I think I can relate with you about the chronic back pain, and I wish you the best in your pursuits. You'll quickly learn that Osteopathic Manipulation Therapy (OMT) is a great asset, even if you know just the basics. It's not only useful for common complaints, like headaches, low back pain, but tons and tons of other things.
Well, I think books are great for learning the philosophy of osteopathic medicine and the science and mechanics behind OMT. However, I think most people would agree that you can't learn to effectively treat with OMT by simply reading a book. "Foundations for Osteopathic Meidicine" is considered the Bible for OMT and osteopathic medicine, but it's way too big and complicated. I know lots of DO students who like a review book by Saverese ("OMT Review"???) Saverese's book is fairly simply and concise. The pocket OMT book is great...if you've learned OMT before, kind of know what you're doing, but need a quick reference. Again, it would be dang tough to learn to treat a patient with manipulation by simply reading a book and not learning from someone firsthand.
As for learning to use OMT, I highly recommend finding someone who uses OMT and knows what they're doing. With that in mind, I'd suggest shadowing a DO in the community who regularly uses OMT or (better yet) specializes in it. Also, a new DO school opened in Virginia this year (affiliated with V-Tech), and you could probably hook up with an OMT club on campus. Students in OMT clubs are probably your best bet. They're always anxious to practice on others and especially excited to teach others about OMT.
Quite a few hospitals throughout the country are dually accredated (MD and DO). You can contact the AOA or goto their website for more info. Many of them offer OMT training to rotating students and residents. Some residencies encourage DO's to teach OMT to their interested MD counterparts. Anyway, I hope some of this stuff helps. Best of luck with in your endeavors!
