M.D. vs. D.O. | Allopathic and Osteopathic Medical School Comparison

Thanks everyone for watching! This seems to be quite the controversial video (by our standards). After referencing several of my own Osteopathic friends and colleagues, we all agreed that everything in this video is 100% factual. In fact, they weren't offended in the slightest (and were confused why some people were), but a few commenters below seem outraged.


I uploaded an apology video for not handling it more delicately (with even more disclaimers than I already included), but again, this video is 100% factual. Yes, some OMM is great, and some of it isn't supported by science. Yes, it is definitely easier to get into DO schools than MD schools on average. Yes, it is harder to match into hyper competitive specialties as a DO than an MD, even with the residency merger (but only time will tell). It's not impossible, in fact one DO student matched into plastic surgery my year (out of 150+ MD students). Possible, but much harder.


If you find yourself cursing at your screen, I urge you to consider watching the video again and assessing if anything stated was false or highly biased. My only regret, if I could redo this video, would be to have more disclaimers to avoid the anti-DO and anti-MD clusterf*** that is the comments below.


"Those who are easily offended should be offended more often.”

Im planning on joining the military in order to get into medical school for Osteopathic medicine. Becoming a Flight Surgeon in the military is something what i dream on being, and i soleheartly wish to be one when before i turn 40 because i know that medical school takes years to complete

PREMEDS! You should choose M.D. if you want more specialty options and an easier route to more competitive specialties. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. D.O.s primarily go into primary care. The grades to get into D.O. schools are much lower on average compared to their M.D. counterparts. Pretty much all applicants treat D.O. schools as a backup. In fact, the majority of D.O.s don't use their manipulative treatment after they graduate. Do D.O. only if you really align with their principles.

M.D.>D.O.>>>>Caribbean MD

Is it true that modern medicine is controlled or largely influenced by big pharmaceutical companies, and that doctors are mostly under the rule of a medical hierarchy that ensures compliance to set rules and guidelines?

Finally! (A little bit of) truth on this subject. Thank you 👍.

As a student at a DO medical school I have seen and heard the stigma against DO’s. At the end of the day, they are both physicians who are trying to do what is best for their patients. They both learn the same information (with the exception of OMT, which is a topic for another time), and they both take similar exams. DO’s actually end up taking more board exams (the USMLE and the COMLEX). This doesn’t make their path harder or the MD’s path easier, as there are probably other hurdles that MD’s must do through their medical education. I do feel as though the stigma that is against DO’s comes from the idea that DO schools are “easier” to get into. At the end of the day, yes, MCAT scores and GPA’s are probably lower for the average DO student then the average MD student. However, I personally do not believe that these are good measurements for how good of a doctor you will be. Do they matter, absolutely! I think they do indicate how well of a test taker you are, and odds are, if you scored well on the MCAT, you will probably do pretty good in med school. This is becoming a lot longer of a comment then I had anticipated but I just want to finish by saying, at the end of the day, go to the doctor that YOU are comfortable with. Don’t worry about the two letters after their name, if you like them and more importantly, trust them, then go to them. Its that simple.

I need to say that if you are going to be responsible for giving information to over 1 million people you should make sure you KNOW what you’re talking about… FIRST off- and this is enough said.. CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY Is more real , affective, and naturally respectable then the study of Pharmakeia (sorcery, drug witchcraft) will EVER be which is what “medical doctors” predominantly study! I’ve been doing cranial sacral therapy for over 20 years/ I can see beyond the flesh and the space in between. I can see and feel electromagnetic energy and can pull pain off of people with my own hands and MAGNETISM. I can feel what others can’t so I am authorized to let you know that you are WRONG! Everyone can clearly see by now that if there are fewer osteopaths DOs than medical doctors MDs: Osteopathy MUST be the better thing because the world that we’re coming out of was built on deception, Inverse concepts, half truths and for the purpose of control and manipulation. For example: I don’t personally know of any osteopaths that have been distributors of this so-called VAX that is clearly a BIOWEAPON… but have many many medical doctors and some with the knowledge of the agenda behind it all. Reference the video “died suddenly” on rumble. It’s a disgrace of what is happening and this whole entire MD experience is now going to be forever changed…

I think that what you speak of may be your own internal bias. There may be a bias against DOs in some segment of the population, but this is rapidly disappearing with time. If what you say is true, then there should also be a bias against those graduates that attended a 4th tier MD school versus a 1st tier medical school like Harvard. However, there is not. No doubt, the average MCAT scores and GPAs are higher at Harvard then they are at say Temple University. According to you, the Temple University grad won't stand a chance against the Harvard grad because he is a superior student. Reality doesn't work like that. In reality, where u go to school only affects may 20% of your application to residency. Board scores, Deans letter, recommendations, all play a role in who is selected. Unfortunately, going to Harvard med school alone doesn't guarantee success. If you want to beat the Temple University grad or the DO grad with 95 percentile on their USMLE scores, your 're gonna have to work hard also, not just coast at Harvard med school. Great thing about medicine, is that contrary to what you may think, doing well on the USMLE doesn't require being the smartest med student from Harvard. It takes hard work. Any med student who was able to make it to a US med school can work hard and excel as long as they learn the material. Most osteopathic graduates want to be clinicians, not researchers, so I don't see why they really need to do research at their schools. Most physicians are just practicing medicine, not doing research. DO schools train their graduates well for what was intended...being a competent physician in the community. So if you got into Harvard, hats off to you for your achievement. For the rest of us, congrats on getting into your state medical school, osteopathic medical school, private 2nd, 3rd, or 4th tier med school. I know with hard work, you will be a great clinician serving your community.

