What is the difference between allopathic medicine (MD) and osteopatic medicine (DO)?

Answer 1

MD's (allopaths)go to Medical school for 4 years and have clinical rotations in all of the medical fields. Then they usually have to take three years of residency before they can be credentialled to work as a doctor in a hospital/practise. it is very competitive to get into Medical School.

Osteopaths (DO's) go to Osteopathic school. They usually have to know another osteopath- but they don't have to get as good grades to get into one (My brother-in-law- who barely passed college -he had a C average- was able to get into Osteopath school. I had a B+/A- average in college and was able to get into two medical schools) .

Osteopaths spend part of their education doing Osteopathy- or bone manipulation- but since most don't use it clinically after school- Osteopathic schools have had to adjust and teach more "Allopathic" studies such as physiology and pathophysiology (the study of how the body functions, and how it is altered in various disease states). Osteopaths also only need one year of post school training to work as an Osteopath.

so in conclusion- Allopaths (MD's) have to work harder in college to get into school, have to have more training in residency than osteopaths.

It has nothing to do with "who is nicer" or "who does more research".


In response to the answer below- even though I am an allopathic Dr. I have not joined the AMA (its also not a Dr's union)
My brother-in-law- who is an osteopath-indeed had a harder time getting into school- not because there are less DO schools but because his grade point average in college was al ot lower than mine (you can even ask my ex-wife- whose brother it is).
By the way many Osteopaths become Pediatricians, and he is an ophthamologist (not a family Doc).
And I am sure that since they do spend part of their curriculum on Osteopathy (Bone Manipulation) they must spend less time on other parts of physiology.

By the way, I have worked with both good and bad Osteopathic and Allopathic MD's in my medical career.

Answer 2

The only difference in the U.S. is the a D.O. must take all of the classes the M.D. does, as well as Osteopathic Manipulation. The testing and residencies are the same, and it can be harder to get into an Osteopathic school since there are fewer of them. Osteopaths tend to go into Family medicine since they are generally more holistic in their training. Do note that the long negative response previously posted here is from an allopathic physician who's trade union (AMA) has been trying to get rid of, or control Osteopaths for over a century.

Answer 3

Now a days, there is really no big difference. The MD and DO degrees varied in theory over 100 yrs ago. DOs are often nicer docs to deal with, from what Ive seen...but of course this is a generalization. Allo med education focuses more on research, genetics, stats whereas Osteop med focuses more on patient care, anatomy, and manual techniques.