- Both D.O.s and M.D.s have a four year undergraduate degree prior to medical training.
- Both D.O.s and M.D.s have spent four-years in medical education. Both take the MCAT and are subject to a rigorous application process.
- Historically, D.O. schools are more open to the non-traditional candidate.
- D.O.s, like M.D.s, choose to practice in a specialty area of medicine and complete a residency program ranging from 3-7 years.
- Some D.O.s complete the same residency programs as their M.D. counterparts (as did Dr. Smolar)
- M.D. students take the USMLE exam
- D.O. students take the COMLEX exam.
- Both must pass a state licensing examination to practice medicine.
- D.O.s completing MD residencies complete the same board examinations.
- D.O.s perform surgery, deliver babies, treat patients, prescribe medications, and work in the same settings as M.D.s. D.O.s use the same tools, treatments, and technologies of medicine as M.D.s.
- D.O.s receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system, which make up the muscles and bones of a person.