Doctor of osteopathic medicine degree still faces recognition challenges in the United States: Suggested ways to improve awareness

doi:10.5662/wjm.118145

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World Journal of Methodology

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2222-0682

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Opinion Review

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Methodol. Sep 20, 2026; 16(3): 118145
Published online Sep 20, 2026. doi: 10.5662/wjm.118145

Doctor of osteopathic medicine degree still faces recognition challenges in the United States: Suggested ways to improve awareness

Reicelle Garcia, Kevan English

Reicelle Garcia, Department of Internal Medicine, Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy, Omaha, NE 68124, United States

Kevan English, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, United States

Co-first authors: Reicelle Garcia and Kevan English.

Author contributions: Garcia R and English K wrote the original draft, contributed to conceptualization, and writing, have made crucial and indispensable contributions towards the completion of the project and thus qualified as the co-first authors of the paper; English K reviewed and edited the article; all authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Corresponding author: Kevan English, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 42 Emile Street, Omaha, NE 68198, United States. keenglish@unmc.edu

Received: December 25, 2025
Revised: January 19, 2026
Accepted: February 9, 2026
Published online: September 20, 2026
Processing time: 198 Days and 3.6 Hours

Abstract

Approximately one-quarter of United States medical students train at osteopathic medical schools, which confer the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree upon graduation. That number has risen exponentially over the past several years, with the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine reporting a 65.7% increase in total enrollment since 2013. This increase is at least partly due to the opening of more DO-granting medical schools. However, despite the growing number of osteopathic physicians entering the United States workforce, the degree remains under recognized by patients, nurses, and ancillary staff within hospital systems across the country. Surprisingly, a portion of DO physicians themselves contribute to this under recognition through degree misrepresentation with the Doctor of Medicine label. These physicians have also been historically marginalized from certain competitive specialties and leadership positions, which play a role in under recognition. We suggest proper degree identification and the promotion of more DOs into leadership roles to ultimately improve awareness. Some perceptual challenges and specific barriers to career advancement persist, particularly in competitive specialties, and the continued under recognition despite more osteopathic physicians than ever in the workforce may further perpetuate biases that limit opportunities for prominent leadership roles.

Keywords: Doctor of osteopathic medicine; Association of colleges of osteopathic medicine; Doctor of medicine; Professional identity; Medical leadership; Program director; Health systems

Core Tip: Despite the growing number of osteopathic physicians within the United States workforce, the degree remains under recognized compared to the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. This is partly due to degree misrepresentation and the lack of osteopathic physicians in prominent leadership positions within the United States healthcare system compared to their MD counterparts. Addressing these factors may ultimately improve awareness.