots. Also, the requirements for entry may be less rigorous than those in MD schools. The curriculum of the two types, however, and the graduation requirements, are very similar in design and in difficulty. On the other hand, the MD tradition has a much longer heritage than that of the DO title. This may explain why the MD degree is generally more widely accepted.

Prospective patients of either discipline must carefully weigh the benefits of each. Nowhere is that decision more relevant than when a patient must make a decision about chronic pain. In today's world, acute lower back pain is one of the most prevalent pain-related complaints. It may be difficult for a sufferer to choose between a doctor that specializes in healing manipulation and one that prescribes pain medication. Luckily, there are institutions, like a pain clinic and Pain Doctors in Atlanta, that provide holistic approaches to the remediation of severe pain, whether acute or chronic. The best advice is for a patient to evaluate the pros and cons of each approach, and if possible find an institution that offers the best of both.