DO, MD Dual degree??

[chokiepie]

Has anyone heard about the DO, MD dual degree program? I have been admitted to both a DO school and in Ross and I have to decide in the next 1 week. I read a lot of post about whether DO is better or a FMG MD. Now, I heard that there is a school in Montreal that transfers all your credits from a US DO school and then you give the USMLE and they give you a DO MD dual degree!! If I study from Ross, I'm still a foreign graduate just like I'll be if I get an MD from this school in Montreal. Then is it advisable to go to the US DO school, or is it better to go to Ross, or is it better to go to the US DO school and transfer my credits to MOntreal and get a dual degree? Thanks in advance. I'm really confused.

[azskeptic]

doubt it would be of any value..you couldn't license an 'instant' MD degree from Montreal from a non-LCME school

Has anyone heard about the DO, MD dual degree program? I have been admitted to both a DO school and in Ross and I have to decide in the next 1 week. I read a lot of post about whether DO is better or a FMG MD. Now, I heard that there is a school in Montreal that transfers all your credits from a US DO school and then you give the USMLE and they give you a DO MD dual degree!! If I study from Ross, I'm still a foreign graduate just like I'll be if I get an MD from this school in Montreal. Then is it advisable to go to the US DO school, or is it better to go to Ross, or is it better to go to the US DO school and transfer my credits to MOntreal and get a dual degree? Thanks in advance. I'm really confused.

[jaysun2234]

Go to the D.O. school, less of a transition to living outside of the U.S., easier to work while in school, etc.... as long as you are interested in residencies that do not preclude D.O. applicants such as Harvard and Yale. Also, if you wanted to look at serving in the military in exchange for you school loans being paid off, only U.S. schools are eligible...............Jaysun

[MustafaMond]

jaysun is correct but 1 thing to remember is...people do not know what a do is. U will find this out when U do clinical rotations and residency. About one out of 10 patients willknow and probabbly 6 out of remaining 9 will ask u "what is ur DO thing after ur name?".

[Runzhouse]

jaysun is correct but 1 thing to remember is...people do not know what a do is. U will find this out when U do clinical rotations and residency. About one out of 10 patients willknow and probabbly 6 out of remaining 9 will ask u "what is ur DO thing after ur name?".

lol...i would sure like to know how you came up with those numbers...osteopathic medicine is the fastest growing healthcare field in nation. 1 in 5 medical students are osteopathic medical students. If you have a problem with "DO" put Dr. Runzhouse and underneath it put surgeon, cardiologist, Internal Medicine...

[Beanie2414]

I would not agree with the comment that it is easier to work while in a DO program. I am currently attending a DO school in VA, and we have a rediculous workload including mandatory class from 8:30-5:30 w/ a 1 hr break for lunch. After which I have to come home, study for boards for at least 2 hrs, and then study for my normal school load. My normal days starts at 7:30 in the morning and goes until at least 1:30 at night. In the DO curriculum you have to do all of the work of an MD (same hrs in path, anatomy, pharm, histo, etc) while also completing 90-200 hrs (depending on the program) of OMM lab. I have friends that go to MD school as well, and they have much more free time than me and my fellow classmates have! Sometimes I wish now that I had applied to an MD program, but DO just fit my personality much better, which is something to definately take into consideration. If you question which kind of doctor you would like to be, maybe you should meet with a local Osteopath to discuss our medical philosophy and decide where you fit in in the medical world. ;)

[TRAMFLAP]

I would love to see someone do anything but a few hours of work-study during medical school at an osteopathic institution. It is MED SCHOOL, whether some would like to acknowledge that fact or not. Take the osteopathic acceptance, don't spend all that money to move.

[chartero]

An M.D. from a source that is not a reputable medical school, and that has little or nothing to it but a review of your D.O. transcripts, will be seen as a vanity degree at best. It may very well be illegal to use it in some jurisdictions. Get the D.O. and if you want to beef up your credentials add a legitimate academic master's or doctorate, or if you're that uncomfortable with your medical degree being a D.O., get a real-med-school M.D., offshore if you have to. But you shouldn't be uncomfortable.

[TRAMFLAP]

"Real medical degree"? Anyone who doesn't see the DO as a real medical degree is ignorant and foolish. Times are changing, deal with it!

[Chopdoc]

"Real medical degree"? Anyone who doesn't see the DO as a real medical degree is ignorant and foolish. Times are changing, deal with it!


Well....a great big part of the planet views it that way.

Not me......but it is true.

Between the two, only MDs are accepted worldwide. If you get licensed in the US with an MD, there isn't a country in the world where you can't gain the right to practice. With a DO, there is a huge chunk of the world that will not accept your credentials, or will make you jump through a lot more hoops to get accepted.

Years ago, California didn't know what to do with DOs. For a while, for a fee, they would grant a DO an MD "degree" so he could get his medical license.

That was a long time ago, but there are actually still some of them around practicing. One that moved New York actually tells people that the DO was additional training on top of the MD and that he is therefore "more educated and more qualified". Really. And he never went to MD school at all. Yet he still has that Old California "degree" on his wall.

If you want to be a DO, go to school to be a DO. If you want to be an MD, go to school to be an MD. If you "just want to be a doctor", then pick one, but know the difference.

[stephew]

there would be little value (ie none?) in getting both degrees. What is your reason for wanting them?