D.O. positive press makes it to CNN!

[WishUponAStar]

Check out this article I stumbled across while taking a break from reading about Cell Adhesion.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/09/21/mountain.doctors.ap/index.html

It is about a Harvard woman who went back to practice in Kentucky, and it has some very encouraging references to the folks at Pikesville.

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[apple638]

thanks for the article...how are things going for you at PCOM?

 

[Dr JPH]

Yeah WISH...how ARE things going?

 

[WishUponAStar]

WELL Josh,

They're going better than my ping pong skill.

 

[droliver]

I agree with a point touched upon in the article: Why did she go to Harvard Medical School to do Family Practice? Besides the economic insanity of it, that's an environment geared towards tertiary medicine and academic careers. She could have gone to two state allopathic schools nearby, prob. on full scholarship if she'd declared an interest in rural medicine (PCOM would not have been around @ the time of her schooling I don't think, which might have been even a better fit for her goals)

 

[Dr JPH]

Originally posted by droliver
(PCOM would not have been around @ the time of her schooling I don't think, which might have been even a better fit for her goals)

I think you meant PCSOM


Anyway, I somewhat agree with what you say about going to Harvard to do FP. But, people chose different paths for different reasons.

Harvard probably graduates some pretty damn good Family Docs...some damn good Neurosurgeons as well I imagine.

But, this is not to say that any other medical school, MD or DO, cannot have this same claim.

Go to the school that best fits you. I don't think you should chose a school based on what you want to do in life. If you want a certain specialty, you can get there from just about anywhere.

I do like the fact that when people look back, many see the DO route as one that deserved more consideration.



And Wish...you teach me to be a better pool player, and I will help you with that ping pong issue of yours.

 

[WishUponAStar]

DrOllie,

I'm not so interested in the Harvard woman. I thought it was cool to see Pikesville in a CNN article. Not only were they in a CNN article, but they actually portrayed the school as a MEDICAL SCHOOL. Moreover, they impressed upon the reader that Pikesville's establishment is serving a real need in the community and that D.O.'s from Pikesville are making a difference.

I love this quote.

"The Pikeville medical school, established in 1996 to help overcome the doctor shortage, has graduated 116 doctors. Nearly all plan to begin practices in underserved areas when they finish the three-year residency program, Strosnider said. "

You notice that they said the author said they graduated 116 doctors - Not D.O.'s. For once I see an article where there is no emphasis placed on the letters associated with the degree. This author didn't distinguish M.D. from D.O. Heck, Pikesville is in an article about a Harvard grad. I hope CNN keeps it coming.

 

[Table for Two]

Originally posted by droliver
....Why did she go to Harvard Medical School to do Family Practice?....

Regardless of why this Harvard grad did it, it ends up setting a good example for the elitists who place themselves in a limitless pursuit of self gratification over compassion. Maybe it's time to put the heart back into medicine.

And for anyone to point out that she should have gone elsewhere displays a narrow mindedness to a degree that reveals, that in their way of thinking, an institution should not be pluralistic in their approach to medicine. Something that denies the very basis of what medicine was founded upon.

 

[droliver]

table for two,

obviously you've never spent time @ Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women's Hospital, or MGH if you're going to argue that it is an environment that is ideal for learning skills to bring back to Pikeville,KY. The special value in a place like that, or Hopkins, or Mayo is that is a super-tertiary center for diseases and some technology you won't see often elsewhere, in higher volume (it's why the fellowships @ these places are usually better then the residencies). Clearly you can get a good education in some of the primary care fields being exposed to some of the eminent physicians there, but you don't require all the bells & whistles you get there. With the cost of tuition, housing, & loans I would expect there to be more then $200,000+ difference in the cost of her education and b/w one of the two pretty good medical schools & FP programs @ Lexington & Louisville. Its kind of like training to cook in France to come back & work @ Outback Steakhouse

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by JPHazelton

And Wish...you teach me to be a better pool player, and I will help you with that ping pong issue of yours.

ping pong issue??? I'm sorry, I just get "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" images.... (if anyone even knows what I'm talking about...!)

 

[gas-x]

I'm not sure why people are discussing the lady's decision regarding harvard. if you got into harvard vs. pikesville, where the hell do you think you would go? i know i'll be in boston living it up, regardless what specialty i'm going into!

 

[Table for Two]

Dr. Oliver:

The issue here isn't the suitability with one institution over another. The issue is where are grads collectively gravitating to, what are the motives of such, and where are needs not being met.

If we have a disappropriate number of docs going where the money/prestige is then it's useless to distinguish the appropriateness of whether one school should put out any FP's vs. other specialties.

 

[Diane L. Evans]

Thank you Wishuponastar for the article reference. As you will see when you graduate and become part of the "rat race" a small community can be more if not as challenging in terms of the pathology one will see and medical treatment options. I think she did the right thing and I commend her decision.

 

[Neurogirl]

Gas-X,

It might surprise you to learn that some people do in fact choose their medical school based on factors other than percieved prestige. I personally know two people who turned down Ivy League offers to attend "close to home", inexpensive osteopathic schools. One had an offer from Emory and the other from good old Haaaaarvard. Neither has ever regretted their decision.

 

[kirkdo]

Practicing in a rural area has many advantages including financial ones. You also get to do many procedures that urban Family Docs may not get to do.

 

[AthensfromCols]

I hate to be picky here, but the town is PIKEVILLE, not PIKESVILLE.

 

[Street Philosopher]

Originally posted by droliver
Its kind of like training to cook in France to come back & work @ Outback Steakhouse

HEY! Customers at Outback deserve the best steaks possible!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Originally posted by Neurogirl

I personally know two people who turned down Ivy League offers to attend "close to home", inexpensive osteopathic schools.

I was just curious about which DO schools are inexpensive? Or was that just meant to be relative to the Ivy League schools? Thanks! - dh