Osteopathic medicine in the United States |
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Andrew Taylor Still (founder) |
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA[1]) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States.[2][3][4] DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licensed as a physician or surgeon and thus have full medical and surgical practicing rights in all 50 US states. As of 2023[update], there were 186,871 osteopathic physicians and medical students in DO programs across the United States.[5]Osteopathic medicine (as defined and regulated in the United States) emerged historically from the quasi-medical practice of osteopathy, but has become a distinct and proper medical profession.
As of 2014[update], more than 28% of all U.S. medical students were DO students.[6][7] The curricula at DO-granting medical schools are equivalent to those at MD-granting medical schools, which focus the first two years on the biomedical and clinical sciences, then two years on core clinical training in the clinical specialities.[8]
One notable difference between DO and MD training is that DOs spend an additional 300–500 hours to study pseudoscientific hands-on manipulation of the human musculoskeletal system (osteopathic manipulative technique) alongside conventional evidence-based medicine and surgery like their MD peers.[9][10][11]
Upon completing medical school, a DO graduate can enter an internship or residency training program, which may be followed by fellowship training.[8] DO graduates attend the same graduate medical education programs as their MD counterparts.[12]
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