I'm an MD student in norffolk, VA. I've always been interested in spinal manipulation though because I have had chronic back pain. Does anyone know if md students ever take electives in osteopathic manipulation? What do I do if I want to learn this at all? I'm guessing I'd have to either work with a D.O. and learn directly from them but I guess I'm really more interested in learning in a more structured format, possibly even over the summer. What textbook do you guys learn from so that maybe I can at least try and read a little on my own. Thanks for any suggestions.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100127 I don't know if you'll be able to get to this link, but try. Let me know...
I personaly would suggest the Pocket OMT Manual from Pikeville College (I'm not plugging this, because it's published by my school). It's a very student friendly book which was writen by students. It's written on a principle method not technique, because we think if you understand that principles then you should be able to apply the technique. AAO offers a lot of courses on manipulation or this summer Pikeville is supposed to help teach a crash course on muscle energy to University of Kentucky Med. Students, I'm sure that Dr. Stiles would be more then happy to let you sit in on the lectures.
Sweet, if you go the UK course, I'll get to whip another "MD in recovery" into shape boy! lol j/k. I'll probably be one of the people helping teach that course, so if you come that would be cool. Dr. Stiles is the best so I hope you get to come. It would be an honor.
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!
You cannot learn OMT by looking at a book (especially not a pocket reference), and you can't learn it in a summer. You will be doing your patients a disservice if you try to cram it in or do it in a half-a#$ed way. I'd say do a few summer classes, then do a residency that is either dually accredited or has DOs that actually use manipulation and learn from them, then see if you can find an OMT specialist to mentor you once you are done. In the meantime, go to conferences and practice as much as you can. I appreciate that you want to learn it, but for those of us who do it 4-8 hours a week for two years, then a one-month rotation, plus practing in between--it seems a bit simplistic to want to learn OMM in a summer or by looking at a book. You have to put your hands on people regularly, you have to learn to diagnose, and you have to have a good teacher. Best of luck to you. I think it is great that more and more MDs want to learn this skill--but keep in mind that DOs can find it a bit insulting if you suggest it can be learned on the fly. That would be a bit like reading a book on OBGYN, doing a summer class, then setting up shop delivering babies.
I will agree that you can't learn all the OMT you need in a couple of weeks. I do feel that you can learn a good amount of muscle energy in a couple of weeks. It's honestly easy to do if you learn the principles behind every treatment. The Pocket OMT Manual suggestion is just an idea for a supplemental item, keep in mind that this isn't a small little thing that has only a few treatments...like the ones a some schools have at convo, it's detailed treatments, that are written from the principles aspect...not technique. Keep in mind I'm not trying to start another OMT debate(we have enough of those already on this forum), I'm trying to help the original poster out, to enable them to learn some OMT.
The pocket OMT manual seems it would be best suited for DO students on rotations who need something to refer to when assesing a treatment plan for a patient. There are many books out there that will help you "learn" OMT, but as stated above, practicing on patients, lab partners and studying the techniques with someone who can demonstrate is the only way to ensure you are doing things correctly and will not injure someone.
Harvard Medical School is offering its first OMM course. The person in charge of the course is a clinical instructor in the PM&R department. I'll try and find the flyer if anyone is interested or you can try e-mailing Dr. Rosenberg for more information.
I'm not too sure what's goin on. I'm guessin the IT people are working something out with the system while everyones home for the weekend. The link should be workin soon...
I was curious so I went digging... http://cme.med.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/hmscme.cgi?SECTION=CLASSES&ID=00241286&SO=N
