Is the DO degree old-fashioned and outdated now?

Answer 1

Opinion: No

The opinion expressed immediately below this one seems ridiculous (and a bit incoherent) in my opinion and does not really answer the question asked. Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) do not need to change their degrees to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, the public simply needs to be better educated about what a DO is. Considering that Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine use all modern aspects of medicine and also sometimes use osteopathic manual manipulation, I would say that the DO degree is certainly not old-fashioned or outdated. That said, unlike 50-100 years ago, DOs and MDs are basically the same now in most respects. Also, M.D. stands for Doctor of Medicine, not medical doctor, just saying. Osteopathic medicine is a rapidly growing field and the public is learning about osteopathic medicine over time and fortunately osteopathic manual manipulation is now the subject of intense research.

Opinion : YesThe D.O. degree is outdated now during these current times.

Andrew Taylor Still created the D.O. degree when medicines in the 1800's were no good. Manipulation was created during that time. However, meds have improved tremendously these days with evidence-based medicine. It's time to change the D.O. degree back to M.D. today, or at least have M.D.,D.O. after one's name.

Everybody knows as M.D. as Medical Doctor. People still do not know what D.O. means even though it means Medical Doctor as well.

Time for D.O.'s to change their degrees to M.D., so the public knows they are medical doctors!!

Opinion : NoThe DO degree is as alive and well as it was in the late 19th century. True, Osteopathy was born in an era of poor medical care when treatment was almost as likely to kill you as cure you, but some tenets of Osteopathic medicine are still applicable.

DOs are fully licensed physicians in every state and work side-by-side with their MD colleagues. There is no difference in the eyes of the law.

The public knows what DOs are, although in some regions they are not as familiar with the appelation. The above author is correct in that MDs are equated with medical doctor. The DO designation has only been around a little over 100 years, while the MD has been around since antiquity. We have quite a bit of time to catch up.