Do you feel that a MD or a DO would be a better Doctor? Which would give a patient the best medical advise?

Question

Which would give a patient the best care?

Answer 1

I'm a first year medical student (MD) and there is really no difference between MD and DO. If you go to a hospital, they are all mixed and you cant tell the difference. In school they basically receive the same training, so it totally depends on the doctor, rather than the training. We all attend the same residencies and internships and get the same jobs. So theres no difference even though many people like to think there is. I guess the only difference is that you can get into a DO school with lower grades than MD school. While that doesnt mean much in the long run, it does individually.

Answer 2

Either one. I am an MD and I went through residency with several DO's and the training was side by side identical at that level. Have no fear you won't go wrong because you choose one or the other based on degree any more

EDIT:You now have 4 answers all saying essentially the same thing, What do you think now? All 4 are from people in the Medical field and all agree!

Answer 3

I am a first year DO student. I agree with the answers above in that it matters more who the individual doctor is, but in general DO's are taught to always keep the whole patient in mind- we don't treat a disease, we treat a patient. This matters when it comes to looking at the realities of the patient's life- what kind of supports he/she has, what economic situation, etc... In addition, we have more "tools" in the form of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine to treat some problems with. That said, some of my best role models have been MD's, and good medicine is good medicine. By the way, if you want to know more about DO's you can email me.

Answer 4

Aside from philosophy about the interconnectedness of body systems, about the only difference between MDs and DOs is that on *average* matriculating MD students have higher GPAs and MCAT scores. Read into that what you wish.