Which DO schools are known for teaching OMM?

[Moestar]

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Hi everyone!

Since every school has their own specialty, I just wanted to get an insider's prospective from you all on which schools are known for their emphasis on OMM. Although practicing OMM after graduation is the DO's own decision on how much of it they want to incorporate, but for those of you that have already graduated, or are planning on graduating do you have an idea of how much of OMM you will use personally??

Thanks a lot in advance for your input! 🙂

-Wend

 

[Krazykritter]

From what I've heard talking to students at other schools this is my take on it (in no specfic order):

DMU -- According to our faculty, we currently have the most hours of OMM of any school (can be a pro & con at the same time) & it is very well taught. Our new chair of the OMM dept is a great guy & will only improve the program.

PCOM -- Our faculty speak very well of the PCOM program & I believe they have some of the bigger names in the field are in Philly. Also, they had JP for a number of years so obviously....

KCOM -- Almost obligatory to mention the first DO school in the list. I don't really know a whole lot about their program, but when I interviewed there I was told that they spend a lot of hours in OMM too. OMM facilities there appeared a little outdated (when I was there), but what more do you need for lab than a table, I guess.

NSUCOM -- I'll throw NSU in on this list b/c they got Dr. Boesler from us. I haven't heard much currently about the program, but w/ the Boz teaching at Nova, the program is sure to be headed upwards. He's such an amazing technician & someone who is really enthusiatic about osteopathic medical education.

I admittedly do not know much about the schools out east like NYCOM & LECOM, but just wrote above the programs that came to mind. I would have included CCOM on the list, but have never seen any of their students around to discuss these types of things w/ them. If you are looking for solid education in OMM, your best bet is to stick w/ the older schools.

 

[Moestar]

Thanks so much Krazykritter!! That's really helpful!!

The reason I ask is because a Canadian osteopath that I know went to a recent conference, and she said that the American DOs sees the extent of manipulation being used by the Canadian trained osteopaths and wishes that the same thing was happening in the states.

I want to train as a DO in the states because they are exposed to both the medical field and the osteopathy, but I've heard from some people in the field that often DO graduates end up never using their OMM. So I thought that it would be really beneficial to attend a school that places a great emphasis on OMM! The Canadian schools strictly teach only OMM, but the only downside is that they are not considered doctors of osteopathy once they are done their training and are not authorized to administer lab tests etc.

I guess overall I'm just trying to evaluate which way to go!

Thanks again!! 🙂

 

[Boner]

From what I've heard talking to students at other schools this is my take on it (in no specfic order):

DMU -- According to our faculty, we currently have the most hours of OMM of any school (can be a pro & con at the same time) & it is very well taught. Our new chair of the OMM dept is a great guy & will only improve the program.

PCOM -- Our faculty speak very well of the PCOM program & I believe they have some of the bigger names in the field are in Philly. Also, they had JP for a number of years so obviously....

KCOM -- Almost obligatory to mention the first DO school in the list. I don't really know a whole lot about their program, but when I interviewed there I was told that they spend a lot of hours in OMM too. OMM facilities there appeared a little outdated (when I was there), but what more do you need for lab than a table, I guess.

I'll agree with Krazy on his shortlist. Also, KCOM is opening their new student center this summer, which is going to have a ridiculous OMM lab.

 

[Krazykritter]

Thanks so much Krazykritter!! That's really helpful!!

The reason I ask is because a Canadian osteopath that I know went to a recent conference, and she said that the American DOs sees the extent of manipulation being used by the Canadian trained osteopaths and wishes that the same thing was happening in the states.

I want to train as a DO in the states because they are exposed to both the medical field and the osteopathy, but I've heard from some people in the field that often DO graduates end up never using their OMM. So I thought that it would be really beneficial to attend a school that places a great emphasis on OMM! The Canadian schools strictly teach only OMM, but the only downside is that they are not considered doctors of osteopathy once they are done their training and are not authorized to administer lab tests etc.

I guess overall I'm just trying to evaluate which way to go!

Thanks again!! 🙂

The answer you will get in the states about the reason many DO's don't use OMM in their practice is one word; Time. It's kind of a bad excuse since it really doesn't take much time to address a couple of body areas related to the cheif complaint. Also, many people do not properly code (aka bill) for the treatments properly & therefore the reimbursement suffers.

