what does d.o. mean after a doctors name
- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) is a professional doctoral degree for physicians and surgeons offered by medical schools in the United States. A D.O. degree graduate may become licensed as an osteopathic physician, having equivalent rights, privileges, and responsibilities as a physician who has earned the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree. D.O. physicians are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery in sixty five countries, and all fifty states in the US.