If you want to become a physician in the United States, you have two educational routes available to you: osteopathic and vanilla medical schools. Osteopathic medical school graduates earn a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O) degree, and vanilla medical school graduates earn a Doctor of Medicine (M.D) degree. If you’re wondering what the difference is between the two, the answer is basically nothing. Students at osteopathic medical schools must take the COMLEX series of board exams, and can optionally take the USMLE series of board exams which are important for the residency matching process. Students at DO schools also receive 200 hours or more of training in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). Outside of those things, there’s no difference between MD and DO schools. The research has shown that there is no difference between physicians with an MD or DO degree in the quality of care provided, approach to patient encounters, or clinical decision-making despite what the American Osteopathic Association’s marketing would have you believe.
