D.O. or M.D.?"

[GREENBACK]

I recently went to a new doctor that is a doctor of osteopathy(D.O.) vs. a medical doctor(M.D.). I really never thought about the difference. My former doctor was an M.D.. He was a good physician but was somewhat more clinical(just take this pill) in his approach.

I admit, bias may be at work since I was acquainted with my new doctor beforehand, but I really like his approach to things. I like that he looks beyond just prescribing a drug to treat this or that. He really seemed to take an overall health perspective and worked from that.

I'm a little curious about what others preferences might be here if you're familiar with this difference. The difference to me is someone looking at you as something beyond a lab rat.

[creditcardfree]

My daughter's have an D.O., and I can say that I can't really tell the difference between her and a traditional M.D. It does seem the D.O. listen's to their lungs and hearts longer, but that's about it.

[zetta]

I had an OB/GYN who was a DO, and I couldn't tell any difference between her and other MD's in her speciality that I have seen. Glad you found a good doctor!

[southerndoc]

The only difference between a DO and an MD is their training. DO's also learn about osteopathic manipulation (MD's don't), and a DO usually has to spend their intern year in a DO approved internship usually affiliated with a DO school. However, many DO's are now doing allopathic (MD) residencies.

A DO listening to lungs a little longer has to do with that particular person and not their training. I've seen MD's and DO's both take their time with exams and barely examine patients at all. It's dependent on the physician and not his degree.

[creditcardfree]

A DO listening to lungs a little longer has to do with that particular person and not their training. I've seen MD's and DO's both take their time with exams and barely examine patients at all. It's dependent on the physician and not his degree.

Thanks, this is the only D.O. that I've had experience with. Good to know.

[GREENBACK]

This is my first experience with a D.O. and I can't say one is better than the other(maybe he's just a good doctor period) but I have been to MD's before where it all seemed very clinical if that's the right word. This doctor didn't give me that impression. Hard to explain but he asked the questions I had before I did which wasn't always the case before.

[creditcardfree]

This is my first experience with a D.O. and I can't say one is better than the other(maybe he's just a good doctor period) but I have been to MD's before where it all seemed very clinical if that's the right word. This doctor didn't give me that impression. Hard to explain but he asked the questions I had before I did which wasn't always the case before.

Sounds like a keeper! Something we all would like in a doctor.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

From the few interactions I've had with DOs, I could not tell a difference. I've never been the patient of one, but have taken orders from them in a hospital. Also, my son had surgery in an osteopathic hospital connected with an osteopathic med school. Uh, in this case I will say that the DO surgeon seemed "nicer" than most MD surgeons I have had contact with, but I cannot attribute that to his credentials any more than I could to just basic personality or the beautiful weather outside that day. The ER doctor also seemed nicer, but then it was a very unbusy ER in a small town and there was only one other patient there (getting a treatment for asthma), so the DO was not harried or overworked. The hospital itself and the other staff there seemed no different than any other hospital---except in ways that I would attribute more to board of directors decisions about such things as whether to decoratively renovate & buy new curtains and flooring for the building. My son and I mused and approved approved at apparent choices to keep using still functional1970's furnishing and décor. Perhaps folks here who are trying hard to save can agree with us on that.

The decision to do diagnostic imaging and the consequent surgery for my son came about slowly, and I thought that might have been related to it being an osteopathic hospital. My son made three ER visits in less than 24 hours before any imaging was ordered. I can understand the reason not to order up all the scans possible right away, but I am sure that here in my city the ER MDs would have ordered it up right away. Again, even as the mom of a young man with internal bleeding not diagnosed until after that, I do appreciate the wait and see approach. (Maybe some people couldn't stand for the uncertainty!) But again, I'm not really sure if this was due to the hospital being osteopathic. It could also be due to my son's under-emphasizing the dis-ease he was having.

I suspect I might see a difference with DOs if I were a patient making office visits. It certainly seems like DOs are taught to and ideally want to work differently with patients. But are they really able to do that in the present environment? Can they really do more extensive interviews? Can they really afford the time to get more thorough histories and then to think them through? Can they really spend more time with a patient in office?...And if not and if that was their professional intention, then are they more conflicted, distracted, depressed, even angry about being hampered from doing their work in a more ideal manner? Then how does that end up affecting their work?

[asmom]

In almost 20 years of nursing I have not observed a difference in their clinical approach.

[Scanner]

DisneySteve is a DO and I thought he would have responded.

Their licensure and education is almost identical. A few still do some osteopathic manipulation and some are damn good at it (dare to say maybe better than me ) but as chiropractors have kind of "seized that niche" (but other providers are making a move on it. . .more politics). . .finding a manipulating DO can be a challenge sometimes as most family DO's tend to just punt that to the local chiropractor (not all, but most). The 3 in my office don't really do it, other than an occasional neck manipulation.

They tend to have and complete more primary care residencies vs. specialty residencies which may be the observation of why they seem more "friendly." That's just a generalization though, as I know 2 DO's - one who's a nephrologist and another who's a radiologist. I haven't seen a DO complete interventional radiology though - a very high paid medical specialty. . .not sure if it's just coincidence that I haven't seen that degree matched with that specialty.

Now. . .in Great Britain, I have heard DO's are actually closer related to massage therapists (have a copule of Brits for patients), making this whole discussion even more confusing. So, the above is basically America. Not sure what the licensure and education is elsewhere.

Anyway, as one poster noted, judge a physician by the following:

1. Free and clean license
2. Board certification
3. Personality/office procedures
4. Perhaps the schooling although the education is fairly standard
5. Educational interest (maybe they have an intellectual interest in allergies, and you have allergy problems, and have published on that)
6. Cultural reasons

The DO vs. MD is pretty much moot in the US.

[Scanner]

One more story I'd like to relate the DO vs. MD question.

I am a chiropractor and I must admit DC's do tend to seek out DO's a little more because we are kind of like "bastard cousins" politically (complicated - too long for the scope of this thread - suffice it to say we are the bastard cousin, lol ).

So. . .I should follow my own advice though.

My son broke his arm and we went to a local DO who's a pretty well regarded orthopedist. Nothing complicated - just needed a cast and reset and some follow-up x-rays. Well, everytime we went we waited like 2.5 hours. Every time. Okay. . .maybe's he's "popular". . .just like the Seinfeld episode. . .everyone of my patients sees "The Best XXX" in the area. I kinda understand that psychology.

The thing that annoyed me though is he has physician assistants and they weren't students. ANd all he had them doing was following him around and basically when he wanted a prescription, he wrote it out. Okay. . .they looked all of 22 years old but I know PA's are supposed to have their own patient loads, not follow the doctor around like a puppy dog. We would have been a perfect candidate to see the PA, other than maybe the DO should review the original films to make sure surgical intervention wasn't needed. That's it - casting, all follow-ups couldn't have been handled by the PA and reduced our wait time.

Long story shortened. .. I fired the DO and went to a MD ( a group vs. solo ) for our son's second break. 15-30 minute wait with appropriate delegation to paraprofessional staff. Much better businessman/office procedure.

Won't go back to that DO again.

So. . .I should have followed #3 above myself instead of looking at the degree.

[disneysteve]

DisneySteve is a DO and I thought he would have responded.

Scanner, you ruined my stealth monitoring of this thread.

I was waiting to see where the conversation went before I weighed in. I guess I need to chime in now. I'm busy at the moment but I'll post later.