Kathryn Lerche Do gives a presentation about the difference between an MD and a DO at the Peter White Public Library on Weds. Dr. Lerche is a primary care physician at UPHS - Marquette Family Medicine. (Journal photo by Amy Grigas)

By AMY GRIGAS

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Which primary care physician is the correct match for me? That is a question that weighs down on a lot of people. Trying to pick a primary care provider isn’t always an easy task and can be stressful. When looking for a provider you will see MD or DO listed at the end of their name. A question that often comes up is what is the difference between an MD and a DO?

MD stands for Doctor of Medicine while DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. MDs and DOs are both licensed physicians who attend medical school with a scientific foundation. The difference is MD is Allopathic and DO is Osteopathic.

“As an osteopathic physician, I believe in treating the whole patient–not just the symptoms … This includes a strong provider-patient relationship in order to make a decision together about treatments and testing,” said Kathryn Lerche, DO at UPHS Marquette Family Medicine.

During this month’s “Meet the Physician” session held at the Peter White Public Library Dr. Lerche explained the question that many people have: What is the difference between and MD and a DO?

In order to become an MD or a DO there are basic steps one must take.

“All medical schools require a bachelor’s degree or at least four years of prerequisite work that’s going to be pretty much identical between an MD and a DO. A lot of basic sciences, chemistry, etc. Medical school entrance exams which are identical between the two schools,” according to Dr. Lerche.

She earned her Bachelor of Science at Michigan Tech before completing medical school at Michigan State’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her residency with the UPHS-Marquette Family Residency Program and is now a full time DO at UPHS Marquette Family Medicine.

Some medical schools specialize in one or the other, either the College of Osteopathic Medicine or The College of Human Medicine. Michigan State is a college that actually offers both medical schools for prospective students to choose from.

“To kind of confuse the picture even more recently in the last 5-10 years there’s been a good merging of the training. So actually at MSU we took the same classes for those two years of medical school as the MD students because basic science is basic science no matter how you want to practice,” said Dr. Lerche.

She explained that there used to be more DO residency programs and MD residency programs. Programs have started to change and merge together over the years so nowadays you can find an MD resident shadowing a DO.

“MDs during their residency in Marquette can shadow a DO and see the other side and what a DO does compared to the traditional way MDs practice,” said Dr. Lerche.

This brings us back to the question of what is the difference. DOs have about 1000 additional hours of training in the medical system. They start from the very beginning learning the different muscles and practice on each other where they are located. According to Dr. Lerche the body does have the ability to self regulate and to heal so anytime DOs make a medical decision they do keep that in mind.

“Honestly today there is not a ton of differences. As I mentioned we have very similar training and we take the same classes. They require the same exams and regulatory body. But the big thing that kind of sets us apart is right from the beginning of medical school they teach osteopathic positions that treat the whole person, treat the whole body, the body is connected as one human that functions together, we focus a lot on structure,” said Dr. Lerche.

Amy Grigas can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 243. Her email address is agrigas@miningjournal.net.