Pre-Osteopathic Medicine

Consult the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) Choose DO Directory for requirements and admission statistics for 40+ osteopathic programs.

Four-year plans outlining prerequisite courses required for the MCAT and for regional DO programs:

• Osteopathic Medicine: Four Year Plan

Four-year plans for common majors of DO students at Gustavus:

• Biology: Four-Year Plan Medicine
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Biology track): Four-Year Plan Medicine
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Chemistry track): Four-Year Plan Medicine
• Chemistry: Four-Year Plan Medicine
• Undecided: Two-Year Plan Medicine (considering BIO, CHE or BIOCHEM major)

Any undergraduate major is acceptable, as long as you fulfill the DO/MD program's prerequisite requirements.

Both MDs and DOs are physicians that practice medicine and choose a specialty. The main difference between an MD and a DO is that DOs have additional training in osteopathic manipulative medicine, which is a unique type of manual therapy. Osteopathic physicians also help patients have a high level of wellness by focusing on health education, disease prevention, and injury prevention.

Although there is a difference in the definitions of an MD and a DO, studies show that DOs are becoming more and more similar to MDs in their practices.

The application process to Osteopathic Medical Schools utilizes a different common application site, and the GPA and MCAT requirements are slightly less competitive than that of medical schools.

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While both pathways train you to be a fully licensed physician with identical prescribing rights and surgical privileges, the main differences lie in philosophical approach, additional manual training, and the licensing exams required during school.

In practice, whether in a hospital or clinic, MDs and DOs work side-by-side as organizational peers.

Training & Curriculum

• The similarity: Both paths require four years of medical school (two years of classroom sciences, two years of clinical rotations) followed by the exact same residency and fellowship training lengths.
• The DO difference: DO students receive over 200 hours of additional training in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM). This involves learning hands-on techniques (such as spinal manipulation and stretching) to diagnose and treat illness or injury.

Medical Philosophy

• MD (allopathic): This training typically focuses on evidence-based modern medicine, primarily utilizing pharmaceuticals, surgeries, and targeted therapies to treat specific diseases and symptoms.
• DO (osteopathic): This training emphasizes a holistic, "whole-person" approach. The philosophy views the body’s systems as interconnected, placing a heavy focus on preventive care, lifestyle factors, and the role of the musculoskeletal system in overall health.

Licensing Exams & Board Certification

• MD students: These students must pass the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) series to obtain a license. They are certified post-residency by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).
• DO students: These students pass the COMLEX-USA (Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination) series to graduate and practice. However, many DO students also choose to take the USMLE to make their applications more competitive for highly sought-after residency programs. They can choose to be board-certified by either osteopathic (AOA) or allopathic (ABMS) specialty boards.

The Residency System (The Match)

Historically, MDs and DOs had separate residency tracks. Today, they share a single, unified residency accreditation system (ACGME). Both MD and DO graduates apply to the exact same residency slots and train together in the same hospitals.

1. The body is a unit; the person is a unit of body, mind, and spirit.

• In practice: A DO doesn't just treat "the diabetes in room 4." They look at how a patient's chronic pain (the body) might be causing clinical depression (the mind), which in turn makes them lack the energy to cook healthy meals, compounding their illness. Treatment often includes lifestyle counseling, mental health resources, and family dynamics alongside prescriptions.

2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance.

• In practice: This is the foundation of osteopathic preventative care. The goal of a DO is not just to eradicate symptoms with medication, but to remove the physiological roadblocks preventing the body from healing itself. For example, using manual therapy to improve lymphatic drainage or blood flow so the immune system can better target an infection.

3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.

• In practice: If the physical structure of the body is misaligned or restricted, it cannot function properly. Conversely, a diseased organ can manifest as physical tension or pain in the musculoskeletal system (known as a viscerosomatic reflex). For example, a patient with chronic asthma (poor lung function) might develop severe muscle tightness in their upper back and ribs (altered structure). A DO will treat the asthma with an inhaler, but also use OMM to loosen the chest wall structure, helping the patient breathe easier.

4. Rational treatment is based upon an understanding of the basic principles of body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function.

• In practice: This is the "so what?" principle. It states that an effective treatment plan must take the first three rules into account. A DO’s care plan is considered "rational" only if it addresses the patient's lifestyle, supports their natural healing processes, and fixes any structural issues alongside standard medical therapies.