How to answer “Why osteopathic medicine?” in a medical school interview

A strong answer to "why osteopathic medicine" shows that you know what a DO is, names the parts of osteopathic training that fit how you want to practice, and proves the fit with an experience you've had. Interviewers at osteopathic schools hear many answers that are about getting into any medical school, and they can tell the difference.

What the interviewer is assessing

• Self-reflection and growth
• Health systems and advocacy

Osteopathic schools want students who chose them for reasons of their own. The interviewer is checking that you understand the degree. They also listen for whether you can connect the osteopathic principles, such as treating the body as a unit and the link between structure and function, to a way of practicing you've actually seen.

A DO is a fully licensed physician who can train in any specialty and applies to the same residency programs as MD graduates. DO students also learn osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) on top of the standard curriculum. OMT is a set of hands-on techniques for diagnosing and treating the musculoskeletal system.

Schools that grant the DO degree exist only in the US, so this is a US question, though Canadian applicants to US schools get it too. It appears in nearly every DO school panel interview, and many MMIs put a version of it in a personal station.

How to structure your answer

1. Open with one sentence that says what draws you to osteopathic medicine in particular.
2. Show that you know what the degree is: full practice rights, the same residencies as MD graduates and training in OMT.
3. Describe the experience that introduced you to it, such as shadowing a DO, being treated with OMT, or working in a practice where a DO saw patients.
4. Connect one or two osteopathic principles to how you want to practice, with a moment from that experience that shows the principle at work.
5. If you also applied to MD programs, say so plainly, and explain why osteopathic training still fits you.
6. Close with what you intend to do with the training.

Shadow a DO before you interview if you possibly can, and read the school's mission statement, because many osteopathic schools state a commitment to primary care, rural communities or underserved populations. Keep the philosophy to a sentence or two. The experience carries the answer, and ninety seconds to two minutes is enough.

Common mistakes

• Calling osteopathic medicine "holistic" without saying what that looks like in a clinic sounds like a line taken from a brochure.
• Saying you chose the DO path because your grades or MCAT score made MD programs unlikely tells the school it is your second choice.
• Getting the facts wrong, such as suggesting DOs can't specialize or can't match to the same residencies, shows you didn't look into the profession you're applying to.
• Promising to use OMT every day when you've never seen it performed invites a follow-up you can't answer.
• Criticizing allopathic medicine to praise osteopathic medicine draws a line that practicing DOs and MDs don't draw between themselves.

Follow-up questions to prepare for

• Did you also apply to allopathic programs, and how would you choose between an MD and a DO acceptance?
• What is your understanding of osteopathic manipulative treatment, and have you seen it used?
• Which osteopathic principle matters most to you, and why?
• How would you respond to a patient who asks whether a DO is a real doctor?
• What do you know about how osteopathic graduates match into residency?