rahulazcom said:
People who attend the Carib do not want the DO title. That's essentially what it comes down to. It is something they fundamentally believe will hurt their chances as a practicing physician.
Well, I think this is a generalization that's just that: a generalization. For example, I didn't apply
anywhere in the U.S. for many reasons, not the least of which was that I wasn't about to take the MCAT again. I have nothing against the osteopathy degree, and I've been friends and colleagues with plenty of D.O. students. In fact, the Chief Resident at the allopathic program I just finished a rotation at was a D.O. from Nova Southeastern.
I don't believe people who actually work day-to-day in the medical field believe that having a D.O. behind your name "hurts" you in any way. That may be the perception of some
before they enter medical school, but they certainly wise-up after they've been in the field for a while.
I've trained with a lot of D.O.'s as both attendings, residents, and students. And, not to sound like a broken record to those of you who are familiar with me and my posts, but it really comes down to the individual in all instances. It doesn't matter where you went to school ultimately; it has more to do with who you are and how you interact with your colleagues and patients. No one wears their board scores stitched onto their labcoats.
Now, some peoeple will say that, if they were going to gamble, they'd bet on a U.S. allo MD over a D.O. or Carib M.D. any day of the week. I suppose that's fine... if you're picking your doctor out of a line up. But, that's just not how it works in the real world in most cases. We will all work, unless you are a pure hospitalist in some form, on referrals. The reputation you build as a
practicing physician, no matter where you trained, will be paramount to anything else. Even if you're looking for a physician in the Yellow Pages or your company's HMO directory, you realize that all those physicians have had to pass their licensure requirements and, in many cases if not most, the board certification requirements for their field of practice. And, if you can't have some reassurance in that, well then the whole system is pretty f**ked up in general then, isn't it? (And, if anyone wants to try to make that argument, they better start another thread...
)
So, these discussions about who's better, who's worse, D.O. is inferior, no Carib M.D. is, etc., ad nauseum, are completely pointless and have no bearing on how the real world works. It make take you 3 times to pass each licensure exam. That is not an indicator in a greater sense of what kind of doctor you're going to become. People learn things at different rates, and sometimes this is reflected in performance on standardized tests. But, it is not reflective of motivation, personal skills, likability, caring, compassion, and all the other intangibles that go into being a good doctor. And, personally, I'd trust the opinion of a PA with 20 years experience for run-of-the-mill stuff over just about any U.S. MD fresh out of residency. And, most of medicine is run-of-the-mill. That's all that's really important. And, that's all you need to know.
Now, let's forget about these unproductive, ego-preserving, pointless discussions about stupid irrelevant things like board passing rates.
-Skip
