OMM after boards?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Laddertomed

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2016
Messages
91
Reaction score
41
How heavily do people still use/study OMM after boards and outside of an OMM dedicated rotation?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Probably like 3 people per class will ever use it again when they don't have a proverbial gun to their head.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
I'm on IM right now and had a guy with severe low back pain due to muscle strain. I felt bad for him so I offered to do paraspinal bowstringing. He was really happy with it.

I never planned on using OMM outside of lab but I felt this situation warranted it
 
^I've found on rotations that easy massage-like stuff helps patients and you can frame it as a 'treatment'. I've gotten rave reviews from patients about my "patient care" that shows up on evals. Keep it basic but it can help
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Attendings are super impressed when I do "the massage thing." Aiming for programs that dont have OMM as a requirement, but I will definitely use it as a treatment when needed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I use it on close family and friends occasionally. That's about it.
 
Sometimes on rotations I just get a sense of "man, that patient would benefit from a manipulation for their MSK problem," so I do it. I definitely don't look for opportunities to use it anymore, just whenever it strikes me as a good thing to do.
 
I feel like some people really enjoy doing it and are good at it. I am generally not so I don't.
 
Only use it a couple times a month in clinic. Main places are with neck/headache pain, upper trap, and piriformis. Using ME, CS, and stretching mainly. Use the palpatory techniques a bit more often with physical exams, but its not like I'm diagnosing somatic dysfunction beyond "x-muscle/muscle group hypertonic".

I feel like I've forgotten everything every once and a while, then I talk to MD coresidents about some basic testing and MSK diagnoses, and realize my education in the area was far more in depth even after barely reinforcing it since. Was talking to an internist, intern, and other resident the other day about a specific orthopedic diagnosis, and they barely had any idea about it. I was like, "yeah, remember from med school?" and they just stared at me like I was speaking in tongues.
 
I'm a PGY3 EM resident - I never used it on rotations, have yet to use it in residency and I do not plan to in the future. Grit your teeth and get through it and then never think about it again. It is the appendix of your medical school education.
 
Top