Why did YOU choose osteopathy?

[DD214_DOC]

Curious why you guys chose osteopathy.

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[Shinken]

I'll answer your question even though I'm not a med student yet (I'm applying for the 2004 entering class). I'm applying to osteopathic medical schools because...

...it's an excellent choice if you're interested in primay care medicine.

...it teaches manual medicine for no extra charge.

...the best physician I've ever met was a D.O.

...osteopathic medicine is a legitimate, competent, respected and effective method of medical care delivery with an interesting history.

If you want to learn about osteopathic medicine, the best book I've read is "The Difference a D.O. Makes" by the late Bob Jones.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Thanks for the book info. I've been trying to find a copy of "The D.O.'s" but so far have had no luck.

I know it's on Amazon.com, but shipping sucks

 

[PublicHealth]

I would also recommend "The Touch of Life" by Robert Fulford, D.O. -- probably one of the most highly regarded traditional osteopaths. Andrew Weil, M.D., speaks highly of him in many of his books.

I'm applying to osteopathic medical schools for 2004 admission because I:

(1) like the biopsychosocial/holistic approach

(2) am interested in manual medicine

(3) have an MPH and like the emphasis on preventive medicine

(4) have shadowed some incredible physicians -- mostly neurologists -- who were D.O.'s.

Hope that helps!

PH

 

[Shinken]

"The D.O.s" is a good book, but it reads like a doctoral dissertation, full of footnotes, references, dates, quotes, etc. It's very, very dry to read, but it has the most factual information on the history of osteopathic medicine in the US. I've read it and learned a lot from it, but although it's a great must-have book, it's the kind of book you read once and then put away. The Bob Jones book can be read in one day, it has all the important info from the Gevitz book in it, and it's way more interesting (I've read it three times so far!). Another great book that gives an excellent perspective of where osteopathic medicine is today (and where it's heading) is "Osteopathic Medicine: A Reformation in Progress."

 

[Shinken]

PublicHealth had the same experience I've had. The best ambassadors for osteopathic medicine are DOs themselves. It only takes shadowing a few DOs for you to realize that all you read on these forums about DOs being "second rate" or "MD wannabes" is grossly innacurate.

PH, you have a great approach to medicine. There are many studies that have shown that the vast majority of diseases out there are because of lifestyle and not because of genetics or bugs. Preventive medicine and patient education are critical! It's not cheap and it's not quick, but little by little it helps. It's starting to work with smoking. Hopefully unhealthy eating and lack of exercise are next on the list.

 

[DD214_DOC]

I took health psychology, and I really believe in the biopsychosocial model of healthcare. I also appreciate the interconnectivity of the mind/body from my studies in psychology as well as martial arts.

But unless I'm mistaken, isn't the biopsychosocial model also used in allopathic medicine?

On a final note, I'm going to try to shadow a DO or two in the near future. However, my pre-med advisors are being less than helpful in this process (even though they have a MedView shadowing program) and my area isn't exactly saturated with DO's.

 

[Su4n2]

this is a little of topic, i apologize. i tried to read the touch of life, but after like 20 pages was a little wigged out by all the energy discussion. i was hoping for something more mainstream.

 

[DrMom]

Originally posted by Shinken
If you want to learn about osteopathic medicine, the best book I've read is "The Difference a D.O. Makes" by the late Bob Jones.

An excellent book! It's a bit difficult to get your hands on, though. Here's a link where you can buy the book.

This link gives a description of the book.

 

[Ca$h MaNi]

Hey everyone...

I figure I want to give my thoughts on this subject since I gave it some long hard thought applying to both allopathic and osteopathic schools and being accepted at both....and finally choosing osteopathy like it was a "no-brainer".

First of all, I think anyone can be 'holistic' in their approach to medicine(allopath or osteopath)...both doctors can treat the patient and not just the symptoms...both can be compassionate and treat the patient as well as the disease(good bedside manner, good communication skills, etc...). I think being an osteopath is not just an embodiment of the above mentioned qualities but mostly being able to do all of the above in addition to understanding OMM and its relevance in medical practice today.

Osteopaths are trained in more hours and in general learn more origin and insertions and the interconnectivity of muscles, bones, and organs within the space of the body and its relation to disease and the immune system. They are trained with the philosophy in their education to be 'holistic', and to 'treat the patient/disease not just the symptoms'. I'm sure allopathic schools have this as well, but what truly makes us different is that ALL osteopathic schools educate us with the mindset to understand all levels of the patient (biological and psychosocial....lifestyle issues....stress....etc.)...and ALL osteopathic schools allow us to learn and enhance our palpatory skills and understand the advantages of OMM in everyday practice.

With this said...I just want to say that when I applied ...I just wanted to be a doctor...that was my goal. I had no clue I would be accepted to as many schools as I had been(thats a long story on its own)...but I am grateful that I was. But when I sat their with a choice to choose an allopthic school or a osteopathic school...I had to make a decision...and it went kinda like this....

"Hek, I'm gonna get more bang for my medical educational buck at an osteopathic school than an allopathic school...since I will learn everything they teach in allopathy plus OMM!!!!"

and ofcourse after that initial statement, I also factored in facilities, technology, friendliness of students, early patient contact starting from the first year, reputation, clinical rotations...etc...

and eventually came to the decision to attend...(drum roll please)

Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine!!!

Thats all I have to say about that...good luck folks...and think about what you can do to help your future patients...you'll have a lot more to offer as a DO(but ofcourse its all up to you and how you feel about the possible stigmas and questions asked, etc..). Personally, I dont care for all that...and I'm gonna try to be the best darn DO I can be! Who's with me?? hehe

Mani

 

[PublicHealth]

Originally posted by JKDMed
I took health psychology, and I really believe in the biopsychosocial model of healthcare. I also appreciate the interconnectivity of the mind/body from my studies in psychology as well as martial arts.

