Mr. Kellyanne Conway, George Conway, had an online meltdown Saturday morning when he learned that the White House physician is not a Doctor of Medicine, but is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Conway was reacting to a letter by Sean Conley released late Friday night that Wuhan coronavirus testing and quarantine is not indicated for President Trump even though he had recent contact with two individuals who later tested positive for the virus. (Note: Trump announced Saturday that he had been tested and was awaiting results.)
Conway’s meltdown began, “So the White House physician isn’t an M.D. Good Lord. Someone sneeze on me now and just get it over with.” Being sneezed on by a carrier is one way to catch the virus.
George Conway, file screen image.
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine explanation via Wikipedia (excerpt):
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O.) is a professional doctoral degree for physicians and surgeons offered by medical schools in the United States. A DO graduate may become licensed as an osteopathic physician, having equivalent rights, privileges, and responsibilities as a physician who has earned the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.[1] DO physicians are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery in 85 countries,[2] [3]and in all 50 US states. They constitute 11% of all US physicians. As of 2018, there were more than 145,000 osteopathic medical physicians and osteopathic medical students in the United States.[4]
DO degrees are offered in the United States at 36 medical schools, at 57 locations compared to MD degrees offered at 171 schools.[5][6][7] Since 2007, total DO student enrollment has been increasing yearly. In 2015, more than 20% of all medical school enrollment in the US comprised DO students.[8][9] The curricula at osteopathic medical schools are similar to those at MD-granting medical schools, which focus the first two years on the biomedical and clinical sciences, then two years on core clinical training in the clinical specialties.[10]
Upon completing medical school, a DO graduate may enter an internship or residency training program, which may be followed by fellowship training.[10] DO graduates attend the same graduate medical education programs as their MD counterparts.
One notable difference between DO and MD training is that DOs in training spend 300–500 hours studying techniques for hands-on manipulation of the human musculoskeletal system[1][11].
Knowing this, now read George Conway:
So the White House physician isn’t an M.D. Good Lord. Someone sneeze on me now and just get it over with. https://t.co/owiJn0Iv1t pic.twitter.com/647BUJ25H4
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 14, 2020
So the White House physician isn’t an M.D. Good Lord. Someone sneeze on me now and just get it over with.
Betcha the first patient, who fancies people with the best degrees (until they tell him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about), doesn’t know, and doesn’t know what a DO is.
Since the 1920s until 2018, and for virtually all of the rest of the history of the presidency, the White House physician has held a Doctor of Medicine degree.
President Obama’s personal physician not only was an an MD, but had an M.P.H. from—get this—the Johns Hopkins *Bloomberg* School of Public Health, which happens to be the best graduate school of public health in the country (Harvard’s being no. 2).
There’s indeed nothing wrong being a DO, but should *this* job be held by one? Show me a top 25, or even a top 50, university that offers an DO instead of an MD. Is there a single one? In the top 100 there’s Michigan State, but I think that’s it.
This from an MCAT test prep site: If you can’t get into med school, be an osteopath.
Given the shortage of MDs, I’m perfectly happy that there’s some alternative degree that gives people the opportunity to provide necessary medical services to the public. But that doesn’t mean that the White House physician shouldn’t be a top MD.
Surprisingly, a CBS News reporter, Grace Segers, challenged hero of the Resistance George Conway, “D.O. is an equivalent degree to an M.D. Same amount of schooling, same expertise.”
D.O. is an equivalent degree to an M.D. Same amount of schooling, same expertise.
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) March 14, 2020
Trump Derangement Syndrome is heading into dangerous territory as those in prominent positions who are consumed with rabid hatred of President Trump ratchet up their insane rhetoric such that they likely will provoke a violent reaction from members of the Resistance already on edge over the Wuhan coronavirus. For the good of the nation people like George Conway need to tone it down. Criticize President Trump all you want, but please do so responsibly.
