DO vs. MD: Similarites, Differences & How They Compare

Medical Doctors (MDs) are certified to use evidence-based patient evaluation to determine treatment options for specific symptoms.

By comparison, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) are trained to treat patients holistically (i.e., the “whole” person rather than specific areas of the body).

However, there are some factors to consider before you choose one or the other. Before we get into the pros and cons of an MD vs. DO, let’s fully examine each path.

DO vs. MD: A Quick Summary

Criteria	DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine)	MD (Doctor of Medicine)	Similarities
Philosophy	Holistic approach; focuses on preventive care and the musculoskeletal system	Allopathic approach; focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases primarily with medications and surgeries	Both aim to diagnose and treat illnesses to promote health
Training	Includes osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) techniques as part of their curriculum	Standard medical education with a focus on conventional treatment methods	Both undergo similar training, including anatomy, physiology, and clinical experience
Licensing Exams	Take COMLEX (Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination)	Take USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination)	Both must pass licensing exams to practice medicine
Focus	Emphasizes a whole-person approach, including lifestyle and environmental factors affecting health	Primarily focuses on disease symptoms, diagnosis, and management	Both aim to improve patient outcomes and manage health effectively
Popularity	About 11% of all US physicians are DOs	Represents the majority of physicians in the US	Both specialties are growing in number
International Recognition	Less recognized internationally	More widely recognized internationally	Both are recognized in the US

What Is a DO?

A Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or DO, is a fully licensed medical provider in the U.S.

According to the American Osteopathic Association, about 11% of all doctors in the U.S. fall under this category.

They provide a patient-centered approach to health care and can provide a full spectrum level of care.

DOs undergo extensive training in listening to patients and partnering with them to find ways to promote and maintain overall health rather than just addressing symptoms.

They practice various medical specialties, such as pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, primary care, and obstetrics/gynecology.

They hold prestigious positions in medicine, providing care for everyday citizens and individuals like the President of the United States and Olympic athletes.

What Does a DO Learn?

DOs are focused on the treatment of the patient, not the disease, which means a whole-body focus on healing and health.

To do this, osteopathic medical schools offer training in osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). This type of training enables a provider to assess the neuromusculoskeletal system.

Using this method, the DO can then determine if osteopathic manipulative treatment is necessary.

What Are the Responsibilities of a DO?

As a DO, your role might include:

• Examining patients
• Taking the medical history of a patient
• Ordering diagnostic tests, interpreting their results
• Diagnosing health conditions and injuries
• Prescribing treatment for conditions
• Providing treatment for conditions
• Working to improve a person’s overall health often through improved exercise, eating habits, pain relief, and improving chronic conditions

Read now: What It Takes to Be a Traveling Physician

Pros

Working as a DO can offer several potential benefits, including:

• More musculoskeletal system training and understanding within educational programs is likely. This provides more of a hands-on approach to the treatment of various conditions. For those who wish to receive this training, such as osteopathic manipulative medicine and osteopathic manipulative treatment, this route may be best.
• It is ideal for those who want to pursue primary care. While a DO can specialize in any area, they are often primary care providers. For those who want to be more specialized, the field is more readily open to MDs.

Cons

There are some drawbacks to working as an osteopathic doctor that you must consider as well:

• Though allopathic and osteopathic medical students now have equal footing in getting a residency program, it tends to be harder for a DO to find a match. That’s simply because of the increased availability of MD residency programs. This is improving, though.
• The cost of education may be high, sometimes higher than the cost of MD training. That depends on the school of choice, but there could be a higher cost factor to consider.
• Working in some of the older and traditional academic research facilities is more difficult as a DO as they tend to maintain their traditional school of thought rather than a more modern outlook of holistic medicine.

What Is an MD?

An MD is an allopathic doctor because they diagnose and treat a variety of medical conditions using conventional, evidence-based methods, including prescription medications, surgical procedures, X-rays, and blood work.

Allopathic medicine is considered more mainstream traditional medicine due to its popularity in application.

Despite the differences in approach, DOs and MDs can specialize.

That means they tend to focus their practice on a specific area of care, such as on being a primary care doctor or one that focuses on one area of the body, one type of disease treatment, or perhaps a group of people, such as geriatrics or pediatrics.

What Do MDs Learn?

MDs learn science-based approaches for the treatment of illness and injury.

Training in allopathic medical schools focuses on medical care in a specific area, but the focus is typically on more traditional methods of education.

