Ah, otheopaths vs allopaths
I've had a decent variety of DOs and MDs in my life.
When I was young, and did not know enough to question, they were the same.
And then it seemed there was a subtle difference between them, but I didn't realize it. I just thought my Dr of the moment (pulled from an HMO book) (who was in a DO based practice) just wasn't very smart, and that I needed to find a new Dr. After all, not everyone can graduate at the top of their class.
Later on, it seemed to me the DOs had a lot more faith based treatments, which means they are buying time, waiting for the body to heal itself. You know, treat the symptom, get a massage, manipulate the spine, etc. Which works for the vast majority of people, so it is a reasonable thing to do.
And then I realized the MDs were more likely to delve deeper, order more testing, not trust anything until they had a firm idea of what what going on.
So I have my own limited experience which in turn I've made my own judgement.
An then I read this in the dreaded WP:
[link|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_osteopathic_and_allopathic_medicine|http://en.wikipedia....lopathic_medicine]
Applicant aptitude indicators
Some authors note the differences in the GPA's and MCAT scores of those who matriculate at Osteopathic schools. One study found that "Osteopathic schools have mean college grade point averages (GPAs) that are approximately 0.2 points lower than among allopathic students, and their Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores average 1.5 points lower. As many as one-third of these students had been rejected by allopathic schools. As the admission metrics predict, failure rates among osteopathic students who elected to take the USMLE Step 1 exam have been more than three times those of allopathic students." (Cooper, Health Affairs, 22, no. 4 (2003): 71-84)
Ahh, it all makes sense now.
