Equality Is Settled, What Better Proof? At a recent meeting of the Missouri State Medical Association (MSMA) in St. Louis, deans from the state’s medical schools held their first joint conclave. The meeting served as an opportunity for MSMA to connect with Missouri’s medical schools and for participants to discuss challenges, opportunities, and identify areas of collaboration. Pictured, back row, from left: Alexander Norbash, MD, University of Missouri-Kansas City; Heidi Miller, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services; Christine Jacobs, MD, Saint Louis University; David Haustein, MD, University of Missouri Springfield Campus. Front, from left: Richard Baron, MD, University of Missouri-Columbia; Joanne Loethen, MD, University of Missouri-Kansas City; Margaret Wilson, DO, A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine; Mildred Olivier, MD, Ponce Health Sciences University, St. Louis. (Source: A. T. Still University Facebook Post, accessed May 3, 2026).
For more than three-quarters of a century, the osteopathic medical profession has pursued one consistent goal: convincing the public that a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) is a fully trained, fully licensed physician. The effort has spanned new terminology, institutional rebranding, public-relations campaigns, and countless explanations in examination rooms across the country. The progress is real—and so is the lingering question: why do so many patients still need the explanation?
Equality is settled
The battle that was most important was won long ago. In 1960, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) House of Delegates endorsed “osteopathic medicine” over “osteopathy” and “osteopathic physician” over “osteopath,” concluding that the older words implied restricted privileges and limited training.1,2 In the decades that followed, colleges dropped “osteopathy” from their names, and the degree was restyled from Doctor of Osteopathy to Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.2,3 The reforms worked. Today DOs and MDs attend accredited medical schools, enter the same residencies, hold the same unrestricted licenses, prescribe the same medications, and practice in every specialty. Few serious observers question their equivalence.
And DOs bring something of their own to the bedside: a whole-person philosophy and hands-on osteopathic skill that the profession has every reason to take pride in. Moreover, allopathic medical education promotes patient-centered care.4 The goal has never been to erase distinctiveness—only to ensure that patients recognize the physician who brings it.
Recognition is not
Yet the communication problem endures. On July 13, 2025, The New York Times ran “So Your Doctor Is a DO. Does That Matter?”5 The piece was fair and accurate—but the headline told its own story. Had the communications message fully landed, the question would not need asking. The same pattern appears in clinical settings: both the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic maintain webpages explaining what a DO is and how DOs compare with MDs.6,7 Those materials exist because patients keep asking.
This points to a distinction the profession has not fully reckoned with. Equality and recognition are not the same thing. Equality rests on accreditation, licensure, and training. Recognition rests on what a patient grasps in the few seconds spent scanning a directory, choosing a doctor online, or meeting one for the first time. In that window, the initials MD carry more than centuries of public familiarity, in the United States and abroad. The initials DO still, too often, invite a question.
A conversation worth having
For more than sixty years, the answer to that question has been the same: more explanation. The strategy has achieved a great deal. But if explanations are still required after over six decades of explaining, it is fair to ask whether the message itself deserves a fresh look. The profession has debated this before—including proposals to revise or supplement the degree designation.8
One provocative option is a dual post-nominal: DO, MD. It is not without precedent. The AOA itself sometimes honors osteopathy’s founder as Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO, a reminder that the relationship between the two credentials has not always been read in rigidly binary terms.9 The objection is fair and deserves a hearing—a DO earns a DO, not an MD, and any designation must be truthful and non-misrepresentative about the degree held. The point is not to misstate a credential, but to ask whether the profession’s current shorthand serves the patient who simply wants to know, “Is my doctor a physician?”
Reasonable people will disagree about the remedy—whether a dual designation, a revised title, or a sharper approach to public communication. The larger point is that the discussion should not be dismissed merely because it unsettles long-held assumptions.
The osteopathic medical profession has achieved extraordinary growth and full integration into American medicine. Its remaining challenge is no longer proving equality. It is communicating equality—immediately, intuitively, and in terms a patient understands at first glance.
References
1. Allen TW. “Osteopathic physician” defines our identity [editorial]. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 1993;93(9):884.
2. Allen TW. Osteopathic medical terminology—redux [letter]. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2010;110(12):743-744.
3. Terminology for reporting on osteopathic medicine. American Osteopathic Association. Accessed June 11, 2026.
4. Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Functions and Structure of a Medical School: Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the MD Degree (see Element 7.8, Communication Skills). Association of American Medical Colleges and American Medical Association; 2023. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://lcme.org/publications/
5. Rosenbluth T. So your doctor is a DO. Does that matter? The New York Times. July 13, 2025. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/well/osteopath-doctor-health.html
6. MD vs. DO: what’s the difference? Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-vs-md
7. Osteopathic medicine: what kind of doctor is a D.O.? Mayo Clinic. Accessed June 11, 2026. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/osteopathic-medicine/faq-20058168
8. Bates BR, Mazer JP, Ledbetter AM, Norander S. The DO difference: an analysis of causal relationships affecting the degree-change debate. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2009;109(7):359-369.
9. Throwback: happy birthday, A.T. Still, MD, DO. American Osteopathic Association. August 2024. Accessed June 11, 2026.