U.S. Osteopathic School or Ross??

[wildream]

I applied to a couple of Osteopathic Medical Schools in the U.S. and they are very interested in my application and their admissions advisors told me I have a very high chance of getting accepted.however, I am not very strong about going to Osteopathic school. What do you guys think about this??I am favoring Ross overseas over a U.S. osteopathic school..am I crazy as some of my friends say??or what?

[felixthecatheathcliffgarf]

well, if you're nuts welcome to the peanut gallery I guess, because I prefer Ross over a D.O. school.....pretty sure I'm not the only one, too. :)







Ah, yes....and you may make your nasty comment(s) now, Rossloss. :roll:

[Daniel]

i, too, chose ross over a USDO school. if you do, you wont be alone.

[johndoe456732]

Don't worry. There are many people here who choose Ross over Osteo.. I personally would recommend that you go with what is in your heart. DO's are not looked badly upon in all areas. In my native Oklahoma, they are very disrespected. However, when I went to West Virginia, I found DO's to be highly respected. So, it's kind of like us. In some areas, as FMG's we'll be highly respected. In others, we get the shaft. It depends on how you feel.

[wildream]

Well, it was surprising to me when you said D.Os are more respected in West Virginia than in Oklahome.The trend is that D.Os are more accepted in the Wild West than the North or East.In fact, I heard you can change your D.O degree to MD in California after going through some lengthy process.but I am glad I am not the only crazy person around here..Go Ross. :wink:

[wildream]

Just curious, daniel, were you accepted to any D.O schools and you refused to go or you just simply chose to apply to Ross over D.O schools?which schools were you thinking of?

[jbuzz]

just curious how many people that say they CHOOSE Ross over a D.O. school were actually ACCEPTED to an Osteopathic school.... ?

[bevo]

I can say that if I had gotten into a DO school I would have rather gone there than attend Ross.

But I was waitlisted at one, and because of my horrible interview skills. I was rejected from a few others where I did manage to get an interview.

DOs are more prominent in certain areas and things will be easier in numbers. ie because TCOM is in the DFW area, you'll find a lot more people know about osteopathic medicine but will find a lot of DOs practicing in the area.

But areas of the country where you dont have a big prevalance of osteopathic doctors might be more difficult.

[obadya00]

we have DO attendings at the university medical center i work at in chicago
i think it is a big myth about the whole DO thing. why wouldn't you want to become a DO if accepted :roll: i personally believe people who have not worked in the medical field think there is this "war" between DO and MD as well as with IMG and USG. In the real work world (academics is different) people care about knowledge, diligence and efficiency. Being a US MD is not the end all. All MDs/DOs have to prove themselves regardless of what school you come from. Medicine is not just about sitting in Grand Rounds and discussing cases. One has to be able to efficiently sell themselves and their knowledge constantly to the nursing staff and the medical service they are assigned to.

Basically through all of this mumbo jumbo, i did not once mention that the institution where you got your training defines how people will judge

[Chianti]

Think about your future plans. If you do plan on specializing (ortho, radiology,etc...) go DO. DO's have their own residencies. I know a DO orthopedic surgeon who scored only in the 30th % on the COMLEX (DO version of step 1), yet got a DO ortho residency. Try getting an ACGME spot with Step 1 scores well below the mean; its not going to happen!

That said, if your intent on primary care, it doesn't matter if you go Ross or DO. I plan on going into primary care. I could've gotten into DO school (based on my stats) but didn't bother applying. Why? Because I want MD after my name, not DO. Once you start residency no one cares where you went to school, but the letters follow you for the rest of your life. Plus my cousin is a Ross alum and is doing very well in residency. Maybe that sounds superficial, but I don't want people asking me "are you a chiropracter" for the rest of my life. Good luck in your decision.

BTW, people who consider you crazy for going to Ross (idiots like RossLoss) would be served really well if they actually got to see Ross's sciences campus. If they did so, they would never make stupid assumptions about the quality of education here.

[wildream]

Other than the U.S. where esle in the world are D.Os even existing??correct me if I am wrong, but I would rather spend 8 years in a profession that people know about.I know it is all about how I personally feel about it, but how would you feel when you have to move to another state just b/c in your state people have a negative feeling about DOs?Maybe all this is just stereotyping effect, but reality says DOs have to work harder to make their way up than do MDs.

[felixthecatheathcliffgarf]

...DOs can only practice in the USA. I don't think there are any DO schools outside of the States.

[awdc]

Well, it was surprising to me when you said D.Os are more respected in West Virginia than in Oklahome.The trend is that D.Os are more accepted in the Wild West than the North or East.In fact, I heard you can change your D.O degree to MD in California after going through some lengthy process.but I am glad I am not the only crazy person around here..Go Ross. :wink:

Trading in the D.O. for a M.D. hasn't happened since the 60's or early 70's when organized medicine was trying to eliminate the osteopathic profession. "The D.O.'s: Osteopathic Medicine in America" by Norman Gevitz is a great book on the history of that profession.

