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The 2026-2027 DO School Specific Threads are now available in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 discussions are now available in the prior year discussions forum.
Help me understand OMM
Started by tinyhandsbob
DiGiovana or Nicholas textbooks are what many schools use
Obtain Saverese OMT Review.
Stop trying to "understand," it.
Stop trying to "understand," it.
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A
AnatomyGrey12
Agreed. This is the first step to true enlightenment grasshopper.
9
907914
Is this a “do it to get through it” sort of thing?
A
AnatomyGrey12
Yes.
Just go to class and lab, then fake it till you make it. There's no understanding it while you're not actually doing it. Although I just discovered this website called YouTube that has some great videos.
Idk, I think it's pretty interesting. It's not touted to be a cure all (atleast not like Chiropractic) but it has its place.
A
AnatomyGrey12
Oh just you wait
Savarese just dropped a new edition
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Suspend your disbelief and try to learn something useful.
Consider it the tax on your screwing up your GPA and/or MCAT
Some parts of OMM like muscle energy, hvla, ect... actually do work and are real. I'll admit most of everything else is BS though.
A
AnatomyGrey12
The data is poor even for these methods.
What he said. I'm a PGY2 DO. Have never and will never use OMM on actual patients. Roll your eyes through med school and then never think about it again.
How much time do DOs spend on OMM specific studying during a typical med school week? Same or less than for a regular class?
I study for it right before the test. Literally the day before for about 2 or 3 hours. OMM is not that hard.
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AnatomyGrey12
Zero minutes. If it's a test week then for 2 hours the night before.
9
993444
How do schools even test you on OMM? Is it on a real person...... another examinee perhaps? Now I'm worried lol.
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AnatomyGrey12
Written exams and practicals where you treat your partner with the technique they tell you to do.
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9
993444
Ever had a situation where someone injured their partner?
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AnatomyGrey12
How would someone get injured?
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993444
Very poorly executed OMM technique?
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AnatomyGrey12
No.
I have seen someone get injured, but it wasn't during a practical. I won't get into specifics but a person who should have known better hurt someone while preparing for a practical. Fortunately, it wasn't a major injury.
Even poorly executed OMM can't really injure someone that bad. The worst that could happen is you get a mild sore body for a couple day. You have to really try to hurt somebody. You don't do brisk movement in OMM.
Is OMM "indicated" often for the COMLEX 2 PE? Like I know you have to "see patients" but do they expect you to use it a considerable amount in the exam?
Our clinical skills course director said you can't get an A in our Standardized patient encounters if we don't use OMM in our physical exams and SOAP notes, and we barely even have enough time to do everything else. I settled for the B. I surely hope they don't expect lots of OMM for the PE.
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993444
What about OMM during M3 clerkships?
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AnatomyGrey12
We were told that about 1/3 patients on PE will have some sort of OMM indication. Apparently they are pretty blatant with their chief complaint if it's an "OMM" patient.
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AnatomyGrey12
We have an OMM rotation, one of the very few schools that does, and other than that it's minimal.
Yep, 4 encounters with omm. Technically you could do it for more but it's not worth the time. And for the most part it's pretty clear which cases to do it on.
Nicholas Atlas would be a pretty good demonstration of "what" they'll be doing in lab. Savarese is a good general guide. DiGiovanna is far too much text, but I suppose would be the most appropriate for "understanding" OMM, now why you would want to necessarily spend time on that, especially before med school, is beyond me.
3-4 encounters. They make it obvious. Those were probably the easiest ones. You can use any technique you want, and something quick like BLT, MFR, or muscle energy is ideal.
Cervical hvla...
I agree. HVLA is def not ineffective for low back pain. Literature shows it is at least as effective as PT for mechanical low back pain but works faster than PT. It has its place. If I have mechanical low back pain without any red flags Im getting HVLA and soft tissue/muscle energy before I see an ortho. I don't want injections/opioids/muscle relaxers if I don't need it.
D
deleted1005514
Is your OMM rotation just helping out in the OMM lab at your school, or clinical OMM?
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AnatomyGrey12
Clinical OMM, although we are required to go to the weekly OMM lab too.
