Alas! We have our first anti-DO "I'm better than you" member of the club. Welcome. You're knowledge is lacking.
•••quote:••• It's definately not science. And explain to me exactly how emphysema & Parkinson's are treated by this?
••••I wont go into depth, but the science to most of the muscular aspects of OMM revolves around well documented muscle spindle (flower spray, nuclear chain) and golgi tendon receptors and their relaxation or stimulation. It's basic muscle/nerve physiology. Read up on it. Parkinson's is treated with various muscle energy, counterstrain, FPR, etc techniques to release hypertonic muscles and hence provide relief from involuntary, sometimes spastic movements. It's not a cure, but an improved quality of life. NYCOM has one of the larger Parkinson's research centers in the country. Dr. E. Fazzini, a neurology professor at NYCOM, and head of Parkinsons research at NYCOM, and at NYU, is a DO. He sees more Parkinson's patients than any other doctor in the world, including Michael J Fox supposedly. Dont know how much he uses OMM himself, but I know many of the docs under him use it.
Emphysema can be aided with the help of techniques to decrease the A/P size of the chest. Again, muscle energy can be used to relax hypertonic inhalation muscles. Once the ribs are brought out of their exhalation restrictions, the person has an easier time getting rid of air. Again, not a cure, but patients do see greater expiratory volumes and hence better blood gases.
•••quote:••• The OCP mechanism of action is pretty straight forward. No debate I've ever heard
••••No, actually, there is some debate out there as to the actual mechanism by which the pill avoids pregnancy. A recent examples of debate: DeCook JL, McIlhaney J, et al. Hormonal Contraceptives: Are they Abortifacients? (Sparta, MI: Frontlines Publ., 1998). You explain to me your theory on it's efficacy and I'll give you another.
•••quote:••• This is a pretty broad statement as PT has evolved from a synthesis of ,nursing,anatomy, physiology, orthopedic surgery, plastic surgery, gerentology, and a number of other fields
••••Yes, it may be broad, but your statement is even broader! My point was that PTs use many of the same techniques that DOs use, which DOs created, but PT is accepted by the medical community as "mainstream" and OMM is not.
•••quote:••• IMO lack of anatomic knowledge and understanding of resultant pathophysiology is endemic to both DO & MD practictioners that do not get to visualize & palpate these structures directly. This would pretty much include all non-surgeons. ••••Wrong again. I guarantee you, the extra 200-300 hours of class time a DO student receives in those very concepts will enable him or her to avoid this epidemic. I guarantee you, walk up to a second year MD student and ask him/her how many articulations are on a rib, or what direction does the spinous process of T10 face? Not too many would know. I'd put money that 3 out of 4 DO students would.
•••quote:••• In reality, many osteopathic schools struggle to provide adequate preclinical & clinical exposure for their students as compared to their allopathic peers.This is not to say that you can't go this route & end up an excellent doctor, but I can't see how you can look @ the oppurtunities offered to the two groups and equate them ••••Are you kidding me?? This is the most absurd of your ill-informed statements. I will be doing rotations in third and fourth year right next to MD students from various NY schools. As far as preclinical education, how many ways can you teach biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology? We all stare at Netters and sleep on Robbins. We're both taught by some MDs, PhDs, DOs or the like. We take your boards and do just as well on them. Opportunities may not be equal for a Harvard grad and a DO grad (although, NYCOM did send 3 grads to Harvard this year), but in most areas a DO can do anything and go anywhere. Research may be more pronounced at MD schools, but most DOs go into medicine for the love of patient contact, not to sit in a lab. Different strokes for different folks. If you don't understand this, I wouldnt want you as my doctor.
The defense rests. In all honesty, I assume you are a great physician, but one who hasnt yet opened your eyes or ears. Please go back to staring at the letters after your name, just like some schlep from some school in the Bahamas does.