Is it really "alternative"??

I am very interested in hearing anybody's thoughts on nursing in a D.O. hospital. I'm attracted to the philosophy of osteopathic medicine, as it claims to support the body's natural ability to heal, uses non-pharm methods along with pharm, looks at the patient as a whole rather than system by system, etc. I'm wondering if, in practice in a hospital setting, this is the case. Is there really a difference in overall philosophy and/or culture? Or even if you have worked with a D.O. in a "regular" hospital setting... did he/she go about care in a different way than an M.D.? I would greatly appreciate your responses!
I've never heard of a D.O. hospital? The philosophy between the two (MD/DO) is different, I haven't really seen a big difference in practice though.

I have noticed, and maybe it's coincidence, that D.O.'s seem to be more collaborative and respectful of nurses than their non D.O. counterparts. And just generally nicer people.

D.O. Hospital?

I love the philosophy of the DO's ... However, in practice, they seem to be indistinguishable from the MD's My Rheumatologist is a DO and is well respected in our city. He has a huge practice and is board certified in internal med as well as rheum. No difference in his practice and the MD I went to before.Maybe in an entire hospital there would be a return to the "old ways" with more of a natural flare and holistic approach..I know they also used to incorporate adjustment and manipulationBut the guys I have worked with, not so much...

Thank you for your comments! Keep 'em coming! I guess I assumed most large cities would have a D.O. hospital or perhaps a larger D.O.-run facility, but I can see by the question marks that this is not the case. In Indianapolis where I live, there is a D.O. hospital called Westview.

We used to have an Osteopathic hospital in the south Chicago suburbs, Olympia Fields Osteopathic. I was in high school at the time, so I never worked there. My mom's friend did. I'll try to find out from her if it was any better, but I don't think I recall hearing that it really was any different from any other hospital. It has since been bought by another hospital network and hasn't been Osteopathic for many years.Also, a lot of the physicians that admitted there weren't D.O.'s, so I don't know that you'd see a huge difference. They were the same docs that admitted at any other area hospital.

In my experience, DOs and MDs do practice in almost identical ways. Classical osteopathy ends up being that hobby that they had in college. There are certainly exceptions but most DOs I know don't do any spinal manipulation or bodywork. The ones that focus on those aspects of osteopathy tend to work in private practice, not in the hospital.

Where in Indianapolis is this hospital located? I used to work at Riley in 2000-2002. I loved Indy. I had to move back to Florida-but miss you guys.Go COLTS!

I've never heard of a DO hospital before.In my personal experience, the DOs and the MDs were indistinguishable, other than the letters on their name badge.

My PCP is A DO I have noticed a difference in the way he practices. He is much more hands on and orders less tests (he only orders a test if it will change the course of tx rather than based on law suit prevention) I find him very refreshing.

I think that if there is a difference in philosophy and care, it would be due to the individual, rather than the training. I imagine that people who are naturally more "holistic-minded" would be more attracted to osteopathy school than traditional med school.

Whether it is true or not, I hear quite a few docs say that "those who could not get into medical school went to DO school." Harsh, but seems to be the tagline. Anyway, I can't tell the difference at the hospital. My kid's pediatrician is a DO, and although he is a nice man, I think he goes to the meds to fast.