Part of the other problem I foresee OMM having in the future is the current trend w/ insurance companies reimbursing for treatment modalities that are supported by evidence-based medicine (EBM). For example, insurance companies will only pay for CyberKnife treatment for certain types of cancer. Research & evidence backing OMM treatments is really going to have to step it up for reimbursement to be held at a decent rate, IMO.

 

[JonnyG]

Part of the other problem I foresee OMM having in the future is the current trend w/ insurance companies reimbursing for treatment modalities that are supported by evidence-based medicine (EBM). For example, insurance companies will only pay for CyberKnife treatment for certain types of cancer. Research & evidence backing OMM treatments is really going to have to step it up for reimbursement to be held at a decent rate, IMO.

This was one of the man topics at the OMM researchers meeting this year so hopefully it will be more aggressively researched. Also any of the original five schools would be known for teaching omm since they provided the professors for the newer schools and established their programs. pcom is considered light on omm compared to others, but that doesnt mean we dont teach it well. Also we borrowed for an undetermined amount of time (ie stole) one of the top researchers in the field from another one of the original 5. Which is only fair since alot of the new schools keep taking our professors. 😀 We should get intot he game of taking

 

[154175]

UNECOM also has an excellent program, according to DOs that have graduated from it. At least there's a lot of DOs that actually use OMM around here.

 

[Krazykritter]

UNECOM? I guess that's one I've never heard come up much in conversation before when discussing manipulative medicine.

I guess now everyone is just going to come & throw the name of their top choice school into the mix instead of having an intelligent conversation & answering the OP's question....

 

[HarveyCushing]

UNECOM? I guess that's one I've never heard come up much in conversation before when discussing manipulative medicine.

I guess now everyone is just going to come & throw the name of their top choice school into the mix instead of having an intelligent conversation & answering the OP's question....

Yeah I also have not heard much about UNECOM's OMM training. I believe they would probably fall inline with the majority of the programs that give a solid training.

 

[dcratamt]

We had an awesome curriculum at PCSOM when Dr. Stiles was teaching. He is a really good instructor and the concepts he taught along with the order that the different modalities were taught really got you up and going fast as far as manipulation is concerned. Your palpatory skills kept getting better and better starting with muscle energy first year and ending with cranial in the second year. There are some others not affiliated with PCSOM that can attest to his teaching methods too. Dr. Stiles was the visiting clinician at 9 different DO schools this year and was at 5 others last year. If i had to say which school is best now at OMM i am not sure. I'm not as familiar with west coast schools.......i know UNECOM has the nicest lab if that counts for anything. They also have good practicing DO's in the area but the actual OMM training is pretty standard.

 

[scpod]

I just wanted to get an insider's prospective from you all on which schools are known for their emphasis on OMM.

You get out of OMM what you put into it. To get good at it you need to spend more than an hour of class and two hours of lab a week on it. Any school will be able to give you what you need if you take a few extra hours a week and practice it. Most schools will have an OMM club taht can be helpful and, generally, professors love to see people in the lab practicing after hours. If you want even more experience, buy your own table and practice with your roommates or friends. You get out of OMM what you put into it-- regardless of your school.

 

[154175]

I guess now everyone is just going to come & throw the name of their top choice school into the mix instead of having an intelligent conversation & answering the OP's question....

UNE is not my top choice, and I was answering the question, using information that I've learned in my research. Thanks for personally attacking me.

 

[dcratamt]

You get out of OMM what you put into it. To get good at it you need to spend more than an hour of class and two hours of lab a week on it. Any school will be able to give you what you need if you take a few extra hours a week and practice it. Most schools will have an OMM club taht can be helpful and, generally, professors love to see people in the lab practicing after hours. If you want even more experience, buy your own table and practice with your roommates or friends. You get out of OMM what you put into it-- regardless of your school.

For the most part this is very true.

 

[Krazykritter]

A little sensitive aren't we?? I re-read what I posted & still don't think there was an insult towards anyone.

Hang around SDN a little longer & you will see that when there is a question like this, the vast majority of the time people come in & post the names of their top choice. It doesn't matter what the subject is, people always think that the school they want to go to is the best at everything.

Hell...I could tell you numerous things that I feel DMU could improve upon. I was just being honest about the quality of the Manipulative Medicine education we have here.

 

[Terpskins99]

Hi everyone!

Since every school has their own specialty, I just wanted to get an insider's prospective from you all on which schools are known for their emphasis on OMM. Although practicing OMM after graduation is the DO's own decision on how much of it they want to incorporate, but for those of you that have already graduated, or are planning on graduating do you have an idea of how much of OMM you will use personally??

