A proposed medical school at the University of Louisiana in Monroe could offer an alternative path to a healthcare career.

Within two years, ULM could offer a doctor of osteopathy degree in conjunction with the New York Institute of Technology.

The Louisiana Board of Regents has approved a license for the New York school to operate a medical school on the ULM campus, but the schools must work out details of the partnership.

Osteopathy schools offer the same foundation in science and health as programs like the LSU medical schools in Shreveport and Monroe that offer MD degrees, said Dr. Jane Eggerstedt, vice dean of the Shreveport medical school.

Both types of medical schools require entrance exams, and applicants have at least a bachelor's degree. Doctors of osteopathy and medical doctors undergo three to seven years of additional training in residencies and fellowships after graduating from medical school.

The key difference is in the traditional approach each of the programs takes.

"The DO philosophy, and again, speaking from the MD side, they would say that they have a greater holistic approach, that they look at how the different systems work and intertwine with each other," Eggerstedt said.

DO graduates also tend to go into general medicine more. Fifty to 60 percent of doctors of osteopathy end up in general fields, compared with about 30 percent of MD graduates, according to Eggerstedt.

There are 33 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States. Six are publicly operated and the rest privately operated. This year, more than 27,000 students -- about 20 percent of all medical students nationwide -- attended a college of osteopathic medicine.

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Proposed Monroe medical school offers different approach to medicine - KTBS