wagdog1 wrote:I think Joker was talking "out of his ass". Surprised to see he is a "specialist".
I personally only care that I get into medicine as a doctor. I want to be the one to make the decisions, and I want to be the one who is responsible for better or for worse. If I were to be a nurse or a Physicians Assistant, I would eventually feel as though I was being stifled.
DO or MD, I don't care. The DO philosophy sounds more interesting than MD philosophy, but in practice there is no difference.
It is my understanding that DOs actually have a tougher time bc they have to pass BOTH the COMLEX and the USMLE for some residencies. Double your pleasure, double the fun...
At any rate, the "prestige" is the only perceived difference. More people recognize MD than DO, although this is slowly changing. But if this is your primary concern, perhaps you aren't in this for the right reasons. I do undersatnd that it could be a concern that you are spending your entire life in this profession, but shouldn't that be secondary compared to your desire to start helping people? Just my POV--
I'll have to challenge this by saying that reputation is very important in the real world. Sure, you could say "who cares? You want to help people," but realistically speaking, the world revolves around reputation. The "better" things you've done are perceived, the more opportunities for open doors there exist. Having a DO will continue to have a stigma for decades to come. If you are okay with being stigmatized by some colleagues and patients, good for you. However, there's no rational reason to put yourself in a visible lower tier for the rest of your life if you can avoid it.
I personally wouldn't get a D.O. anymore. I thought about it a lot, but every time I see D.O.'s anywhere, they are doing this: 1) proving that they are equal to MD, 2) trying to prove they are superior to MD (saying they have better philosophy and what not), & 3) taking MD residency slots even though they claim allegiance to their degree. It's fairly obvious that D.O. is coming off as a "plan b" degree.
But just to clarify: my views are not absolutist. I understand some people don't fit the stereotype, and I do understand some DO's are legitimately equal or superior than certain MD's.