Which is better? MD or DO?

Babs2u

Babs2u

Senior Member
I recently went to an Urgent Care when something was dropped on my foot. They wrapped my foot, ankle and leg up to my knee and told me to make an appointment with a podiatrist. Two days later I saw a podiatrist (foot and ankle) and he wrapped my foot and ankle. Did my calf not need wrapping or was that out of his lane? Did I need a calf doctor?

Anyway it got me thinking. These doctors are so specialized that maybe they dont see the whole picture.

A DO is a more holistic doctor who takes the entire person into account. I would love to hear from anyone who has had experience with a DO.
 

I believe DOs (Doctors of Osteopathy) have the same training and licensing as MDs. Many decades ago they specialized in spinal manipulation, as do Chiropractors. But they mostly gave that up to equivocate with MDs. I don't believe manipulation is even taught in Osteopathy schools any longer. However some may be more sympathetic to natural medicine, owing to their roots.
 
ChiroDoc said:
I believe DOs (Doctors of Osteopathy) have the same training and licensing as MDs. Many decades ago they specialized in spinal manipulation, as do Chiropractors. But they mostly gave that up to equivocate with MDs. I don't believe manipulation is even taught in Osteopathy schools any longer. However some may be more sympathetic to natural medicine, owing to their roots.
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Thank you for that. Too bad they strayed from the original plan.
 

Our primary care docs have always been MDs 'till the last one who was a DO and was fine. Just heard last week that he's leaving town and we'll be reassigned to a family nurse practitioner or a physician's assistant. There are fewer and fewer MDs around here. A friend of a friend who's worked in a medical office for years says over the years she's heard the wives of the doctors all complain about how they were disappointed to move here because "there's no good shopping, restaurants, or things to do."
 
It is my understanding that a DO is trained the same as an MD, but with more holistics thrown in.

There is a DO in the small town nearest to me. I go to an MD practice much farther away, and have seen an MD once; it is always a Nurse Prac. I tried to make an appointment with the DO some years back but was told he wasn't taking any new patients. I recently noticed that the practice was sold and another DO is now there.

I am seriously considering switching to the DO. As I have aged and have left the traditional health care community (as an employee), I look more to holistic methods.
 
We have lost doctors at our clinic but now all the nurse practitioners are gone, too and one DO has joined We might see him as they are so busy with fewer doctors and no nurse practitioners. It does seem the primary doctors are getting fewer in our town.
 
I've gone to both MDs and DOs over the years and have seen little difference that can be attributed to the medical school they attended. There's a far greater difference between individual doctors. There can be a HUGE difference based on the corporation that owns the practice. (Very few doctors today own their own practice.)

A number of doctors have left this area and their stated reason is usually "The corporation that owns the practice won't let me practice medicine the way it should be done". Too much pressure on maximizing profits. :mad:
 
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