Abrahamic religions

I’m thinking more DO school 🥼✨

I could care less, they both are physicians, now if I see fmg I run for the hills.

I don't really feel strongly about going to DO or MD but I will say every doctor I've had that I loved, I knew they were DO before even looking at their suffix. They seem to prioritize whole health even in the ER whereas the MD's tend to ask me a few questions then prescribe serious medication shortly after even if I dont really need it. It's very strange.

American and probably European doctors are more vile than crack dealers

Doctors are disgusting humans

I wonder if the look down on DO is going to change since the councils are merging now into one unit for accreditation.

What's the difference between OMM and Chiropraxis??

Success is based on the small decisions that are made daily!

So basically I can’t even a cardiologist with a DO I have to be MD in order to get in cardiology residency? I’m confused

When l had my sciatica the only person who could help me was a highly skilled osteopath but when my sciatica came back 2 years later his and other treatments wasn t helpful .
Desperatly l went to a Reiki treatment and the person made it desapear with one treatment .
So it would be nice to be respectful to others with their treatment modalities like the Craniosacral therapy that you think it is a Craquery

You thought i was a mere M.D....
*KONO D.O. DA!!!*

Parts of body's...skull treatment....

It may be slightly easier to get into a DO school, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that USMLE pass rates for both MD and DO are essentially identical. The curriculum is the same, the residencies are the same, the fellowships are the same. Actually one can make an argument that DO school is slightly harder than MD school because DO students take everything we do as MD students while also taking OMM.

Brutal but entirely accurate.

DO schools could eliminate the stigma by simply ditching/disavowing the pseudo-scientific components of their teaching

DO's tend to eschew big pharma so they are the doctors of choice for me :)

European osteopath i means NUMSS Do is a medical doctors but he can't prescribed medicine and surgery but also work hand

Don't write off so easily cranio sacral technique! I had it done,! Is great !

There is still quite a bit of secondary discrimination against D.Os. I found a wonderful osteopathic primary care doctor. When I had a serious infection and was directed to bed rest with antibiotics and painkillers, my employer refused to accept her doctor's letter because she didn't have M.D. after her name and therefore wasn't a "real doctor." Basically her medical practice was equated to homeopathic herbal medicine. I was told a letter from a licensed physician was required or my paid sick leave would be denied. After a lengthy conference call with the freaking state medical licensing board, my department manager finally grew past the ignorance to understand that a D.O. is indeed a licensed physician.

Thank you so much

I once was told the difference between a DO and an MD is that DOs had fun and friends in college.

Lol I go to my chiropractor to feel good and my MD to feel good good😉

Is osteophatic doctor the same to orthopedic dr? I am from Philippines.

Back when anesthesiology residencies became very competitive to get into again, we had a proportional number of DOs and MDs getting into my allopathic residency. So, some of this information isn't accurate regarding residency acceptance. Plus, this video is 3 years old now. I only took the COMLEX and was readily accepted into an allopathic residency. I also question the MCAT/GPA subject here. Don't let this video scare you away from applying Osteopathic. I have been there and done it.

I think there needs to be an update to this video as a lot has changed. The biases/misconceptions are slowly dwindling. It’s increasingly becoming very competitive to get into DO schools, and lesser proportions of DOs are now matching into primary care and going into more competitive specialties.

DOs give the best care for patient care. MDs take 5 minutes with every patient, provide pain relief drugs and say bye.

What does a DO DO? :)

Being serious my impression of the MD vs. DO is that it doesn't make much of a practical difference to the average patient. It seems like the DDS vs DMD comparison.

How dare you put down other degree ? if you are a true life saver you should not say something about other people;s profession! what respect are you talking about? both degrees requires competitiveness from Medical students, D.O and M.D are the same in any angles!the curriculum itself speaks for itself so you should know the reality! D.O are better because they not only treat patients but they also treat the body and mind that M.Ds doent know how! so I see professional jealousy here! Pls delete this video of yours because D.Os are really laughing at you so hard right now because of ignorance and jealousy.

If your issue is low grade MCAT in DO degree that is not your problem anymore its just the strategy of DO schools to attract students afterl all medical schools are for profit and needs to survive same way with MD schools, I know many get into MD schools with low grades but they are now doctors too.

I prefer an D.O. Any day.

The initials of both are their name sakes backwards MD is a Doctor of Medicine and a DO is an Osteopathic Doctor lol

Fact:

"DO students are amazing & intelligent people, as my daughter was ACCEPTED in a KNOWN Medical School (MD) in Texas, and still CHOSE the DO school (also in Texas), as it is COVER more than just allophatic medicine, as OSTEOPHATIC medicine ADDED more studies about the body, that includes even spirit"

So, PLEASE STOP with NON SENSE and WRONG informations!

