An osteopathic medical school is a fully accredited medical school that grants a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree instead of the more widely known Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. There are currently 44 colleges of osteopathic medicine across 71 campuses in the United States, with nearly 40,000 students enrolled for the 2025–26 academic year. Graduates practice in every medical specialty, prescribe medications, perform surgeries, and hold the same clinical privileges as their MD counterparts.
How DO Schools Differ From MD Schools
The core curriculum at osteopathic and allopathic (MD) medical schools is largely the same. Students at both types of schools typically spend their first 12 to 24 months in the classroom studying anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathology, then complete the remainder of their training in clinical rotations at hospitals and clinics. Both programs take four years to complete.
The key difference is an added layer of training in osteopathic manipulative treatment, or OMT. This is a set of hands-on techniques where a physician moves a patient’s muscles and joints using stretching, gentle pressure, and resistance to diagnose, treat, and prevent illness or injury. That focus means osteopathic students spend more time studying the musculoskeletal system than their MD peers typically do. Osteopathic schools also require primary care physician leadership and dedicated OMT clinical faculty, which reflects the profession’s historical emphasis on whole-body, primary care medicine.
The Philosophy Behind Osteopathic Medicine
Osteopathic medicine is built on four guiding principles. First, the body is a unit: a person’s physical health, mental health, and overall well-being are interconnected. Second, the body is capable of self-regulation and self-healing. Third, structure and function are linked, meaning the way the body is physically organized affects how it works, and vice versa. Fourth, effective treatment should be grounded in all three of those ideas working together.
In practice, this translates to an educational culture that emphasizes treating the whole patient rather than isolated symptoms. That doesn’t mean MD schools ignore holistic care, but osteopathic curricula formally embed this philosophy into their coursework and clinical training from day one.
What OMT Training Looks Like
Osteopathic students learn a range of hands-on techniques throughout their four years. Some of the most common include articulatory techniques, which use repetitive springing motions to increase a joint’s range of movement, and counterstrain, where a physician positions the body to release tension at a specific tender point. Myofascial release and facilitated positional release both target muscle and connective tissue restrictions, using indirect positioning to reduce tension across multiple planes. Cranial osteopathic medicine applies gentle techniques to the head and spine based on subtle rhythmic movements in the body’s membranes and fluid systems.
Students practice these techniques on each other in lab settings before applying them during clinical rotations. Not every DO uses OMT regularly after graduation, especially those who go into specialties like radiology or pathology, but the training is a universal part of the education.
Accreditation and Licensing
Osteopathic medical schools are accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), while MD schools fall under the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Both bodies set rigorous standards for curriculum, faculty qualifications, and clinical training, though their requirements diverge in a few areas. COCA specifically mandates OMT-focused faculty and primary care leadership. LCME places more emphasis on faculty research productivity.
For licensing, DO graduates take the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA). MD graduates take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Many DO students choose to take both exams to broaden their residency options, and most residency programs accept either one.
Residency and Specialization
Before 2020, osteopathic and allopathic residency programs operated under separate accreditation systems. This created real barriers for DO graduates trying to enter competitive specialties. In 2020, all residency training was unified under a single accreditation system run by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), meaning DO and MD graduates now apply to the same residency programs through the same match process.
The impact has been measurable. In otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat surgery), one of the more competitive specialties, osteopathic matches increased from 17 in 2020 to 26 in 2024, a 53% jump. That increase didn’t come at the expense of MD applicants, whose match rates remained stable over the same period. Similar trends have played out across other specialties, suggesting the unified system genuinely expanded access for DO graduates.
Getting Into an Osteopathic Medical School
Admission requirements closely mirror those of MD programs: a bachelor’s degree, prerequisite science coursework, MCAT scores, clinical experience, letters of recommendation, and a personal statement. The average GPA for entering classes at osteopathic schools typically falls between 3.5 and 3.7, with particular weight given to science coursework. Average MCAT scores for recent entering classes range from 506 to 508, which is slightly lower than the average at MD schools but still competitive.
Many osteopathic schools also weigh community service, leadership experience, and a demonstrated understanding of osteopathic philosophy. Some applicants write a separate statement explaining why they specifically chose the DO path. Clinical or research experience with a DO physician can strengthen an application, though it isn’t universally required.
Osteopathic schools use a centralized application service called AACOMAS, which is separate from the AMCAS system used by MD schools. You can apply to both types of schools simultaneously, and many applicants do.
The Osteopathic Profession Today
Osteopathic physicians now represent roughly 11% of all practicing physicians in the United States, and more than 25% of all current medical students are enrolled in osteopathic programs. That second number is significant: the profession’s share of the physician workforce is growing rapidly because osteopathic enrollment has expanded much faster than allopathic enrollment over the past two decades.
DOs practice in every setting you’d expect, from primary care clinics to surgical suites to academic research hospitals. Internationally, US-trained DOs hold full practice rights in more than 65 countries, though the specifics vary and some nations still distinguish between DO and MD credentials. The American Osteopathic Association and the Osteopathic International Alliance maintain updated information on country-by-country licensing rules for DOs considering practice abroad.