As a student at VCOM I had to chime in. I respect your opinion and you are exactly right, D.O.s aren't M.D.s But D.O's are physicians. I'm not sure what you mean by "non DO fields" , as there are no such thing. D.Os have been able to practice in any medical specialty and it has been that way for over 50 years, although some fields are more competitive for D.O.s to get into. The LCME accredits MD schools but starting last year residencies for D.O.s and M.D.s are accredited by the same organization, the ACGME. So after Medical School the training is the same, and I think anybody that is familiar with medicine knows it is in residency where one truly learns how to practice. The only difference in training is the extra training D.O.s get in medical school with Osteopathic Manipulation. Also, keep in mind that most of the residencies over at Carilion are either dual M.D. / D.O residencies or are at the current time, only D.O residencies. Carilion has had D.Os there rotating, participating in residencies and also practicing there for about 11 years. For instance the NeuroSurgery residency over there has had only osteopathic physicians in it, although again that will change this year and M.D.s will be able to apply. The idea that Osteopathic medicine was founded on rejection of conventional medical practices is somewhat true, but the founder of Osteopathic medicine was an M.D. keep in mind. Today, nearly all D.O.s use osteopathic medicine only as an adjunct to everything else, and most future D.O.s such as myself use it barley at all. So to just exclude VCOM as a medical school of Virginia is pretty ignorant. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but not anymore.