How many osteopathic medical students are there in the US?

35,000+ and growing. In the 2022-23 academic year, more than 35,000 osteopathic medical students are studying to become osteopathic physicians, an all-time high.

What percentage of US doctors are DOs?

Over the past three decades, the total number of DOs and osteopathic medical students has more than quadrupled to reach 186,871 in 2023. Currently representing more than 11% of all physicians and 25% of all medical students in the U.S., the osteopathic medical profession is positioned to continue growing exponentially.

How many applicants to osteopathic medical school?

Research the Schools Well

The overall acceptance rate for all DO schools in the US was 31.22%, since there was a total of 27,277 applicants and 8,516 matriculants.

How hard is it to get into osteopathic medical school?

For many applicants, the answer to this question is yes, but getting accepted to an osteopathic school still isn't easy. You still need to do very well in medical school prerequisites and on the MCAT and must pursue meaningful extracurricular activities. And the competition for admission is intense.

Are doctors of osteopathy more common in the United States than are doctors of medicine?

Osteopathic medicine is one of the fastest growing segments of healthcare, representing more than 11 percent of all physicians in the United States. More than 25 percent of all current medical students are osteopathic medical students.

M.D. vs. D.O. | Allopathic and Osteopathic Medical School Comparison

Is a DO as prestigious as an MD?

It is hard to say that one is more prestigious than another. 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. That is the same as an MD can do.

What percent of medical students are osteopathic?

Today, more than 25 percent of medical students in the United States are training to be osteopathic physicians.

Is becoming a DO harder than MD?

Getting a DO degree is harder because there aren't many schools that offer DO programs, so more people get turned down. However, there is possibly some correlation between the slightly higher GPA average of MD students and the difficulty of MD programs. So an MD degree is slightly easier to get.

Is it harder to become a DO than an MD?

medical school is statistically easier than to an M.D. medical school. Plus, an M.D. medical school matriculate has an average GPA of around 3.67 while a D.O. matriculate has approximately a 3.5. However, it is important to realize that good reputation does not necessarily correlate with good practice.

Is it harder to get into a DO or MD school?

While this may come as a shock to you, the primary reason behind this fact is that there are far fewer accredited DO programs (37) than accredited MD programs (158) in the U.S. In other words, because more MD programs exist, you are statistically more likely to get into an MD program vs. a DO program.

What is the average age of osteopathic students?

In comparison to the 2010 American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Matriculant Summary, the average age at matriculation for osteopathic medical students was 25 years.

What percentage of osteopathic students take Usmle?

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See the article "The Use of COMLEX-USA and USMLE for Residency Applicant Selection" in volume 8 on page 358. In 2020, approximately 60% of osteopathic medical students took at least one portion of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). At first, this may seem a curious statistic.

Are DOs still called doctors?

A doctor of osteopathic medicine, also known as a D.O., is a fully trained and licensed doctor. A doctor of osteopathic medicine graduates from a U.S. osteopathic medical school.

How competitive is osteopathic medicine?

Osteopathic medical schools tend to have lower GPA and MCAT requirements for matriculants than schools of medicine. However, there are fewer accredited DO programs than MD programs, so the admissions process is still competitive.

Are DOs as qualified as MDs?

The licensing requirements for DOs and MDs are the same. Both can prescribe medication. Both can practice in all 50 states. Both can pursue all medical specialties.

What is the disadvantage of osteopathy?

In rare cases, serious complications have been linked to therapies involving spinal manipulation, including osteopathy. These include the tearing of an artery wall leading to a stroke, which can result in permanent disability or even death. These events usually occurred after spinal manipulation involving the neck.

What are the disadvantages of a DO?

The cons of becoming a DO include more significant challenges in obtaining more specialized residency positions and less focus on USMLE material during preclinical years. As a DO and an MD, you are required to take medical licensing examinations.

Can a DO DO everything an MD can DO?

Over half of DOs choose to work in primary care, but they can also choose to specialize in another area, just like MDs. DOs have all the same responsibilities and rights as MDs, including the abilities to perform surgery with proper training and prescribe medicine.

Are DOs becoming more popular?

Over the past decade, the total number of osteopathic medical students in the U.S. plus practicing DOs has increased by 81%.

DO DOs make less than MDs?

To put it simply, the salary for DO and MD physicians will not differ due to their credentials. Physician salaries will only vary based on specialty. For example, pediatrics tend to earn less than other specialties, with a reported average annual income of $232,000.

Are MDs better than DOs?

Is a DO a higher degree than an MD? No, both DO and MD degrees are equivalent accreditations and provide the same level of authority and responsibility to practice medicine. The main difference between the two is the philosophy and approach to medicine they bring to their practice.

What state has the most osteopathic doctors?

The AOA Osteopathic Medical Profession Report shares that the states with the most DOs include California (11,101), Pennsylvania (10,824), Florida (10,641), Michigan (8,910), New York (8,650), and Texas (8,171).

How many doctors fail out of medical school?

The AAMC does not release medical school dropout rate numbers; however, they have shared data on medical school graduation rates. The graduation rate after four years ranges from 81.7% to 84.1%, which leads some sources to suggest that the med school dropout rate is between 18.3% and 15.9%.

Is it easier to get into osteopathic school than med school?

In terms of the applications requirements for MD and DO programs, the criteria are virtually the same, with both osteopathic and allopathic programs weighing grade-point average and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores heavily.