I am not taking a position on this, I am just asking. When you say qualifications what are they? Like they didn’t take a single math class or they didn’t take multiple biology courses?
Generally a better GPA or more prestigious college diploma. Perhaps more research experience depending on the MD school. Most of all it’s just the fact that MD schools have been around longer and developed more of a reputation so they can pick and choose their candidates, and it’s historically been the case that when some students get rejected from MD school they will turn around and apply for DO school.
Although, medical doctors are also known to be severely lacking in skepticism and understanding of the scientific method (much like engineers), so depending on the doctor you talked to, they might actually believe it.
Source: anecdotal, but I’ve spent my entire adult life in higher ed chemistry departments taking classes with and then teaching premeds, and it’s a real thing. Med school does nothing to alleviate this, being focused as it is on basically troubleshooting a single particularly complicated and poorly designed machine.
Edit: here are a few studies that corroborate my experience, although they’re far from comprehensive ( Source 1 and Source 2)
I just want to emphasize that the two studies you’ve linked to are not for US graduate DOs/MDs. One is for practicing physicians in Israel and the other is 1st year medical students in India. Not sure about the Israeli medical education, but in India a medical degree (mbbs) is an undergraduate degree. So looking at 1st year medical students is the equivalent of a fresh high school graduate. I would be interested to know what this looks like in the US because a large part of medical education is built around research, at least early in training. Everyone has varying aptitude and interest in research (like anything else), but you’d be hard pressed to find a US trained MD/DO who has become licensed in the last 20 years and has never done any research. It might surprise you to know that most of medicine is, in fact, evidence based which requires us to learn how to interpret said evidence. Both for when we need to make decisions about applying research to our own practice, as well as for answering patient questions about things they might’ve come across on Google, MD.
So, since my sources are fairly small focused studies, I assume you have sources that are more comprehensive, right? Because I found these after less than 30s of searching, and a couple more minutes yielded a multitude of articles and op-eds from medical and scientific journals that all agree that MDs are not scientists. Like this one. Or this one. Or this one, which talks about how physicians do not apply proper levels of scientific thinking to new treatments in
So, I think it’s safe to say that applying evidence-based research is not the same as understand the scientific method or having a healthy level of skepticism.
As most med schools it’s the same program, maybe a few different classes. From a courtroom perspective, there is no difference and their opinions carry equal weight; residency and specialized training after med school is what counts.
I was told by multiple MD holders that DOs and MDs were basically the same at this point. Were they being polite?
There are plenty of outstanding DOs and many poor MDs. But it is a fact that you need better qualifications to get into MD school.
I am not taking a position on this, I am just asking. When you say qualifications what are they? Like they didn’t take a single math class or they didn’t take multiple biology courses?
Generally a better GPA or more prestigious college diploma. Perhaps more research experience depending on the MD school. Most of all it’s just the fact that MD schools have been around longer and developed more of a reputation so they can pick and choose their candidates, and it’s historically been the case that when some students get rejected from MD school they will turn around and apply for DO school.
This is correct
I see, that wasn’t what I was expecting to read. Well, thank you for answering.
GPA, MCAT scores and intangibles.
Maybe.
Although, medical doctors are also known to be severely lacking in skepticism and understanding of the scientific method (much like engineers), so depending on the doctor you talked to, they might actually believe it.
Source: anecdotal, but I’ve spent my entire adult life in higher ed chemistry departments taking classes with and then teaching premeds, and it’s a real thing. Med school does nothing to alleviate this, being focused as it is on basically troubleshooting a single particularly complicated and poorly designed machine.
Edit: here are a few studies that corroborate my experience, although they’re far from comprehensive ( Source 1 and Source 2)
I just want to emphasize that the two studies you’ve linked to are not for US graduate DOs/MDs. One is for practicing physicians in Israel and the other is 1st year medical students in India. Not sure about the Israeli medical education, but in India a medical degree (mbbs) is an undergraduate degree. So looking at 1st year medical students is the equivalent of a fresh high school graduate. I would be interested to know what this looks like in the US because a large part of medical education is built around research, at least early in training. Everyone has varying aptitude and interest in research (like anything else), but you’d be hard pressed to find a US trained MD/DO who has become licensed in the last 20 years and has never done any research. It might surprise you to know that most of medicine is, in fact, evidence based which requires us to learn how to interpret said evidence. Both for when we need to make decisions about applying research to our own practice, as well as for answering patient questions about things they might’ve come across on Google, MD.
So, since my sources are fairly small focused studies, I assume you have sources that are more comprehensive, right? Because I found these after less than 30s of searching, and a couple more minutes yielded a multitude of articles and op-eds from medical and scientific journals that all agree that MDs are not scientists. Like this one. Or this one. Or this one, which talks about how physicians do not apply proper levels of scientific thinking to new treatments in
So, I think it’s safe to say that applying evidence-based research is not the same as understand the scientific method or having a healthy level of skepticism.
deleted by creator
As most med schools it’s the same program, maybe a few different classes. From a courtroom perspective, there is no difference and their opinions carry equal weight; residency and specialized training after med school is what counts.