Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
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in the United States
Andrew Taylor Still (founder)
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO)
Medicine · US Medical education
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Schools · Physicians
Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
AOA · AACOM · AAO · COMLEX
MD & DO Comparison
Specialty Colleges · AOA BOS
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O. or DO) is a professional doctoral degree for physicians and surgeons offered by medical schools in the United States. D.O. degree graduates may become licensed as an osteopathic physician, who has equivalent rights, privileges, and responsibilities as a physician who has earned the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree. D.O. physicians are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery in sixty five countries, and all fifty states in the US. D.O. physicians constitute seven percent of all U.S. physicians. In 2015, there were more than 96,000 osteopathic medical physicians in the United States.