DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. It’s a full medical degree, equivalent in legal authority to an MD (Doctor of Medicine). A physician with DO after their name completed four years of medical school, passed national licensing exams, and finished a residency program. DOs can prescribe medications, perform surgery, and practice in every medical specialty, in all 50 U.S. states.
There are currently more than 167,000 practicing DOs in the United States, making up roughly 11 percent of all physicians. The profession is growing fast: more than 25 percent of all U.S. medical students are now enrolled in osteopathic programs.
How DO Training Compares to MD Training
Both DOs and MDs complete a four-year medical school curriculum followed by residency training that lasts three to seven years depending on the specialty. The core clinical subjects are the same: internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, emergency medicine, and family medicine. Both degrees require passing a multi-step national licensing exam before a physician can practice independently.
The key difference is an additional component in DO training called osteopathic principles and practices. This includes hands-on techniques for diagnosing and treating problems in the muscles, bones, and joints. DO students learn specific manual therapies like stretching, gentle pressure, and joint mobilization alongside the same pharmacology, anatomy, and clinical skills that MD students learn. Think of the DO curriculum as the standard medical education plus an extra layer of musculoskeletal training.
For licensing, DO students must pass the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA). Many also take the USMLE, the same licensing exam required of MD students. Both exams are recognized by all state medical licensing boards and by residency programs nationwide.
The Osteopathic Philosophy
Osteopathic medicine was founded in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, a frontier physician who believed that the musculoskeletal system played a central role in overall health. His core idea was that structural problems in the body could contribute to disease, and that correcting those problems could support healing. He also pushed back against the heavy reliance on drugs that was common in 19th-century medicine.
That philosophical foundation still shapes DO education today. Osteopathic schools emphasize preventive medicine, treating the whole patient rather than isolated symptoms, and the connection between the body’s structure and its function. The dominant academic department at osteopathic schools is family medicine, and the stated mission of all osteopathic schools is to produce primary care physicians. About 59 percent of practicing DOs work in family or general medicine, internal medicine, or pediatrics.
In contrast, MD training tends to be centered around academic teaching hospitals with a stronger emphasis on subspecialty and biomedical research. This is a difference in culture and emphasis, not in the quality of care. Both types of physicians treat the same conditions and follow the same evidence-based guidelines.
Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment
One skill unique to DOs is osteopathic manipulative treatment, or OMT. This is a set of hands-on techniques used to diagnose and treat pain, restricted movement, and musculoskeletal problems. Techniques range from gentle stretching and kneading to quicker joint mobilizations that restore range of motion.
OMT is most commonly used for back pain, neck pain, and joint stiffness. For many patients, it offers a way to manage pain with less reliance on anti-inflammatory drugs or other medications. Not every DO uses OMT regularly in practice, especially those in specialties like cardiology or psychiatry, but all DOs are trained in it during medical school.
What Specialties Can DOs Practice?
DOs can enter any medical specialty. Since 2020, all residency programs in the U.S. operate under a single accreditation system, meaning DO and MD graduates apply to the same programs and compete for the same spots. In the 2023 national residency match, 93.1 percent of DO seniors matched into a residency position, compared to 94.5 percent of MD seniors. For the vast majority of specialties, those numbers are effectively comparable.
Where a gap still exists is in the most competitive surgical subspecialties. DO applicants matched at significantly lower rates in fields like plastic surgery, neurosurgery, and vascular surgery. This reflects longstanding institutional biases and differences in research opportunities at osteopathic schools rather than differences in clinical ability. In primary care fields, emergency medicine, and many other specialties, DOs and MDs train side by side in the same residency programs.
DO vs. MD: What It Means for Your Care
If you’re a patient, the practical difference between seeing a DO and an MD is minimal. Both can diagnose conditions, order tests, prescribe any medication including controlled substances, and perform surgery. Both hold the highest level of prescriptive authority recognized in U.S. law. A DO cardiologist and an MD cardiologist completed the same residency training and are held to the same board certification standards.
The most noticeable difference may come up in a primary care setting, where a DO might incorporate hands-on examination and treatment techniques that an MD would not. Some patients specifically seek out DOs for this reason, particularly for chronic pain or musculoskeletal issues.
Recognition Outside the U.S.
Historically, the DO degree was not always recognized internationally, which created barriers for osteopathic physicians who wanted to practice abroad. That changed significantly in November 2023, when the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities approved a resolution recognizing U.S.-trained DOs as fully licensed physicians equivalent to MDs in 47 member countries. This was a major milestone that brought international recognition much closer to parity with the MD degree.
It’s worth noting that the American DO degree is different from “osteopaths” in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia. In those countries, osteopathy is a separate, non-physician profession focused on manual therapy. A U.S.-trained DO is a fully licensed physician; a British osteopath is not. If you see DO after a doctor’s name in the United States, you’re looking at a complete medical degree.