What Makes Osteopathic Medicine Unique? - TUCOM
In the United States, there are only two types of medical schools – allopathic (grants M.D. degree) and osteopathic (grants D.O. degree). The Osteopathic profession is a minority profession and consists of approximately 16% of the practicing clinicians in our country. In the past, a majority of osteopathic physicians practiced primary care (family medicine, general internal medicine, and pediatrics) and tended to establish clinics in under served or rural areas. Although this is slowly changing today, many schools of osteopathic medicine still lead the nation in the development of primary care physicians. All schools of osteopathic medicine continue to embrace the basic tenets of Dr. Andrew Taylor Still and incorporate these concepts within the curriculum. All students in osteopathic medicine learn the traditional medicine curriculum plus develop competencies in osteopathic manipulative medicine, a form of manual medicine originally developed by Dr. Still and continuously enhanced by the profession. The philosophy of osteopathic medicine, first enunciated by Dr. Still in 1874, is still true today. Osteopathic medicine continues to emphasize preventative medicine, a holistic approach to patient care, and empowering the patient to strive toward health and not disease.
For additional information about osteopathic medicine, the following references are recommended:
Gevitz, Norman: The D.O.’s Osteopathic Medicine in America, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Second Edition, Baltimore 2004
Trowbridge, Carol Andrew Tayler Still: 1828; 1917, Thomas Jefferson University Press, Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, Missouri, 1991
Walter, Georgia Warner Osteopathic Medicine: Past and Present,: Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kirksville, Missouri, 1981.
Ward, Robert C. Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2002
The Philosophy of Osteopathic Medicine - TUCOM
Osteopathic medicine is a separate and distinct branch of medical practice that is based on a set of philosophic principles and stresses a comprehensive approach to the maintenance of health. The osteopathic medical education is unique in its emphasis on the neuromusculoskeletal system and its utility in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It is the unobstructed interrelationship of all the body’s systems by which we maintain health and disease is prevented. Founded in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, M.D. (1828-1917), osteopathic medicine makes use of the following principles that assist the osteopathic physician to look for health, and not simply treat a disease state:
• The human body is a dynamic unit of function.
• The human organism is self-regulating and self-healing.
• Structure (anatomy) and function (physiology) are reciprocally interrelated.
• The function of the musculoskeletal system goes beyond support and may be vital in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Dr. Still’s philosophy of health care and his world view resulted in the introduction of some revolutionary concepts for his time:
• The role of the physician is to seek the health of patients, not simply to treat disease or symptoms.
• The human organism continually strives toward health, and disease is a disruption of this process.
• Disease in any body system will affect the entire body.
• The work of the physician includes assisting the patient’s own body in fighting disease.
• All qualified individuals, regardless of race or sex, should be given the opportunity to become a physician. (His was the first medical school of any type to have an anti-discrimination policy, which it had from its beginning.)
