Does it matter whether you choose MD or DO school?

Answer 1

Not really: these days content of allopathic (MD) & osteopathic (DO) medical school curricula are essentially the same (although DO med students have to do an additional 300 hours focusing on manual/ manipulative medicine); the real difference is philosophical - although DOs use all the same diagnostic & treatment technologies/ techniques as MDs, they tend to have a more "holistic" & less "interventionist" approach to patient care.

Although DOs are found in all medical specialties, the majority (>60%) work in "primary care" (especially family medicine, emergency care, pediatrics, OG, & care of the elderly), & they're much more likely than MDs to practice in "medically underserved" places - eg impoverished inner city or remote rural areas. Large numbers of DOs work as military medical officers, or provide medical support to emergency services/ police.

If you like the idea of a more "whole patient" centred approach to medical practice; are particularly interested in "primary care" specialties, and/ or are attracted to "remote area" (& often more improvisational!) medicine, then an Osteopathic Medical School is more likely to be institutionally attuned to such career aspirations. If, on the other hand, you aspire to practice ultra-modern "hi-tech" medicine, or undertake high level medical research etc, then an Allopathic School is more likely to be supportive of such ambitions.

This is, of course, a broad generalization: some DOs do PhDs & become medical researchers, & a few go into specialties like neuro or cardiovascular surgery - just as there are plenty of MDs in primary care or working in underserved communities. Overall, however, DOs tend (in keeping with their "foundational philosophy" of "frontier medicine") to be far more inclined to work at the more socially & medically "challenging" end of the spectrum of medical practice.