Let’s take a closer look and discuss your options.
What is a Doctor of Allopathic Medicine?
A Doctor of Allopathic Medicine (MD) is also a fully licensed physician in all 50 states who can practice in all areas of medicine and can prescribe medicine.
Currently, the majority of practicing physicians in the US are MDs, but the osteopathic medical profession is growing exponentially.
This is the classical form of medicine that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases. MDs tend to focus on the specific symptoms of the disease to guide treatment.
While a patient’s family history and lifestyle choices are still important for diagnosis in MD training, more of the focus is on what is actually causing discomfort or illness in a patient.
What is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine?
A Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), is a fully licensed physician in all 50 states who can practice in all areas of medicine and prescribe medicine.
Their training and education emphasize a whole-person approach to treatment and care, meaning they focus on prevention by gaining a deeper understanding of your lifestyle and environment rather than just the symptoms.
The whole-person approach focuses on prevention and tuning your lifestyle to focus on mind, body, and spirit. Osteopathic schools pride themselves in looking beyond the symptoms of illness and disease and guide care toward increasing your body’s natural tendency toward self-healing.
DOs use osteopathic manipulative treatment or “their hands” to treat muscle pain and to complement medical and surgical care.
Osteopathic medicine regards the body as an integrated whole. They focus specifically on primary care and internal medicine by using the following to better inform medical treatment. The patient’s:
- Lifestyle
- Family
- Unique concerns
Matched Health Goals
These different schools of medical practice were farther apart in training and philosophy during the inception of osteopathic medicine after the civil war.
Today, trainings are closer in line with each other, as both schools of medicine are expected to have knowledge of osteopathic and allopathic medicine.
Regardless of the type of medical provider you choose to see, it is important to seek out those that truly listen to you and match well with your health goals.
Each type of provider is similarly educated and certified but differ based on training and philosophy of patient care. Spine Team Texas recognizes it’s important to have options for our patients to choose from, depending on their preferences.
Spine Team Texas’s team of providers ranges from spine fellowship-trained physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians to spine surgeons—including both MDs and DOs.
Along with skilled physician assistants and spine-focused physical therapists, the expertise and experience of the entire team provide the best possible care.
We Can Help!
If you’re experiencing spine pain, request an appointment with us. We’ll help you evaluate all treatment options and find the best provider, whether it’s a DO or MD, to work with you through your treatment process.