Have a great day to y'all!

Quick answer. G.P.A.

If medicine want to succeed. They should do what dental did make dds and dmd equal degrees and require foreign med students to enroll in an academic program to work in the US. Because dividing DO and MD is what led to the rise of Mid level creep.. and putting md and dos on a hierarchy doesn't benefit the profession. the reality of the situation is it much cheaper to hire more nps then a physician . And with rising autonomy it better for America to eliminate this my md degree is better than the other.

DO here that matched interventional radiology.

For anybody watching this in 2021, I think this is a pretty solid, transparent comparison that is generally true, even now (3 years later.) And while not many DOs match things like plastics, derm, ortho, etc. it does happen every year & the numbers have been growing since the merger. In fairness though, not many MDs match those either; they are very competitive! I think there is still some residual bias, in particular maybe at upper-tier places, but it seems to be getting a lot better. For reference, In my graduating class alone this year, we had 3 IR matches, 1 derm, a couple ortho, 1 vascular, 1 ENT, a couple urology & other great matches at upper-tier places in EM & IM. I can speak from personal experience too that I interviewed at some pretty great programs in the T25 or so for DR (I applied IR & DR.) I think about 80% of our class matched residency programs that were originally ACGME accredited too (even pre-merger this number I think was about 75%.)

Like anything, there is a spectrum with respect to entrance scores (some DO schools have averages right up there with average MD schools, some less.) My schools’ averages are right up there with the averages of average MD schools.

With respect to board exams, my school actually outperforms the other MD schools in our region with respect to Step 1 & Step 2CK average scores & we have had about 1/3 of students sit for both COMLEX & STEP.

And for the OMM stuff... the techniques that overlap with PT/OT I think are great & work excellently. I agree 100% that the craniosacral stuff absolutely has to go. I think OMM overall would be more respected if we just tossed that. Even professors seem aware that it is an outdated teaching with no scientific basis. Outside of that it’s pretty useful & can at least help patients feel a bit better when they walk out the door, ya know? I don’t plan on using it personally beyond with friends/family with minor aches/pains but it is useful for that type of stuff.

But ya! DO schools - at least mine - do a good job at finding people who didn’t know what they originally wanted to do when they entered college & have all sorts of interesting back stories (e.g. I was in a small touring metal band for a few years & didn’t really try very hard when I first got to college.) They look for people who absolutely have the intelligence to be in medical school but found their passion late in the game. I think this is at least one of the reasons the stats are lower at DO schools overall (another big one being newer DO schools taking lower stat applicants too of course.)

If anybody has any more questions or anything I’d be happy to help answer some. Feel free to DM! I think MedSchooInsiders did a solid job though like I said above. Just wanted to add some anecdotal info from my experience & maybe add more context to the current (2021) state of things.

I had questions about the differences when it comes to certain specialties. How hard is it to become an anesthesiologist or pathologist as a D.O. compared to getting matched into these programs as an MD?

I had an ambulance driver trying to pass on medical advice as "the advice of a doctor" and everyone agreed with him saying : he's practically a full on doctor. (It was online and his name was scyomedic Because he said he studied medicine for his back issue and that this gave him extensive medical experience) what's your thought on this? Is he valid or is he just egotistical

What's the difference between scientific and "pre-scientific"?

Scientific is backed by big pharma because it can make corporations lots of money, and they kick some of that money down to MD's for slinging their poison. Simple as that.

If it's not addictive or invasive , big pharma will lobby and manipulate against it. So scientific studies on various massage modalities and natural drugs are supressed and manipulated. Pharmaceutical corporations pay Med schools to teach med students that holistic medicines are quackery. Gaslighting at it's finest.

Where do you think science gets all it's knowledge? From studying these "pre-scientific" things you scoff at so arrogantly. You're "not buying" craneo sac, but you expect us to literally BUY all your pharmaceuticals and hack treatments that make our bodies toxic and kill us. But what do you really care? You've got your nice house, your nice car, the backing of the corrupt system, and your false sense of superiority.

I heard that some people may be biased against do in residency but it is slowly going away. In the er where I work at, the last two medical directors are do’s. Patients don’t care either if the physician is md or do and probably many don’t know/care about the difference.

My buddy went D.O because he had a 527 MCAT and 4.0 GPA, they offered him a full ride for tuition and discounted room & board. The MD schools did not offer him anywhere close to that in AID.

He still matched into General Surgery and graduated from his residency this year. He was at the top of his class however, he said the majority of DOs at his school matched into FM, IM and Peds. Radiology is a big one now for them also, people want that work life balance. Some went on to do fellowships but later on. He is finally out of residency hell and got an offer of 350k plus production bonuses in the mid-west. Though he still always works about 60 hours a week minimum.

Oh come on Dr. Juubao you have to do better, give D.O’s the respect they deserve

From someone who went to a DO school. Don’t go to a DO school. Find a way to go to a US MD school