[dr_dre]

I truly hope you are not serious about what you said!

I am not going to go through this whole absurd conversation. but think of these:

1. You are not an IMG (having to go through the crappy road to licensure).

2. There is no difference in the US between a DO and an MD as far as practice and acceptance, this thing about being better respected in one part o the country over others is very CHILDISH and IGNORANT, PERIOD!

3. You will be at home in the good ole US of A (and this by itself should be the only reason by itself).

4. More scholarship, grants and loans are available to you in the US.

And many other reasons.....

[HospitalAdministrator]

On the DO training, I dont want to get into a discussion on that. Certainly its different than the MD. With that said, there are numerous Osteo hospitals in the US. And get this, the salaries of a lot of Osteopaths are higher than regular MD's I know in the Cleveland area there are lots of sucessful DO' with a lot of money being made in practice.

I might also add that the Osteo Hospitals hire about 50/50 , that is DO to MD. I wouldnt knock it. Sure you can get into the DO schools with much less GPA's and it does cost a lot of money in tuition, but I see these DO's practicing in a sucessful practice and doing very well. Get used to it, the modern hospital has staff of "herbal" holopathics, too Kind of a team effort. Remember, medicine is a business too. And what people want, the hospitals and the Medical community supply. Richard.

[HospitalAdministrator]

On the DO training, I dont want to get into a discussion on that. Certainly its different than the MD. With that said, there are numerous Osteo hospitals in the US. And get this, the salaries of a lot of Osteopaths are higher than regular MD's I know in the Cleveland area there are lots of sucessful DO' with a lot of money being made in practice.

I might also add that the Osteo Hospitals hire about 50/50 , that is DO to MD. I wouldnt knock it. Sure you can get into the DO schools with much less GPA's and it does cost a lot of money in tuition, but I see these DO's practicing in a sucessful practice and doing very well. Get used to it, the modern hospital has staff of "herbal" holopathics, too Kind of a team effort. Remember, medicine is a business too. And what people want, the hospitals and the Medical community supply. Richard.

[Daniel]

Just curious, daniel, were you accepted to any D.O schools and you refused to go or you just simply chose to apply to Ross over D.O schools?which schools were you thinking of?

yes, i CHOSE ross over USDO schools, specifically NYCOM and LECOM. 20 years from now, no one will ask me what school i went to...but i think people will still ask what a DO is.

[wildream]

Reality is that many many people don't have any idea what a DO is.They might even visit a DO and think he/she is an MD and I am sure they will still get the same quality of medicak care..I will repeat, still many of those people have no idea what Osteopathic medicine is, and that is not a childish thing from their side, neither is it childish from our side to admit to this fact.And YES, in some states people have very high respect for DOs while in other places many people hesitate to visit a DO b/c he is not an MD.It is all about lack of exposure and knowledge of the field..My whole point was that I would rather struggle with an education at Ross with MD degree than get a DO degree in the U.S. and end up with a profession that only people in the U.S. know or care about..It is just my opinion, nothing against Osteopathic medicine.

[wildream]

Well said. Everyone I've talked to about my future plans has asked me: what does a DO do??when I said: they are osteopathic doctors, they said: aha, so they deal with bones and stuff like that. and I laugh b/c I know they have no idea about it. Honestly, eventhough I am not into Osteopathic schools, I still stand in front of those people and explain to them that DOs are capable of providing the same quality of care as MDs..well, those people ask me: So why not go to DO schools in the US instead of going to a resort island for MD....a good question..but my heart has always been with MD and I started feeling I am in love with Ross. lol.. :lol:

[obadya00]

i'm in love with ross too :-kissey

[Daniel]

...i hope you remember what you said.

[cmbtdoc]

I will assume you missed the plethora of vitriol that rossloss (the Drama Queen of Wisconsin) has been hurling on people who have decided to go to Ross INSTEAD of attending US DO schools.

There is a myriad reasons why people CHOOSE to come to Dominica - admittedly NOT the most hospitable patch of real estate in this planet. The other posters here have pointed many of them.

Let me reiterate one more. In YOUR decision-making process, when you come to the point of deciding between a US DO school and a FOREIGN MD-granting school - remember the rubric:

a) after their names, US DO grads will only put "DO". NOT "US DO".
b) Ross grads (as with other FMS grads) will only put "MD". NOT "MD (Carib)".

Therefore, at the end of the day, the DOs will have been asked more questions about what DOs are. BUT Ross grads - will just be regular, pedestrian, run-of-the-mill MDs.

Oh well, the pain of anonymity.