(Repost - Original posting on January 13, 2013)
It's pretty common for healthcare workers to wear ID badges so that patients and visitors not only know who people, but in which capacity they provide care. Many hospitals have taken that a step further and also require employees to wear title badges that, in bigger letters, say RN, RT, TECH, or even doctors. One of the odd things that has come from this is the exposure of osteopathic doctors to the public consciousness. When their doctor comes in and their badge says DO instead of MD, it usually leads to the same question; "What's the difference anyways?"
If MDs and DOs work side by side, then what is the difference in their training? Do they use different meds? Different techniques? IS the training different? When the goal of taking care of patients is to provide the gold standard of care, then is their really even a difference between MDs and DOs?
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