What Are the Responsibilities of an MD?

MDs have many of the same responsibilities as a DO, including:

• Meeting with and examining patients
• Diagnosing conditions
• Gathering medical histories
• Prescribing and interpreting medical diagnostic reports
• Creating treatment plans for a variety of health conditions
• Providing very focused care on symptom relief or disease/injury treatment

MDs can provide overall recommendations for care as well. For example, an MD may provide dietary and exercise guidelines for a patient with an unrelated medical condition.

Yet, they tend to focus on a specific goal of care rather than an overall whole-body view.

Pros

Some of the best reasons to go the MD route include the following:

• There are ample research opportunities available to MD students. This is due to MDs typically holding these positions in the past. Many programs heavily prefer MDs because of their more traditional focus on medicine.
• MD programs require more academic training. For those who enjoy academic medicine and want to focus on a specialized area, a fellowship is likely easier to obtain than it is for a DO. That may mean that for those who wish to work in a large academic institution, an MD is the right path for them.

Cons

There are a few drawbacks to consider when it comes to being an MD as well, including:

• There’s a significant difference in the work you do; for some people, that lack of hands-on training and medical service is a concern. MDs are not likely to receive the same whole-body training and treatment education, which means a specific focus on their education rather than an overall focus.
• Medical school is often more challenging to get into than it is for DOs because there is a lot more competition for those positions. This means less overall access for those who may not have the best grades or test scores.

What Are the Key Differences Between an MD and a DO?

While these are both competitive educational programs, MD and DO degrees have some key differences:

• Care Focus: A DO prioritizes holistic health, treating a person as a whole entity and emphasizing self-healing and health maintenance, while an MD adopts a more specialized, “part-focused” approach.
• Prerequisites: Both programs have prerequisites; DOs may emphasize different courses with a whole-body approach, but biology, organic chemistry, and physics are baseline requirements.
• Clinical Experience: Both degree programs require relevant hands-on clinical experience for licensing.
• Licensing: Formal licensing is essential for DOs and MDs after medical school. DOs spend at least four years focusing on preventative medicine, while MDs may invest six or more years in specialized medical education.
• Educational Paths: Both paths demand intense commitment from highly qualified students with a bachelor’s degree in a related field, featuring courses tailored to the specific work the student intends to pursue.

Both educational paths are intense and require highly qualified students who have earned a bachelor’s degree in a related field.

Without a doubt, courses are specific to the type of work the student plans to do.

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Do DOs and MDs Have the Same Career Options?

Yes. Both MDs and DOs can see patients, provide treatment options, prescribe medicine to them, and perform medical procedures.

They can focus on various specialties, including pediatrics, emergency medicine, OBGYN, and other areas.

No specialty is available to one that is not available to the other.

In many cases, a DO can offer their services to a large group of people and can specialize their education in any given field.

The key difference here is that while they may be treating women’s health issues, for example, they are taking a full body approach to do so, while an MD may only focus on women’s reproductive health.

The same applies to many other areas of DO practice.

Who Earns More: DOs or MDs?

If a DO and an MD have the same level of experience and practice in the same area and specialty, they are likely to earn close to the same.

The more specialized a DO or an MD is, the more their earning power increases.

By comparison, a DO or an MD who is more of a generalist will likely earn less overall.

Regardless of whether you are a DO or MD, we can help you secure the best compensation package possible when you use our Contract Review Service.

Our team has extensive knowledge of industry standards and salary ranges; we use this information to negotiate on your behalf (if you so desire) and help you get the best deal.

Related: What Should an Employment Agreement for Physicians Include?

Is Being an MD or a DO More Prestigious?

A person working as a DO can hold leadership positions, provide care to some of the most elite athletes in the world, and manage whole healthcare systems.

Likewise, an MD can function in the same capacity.

What’s most important here is doing work that is fulfilling to you.

What Should You Choose?

While MD and DO degrees have similar educational requirements and clinical training, the key difference lies in their philosophical approach to patient care.

MDs follow a traditional allopathic approach, while DOs follow an osteopathic approach that emphasizes the interconnectedness of the body’s musculoskeletal system.

Ultimately, the choice between an MD or DO depends on an individual’s beliefs and values about healthcare, as well as the specific career path they hope to pursue.

However, you can contact us if you have difficulty deciding what works best for you. We assess your situation to help you make the right choices based on your desires.