People often talk about “MD or DO, which is better?” but, what really is the difference between the two? While the requirements are the same, the routes to apply and post-bacc education may look a little different! Regardless, both routes lead to becoming a physician, whether MD or DO!
Application Differences
While most of this site describes the process of applying to MD programs, the process of applying to a DO program is not entirely different! Instead of using AMCAS, the DO applications use AACOMAS for their application cycle. They require most of the same things: finished bachelor’s program with pre-medical requisite courses completed, MCAT score, letters of recommendation, etc., but they view your application as a whole, through a different lens when compared to the AMCAS application. Schools will look at your application holistically, meaning that your test scores and GPA will not “make or break” your chances of getting into medical school! It is, like with any route, incredibly important to get DO exposure prior to your application, likely through shadowing!
Medical School
- Often more prestigious
- Often more competitive to apply to
- Easier to match into competitive residencies (Orthopedics, Neuro, Plastics, etc.)
- Slightly cheaper
- Very direct routes once you are in, no additional hoops to jump through
Osteopathic Medical School
- Stress “holistic care”
- Sometimes seen as less prestigious
- Slightly more expensive
- OMS students often have to jump through more hoops than MS students do
- Historically has more difficult for OMS students to match into competitive residencies.
- All OMS programs are different (this does not apply to all schools)!
All in all, once you become a doctor, you are a doctor.
MD physicians and DO physicians as capable and equally skilled as each other.