Thanks a lot in advance for your input! 🙂

-Wend

I'm pretty sure every school has a significant portion of their curriculum devoted to OMM. It makes up over 1/5th of our licensing exam, so they pretty much have to.

A number of my classmates looking to go into primary care intend to use OMM regularly (several of them have looked into OMT/FP dual residencies). Honestly, I think it really depends on you when you get there. Some students look at OMT lab as being a hassle (admittedly, I was one of them throughout MS1 year... since all I thought about was when my next exam was and how I was going to find time to study for it). But a number of my classmates always stick around OMT lab an hour extra or so to perfect their techniques (not to mention staying active in UAAO club meetings). In my experience, OMT faculty and fellows are usually very receptive to students looking to work on their OMT.

 

[JonnyG]

I'm pretty sure every school has a significant portion of their curriculum devoted to OMM. It makes up over 1/5th of our licensing exam, so they pretty much have to.
.

I always hear this quote of 1/5 of the comlex. No one i know had 20% omm in fact there was very little omm on the entire exam. Not that im complaining

 

[Krazykritter]

Dude, I had absolutely buttloads of OMM on my COMLEX. I probably had at least 15 sacrum questions alone & I bet that close to 10-15% of my exam was OMM...kinda sad actually b/c how the hell is knowing what axis/direction a person's sacrum is rotated going to help me in the hospital?? That being said...a lot of them are "gimme" points & I'm certaintly not going to complain about that.

 

[Aaron Earles]

I always hear this quote of 1/5 of the comlex. No one i know had 20% omm in fact there was very little omm on the entire exam. Not that im complaining

I took COMLEX I last June and I can promise you that about 15 to 20% of my questions were straight OMT questions. Lots of sacrum on my test. IT varies from test to test I know.

Not to mention that a lot of question stems will throw in a Chapman's point, or a viscero-somatic reflex in on you to help you in diagnosing the problem. My exam loved the Chapman's point for the appendix, gallbladder and small bowel. My test had a lot of Chest pain on it. Sometimes, they would give you a scenario where it could be cardiac ischemia, costochondritis, GERD, or pneumonia causing the pain. It would want the most likely diagnosis, then it would say, BTW, the patient has paraspinal bogginess from T1 to T5. This suggest that the heart is the culprit. Read Savarese, it is a great resource. I would strongly urge everyone to at least reviewing basic OMT prior to boards.

 

[hilseb]

NSU COM has two years of OMM classes and an OMM fellowship. I have not started classes yet, however. A current student might be able to give you better info.

 

[Terpskins99]

I always hear this quote of 1/5 of the comlex. No one i know had 20% omm in fact there was very little omm on the entire exam. Not that im complaining

haha, sounds like you didn't ask around that much. My COMLEX was loaded with OMM, as was most of my friend's. Granted, it was all really straight forward that should have been obvious to anybody thats sat through hours of lecture and read through Simmons/Savaresse... etc. But it was definitely all over my exam.

Sacrum, innominates, cranial, thoracic vertebra diagnosis, chapman's, viscerosomatic dysfunctions... all there.

 

[Dr JPH]

I always hear this quote of 1/5 of the comlex. No one i know had 20% omm in fact there was very little omm on the entire exam. Not that im complaining

Dont forget the large number of OMM questions that are disguised as neuro.

👍

 

[laurenem]

The answer you will get in the states about the reason many DO's don't use OMM in their practice is one word; Time. It's kind of a bad excuse since it really doesn't take much time to address a couple of body areas related to the cheif complaint. Also, many people do not properly code (aka bill) for the treatments properly & therefore the reimbursement suffers.

Part of the other problem I foresee OMM having in the future is the current trend w/ insurance companies reimbursing for treatment modalities that are supported by evidence-based medicine (EBM). For example, insurance companies will only pay for CyberKnife treatment for certain types of cancer. Research & evidence backing OMM treatments is really going to have to step it up for reimbursement to be held at a decent rate, IMO.

A DO that I work for explained to me that a lot of DO's don't do OMT in practice because they really only learn in the first two years of med school. Once DO students enter rotations and residency along with MD students, they have to take their own initiative to do OMT because they aren't necessarily pushed to do it. She teaches MD and DO residents btw, and is always having to remind the DO students to do their OMT exam on the patients.