What is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)

If you are like most people, you’ve been going to a doctor since you were born and perhaps didn’t know if you were seeing a D.O. (osteopathic physician) or an M.D. (allopathic physician). You may not even be aware that there are two types of complete physicians in the United States.

The fact is, both D.O.s and M.D.s are fully qualified physicians licensed to perform surgery and prescribe medication. Is there any difference between these two kinds of doctors?
Yes / and no.

D.O.s bring something extra to medicine

• D.O.s practice a “whole person” approach to medicine. Instead of just treating specific symptoms or illnesses, they regard your body as a integrated whole.
• D.O.s receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system – your body’s interconnected system of nerves, muscles and bones that make up two-thirds of it’s body mass. This training provides osteopathic physicians with a better understanding of the ways that an injury or illness in one part of your body can affect another.

Today, osteopathic physicians continue to be on the cutting edge of modern medicine. D.O.s combine today’s medical technology with their ears, to listen compassionately to their patients; their eyes, to see their patients as whole persons; and their hands, to diagnose and treat injury as well as illness.

D.O.s and M.D.s are alike in many ways:

• Applicants to both D.O. and M.D. medical colleges typically have four-year undergraduate degree with an emphasis in scientific courses.
• Both D.O.s and M.D.s complete four years of basic medical education.
• After medical school, both D.O.s and M.D.s can choose to practice in a specialty area of medicine – after completing a residency program. D.O.s are required to perform an additional year of internship in general medicine regardless of the field they choose to specialize in.
• Both D.O.s and M.D.s must pass state licensing exams.
• D.O.s and M.D.s both practice in fully accredited and licensed health care facilities.

D.O.s comprise a separate, yet equal, branch of American medical care. Together, D.O.s and M.D.s enhance the state of care available in America. It is however, the ways that D.O.s and M.D.s are different, that bring an extra dimension to your family’s health care.