But unless I'm mistaken, isn't the biopsychosocial model also used in allopathic medicine?

On a final note, I'm going to try to shadow a DO or two in the near future. However, my pre-med advisors are being less than helpful in this process (even though they have a MedView shadowing program) and my area isn't exactly saturated with DO's.

While MD students may get some training in the biopsychosocial model, it is not typically associated with allopathic medicine.

Here's a good description of allopathic medicine: "Allopathy is the modern system of medicine with which most Americans are familiar. It advocates therapies that produce effects opposite to those of the disease being treated. For example, a person with a runny nose, aching head and watery eyes might be treated with a medication that reduces or halts such symptoms. Allopathic ideas have existed for two thousand years but only in the past 100 years has it allied with science to become an important form of medicine. Allopathy relies on repeated observations and the use of experiments to justify its therapy. Many specialties emerged in the twentieth century after allopathy displaced other kinds of medicine. One of these specialties was the study of anatomy. Allopathic anatomy organizes the human body into several distinct systems that function together."

Reference: http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/m...illuminatedbody/allopathic/allopathicmed.html

There's tons of this stuff on-line.

Finally, remember that ALL medical students, MDs and DOs alike, graduate with more or less the same abilities. While DOs may have more of a holistic/biopsychosocial orientation, this does not preclude MDs from having one as well. The only practical difference between MDs and DOs is that DOs have extra training in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). The sad truth, however, is that less than 1% of graduated DOs pursue post-graduate OMM residencies.

I strongly encourage you to shadow some DOs and ask them about their experiences, discuss differences in training, and review your own desire to pursue medicine. Many DOs pursue allopathic residencies, so when they're done, they're essentially MDs in a DO's clothing.

Cheers,

PH

 

[DD214_DOC]

I tend to view myself as the physical manifestation of osteopathy

I volunteer in a hospital, and our program allows us contact with patients. When I compare myself with how the MD's treat the patients, I tend to realize that I'm more personal with them. I'm genuinely interested in them as a person, who they are, and where they come from. The MD's typically come in, ask about some symptoms, make a diagnosis, then prescribe something to fix it. Never once have I seen an MD ask about the person's career or any possible lifestyle circumstance that might be a root cause of a problem.

I tend to see MD's as more specialized in the science of medicine, whereas DO's are more specialized in the art of medicine.

Every day, I see myself more as a DO than I did the day before.

BUT, the question I pose to you guys. Did you choose DO because you believed in the philosophy, or did you believe in the philosophy because you were certain you were going DO? (as in, knew you couldn't go MD)

I know that's a pandora's box, but it's worth asking.

 

[DrQuinn]

I applied to DO programs because my pre-med advisor told me to. Never applied to MD programs, and likely could have gotten in-state tuition as well (40k versus 180k in debt!). Who knows what would have happened.

But, no biggie, I landed my #1 specialty and my #1 ranked residency, so I'm happy as a clam (a bearded one).
Q, DO

 

[OphthoBean]

I chose osteopathic medicine because it was convenient and I did not want to wait to start med school.

I specifically wanted to be in So. Cal but needed to complete one requirement to be eligible to apply to my favored in-state program so I planned to wait a year to apply in general. By the end of the Summer I decided to chop my PS to fit in the ACOMAS space, be accepted to COMP/WUHS, and then decide whether to defer while applying to all the CA schools or just go.

Once I had the acceptance letter in my hand, I decided to enroll (main hesitation was the private tuition vs in-state tuition) because I planned to go into primary care anyways and figured it didn't make a difference. I also found osteopathic medicine academically interesting having learned about it in my "social history of American medicine" class in college...read Norm Gevitz's book as it was assigned reading.

I had a great experience in school, and I am in my first choice specialty (decided against primary care sometime near the end of MS1, and reconfirmed this once out on the wards.)

My only issues (and this could be specific to WUHS not OM in general) were:
1) If I knew going in that I wanted to pursue something outside of primary care (surgical subspecialty, pathology, etc) I might have had a better experience at an allopathic program where the "academic departments" are more than just a pretend entity and opportunities for research exist. Sure, we had a strong and active Family Medicine dept, but the other depts were a joke, existing in name only.
2) I believe in OMM, did well in it, even tried out a rotation, but felt my belief in OMM was poisoned by the seance-like atmosphere of the 2 week Cranial course with Viola Fryman. I was distressed to learn that some of my esteemed colleagues-to-be were nut-jobs, and that I had to believe in "THE FORCE" lest the "Emperor Viola" shock me into submission with her hands like poor luke skywalker in ROTJ.
3) Snooty attendings indicating that they thought I was "slumming" because I came from an elite undergrad institution and "should" have gone to a "big name" med school to uphold some kind of legacy. Lets see, last time this happened was...this Tuesday. Just a minor annoyance.

Aside from those issues, I really feel that OM best reflects my approach to patient care and was glad to be educated alongside others who share the holistic philosophy. I liked it so much I stuck with it for my AOA traditional rotating internship, and now for residency. Even though I don't manipulate ophtho patients, my training has that distinctive osteopathic flavor. Not only does the program cover all necessary basic science, clinical medicine, and surgical skills, it also embraces disease prevention, the inter-relatedness of the rest of the body and the eyes, and the psycho/social ramifications of ocular disease and disability.

OM is good stuff and I am glad it was the path that God set before me.

 

[DOnut]

Ophthobean,

Where are you doing your residency?

 

[raspberry swirl]

there is another thread somewhere about chosing DO over MD. i had the option of either, and i went osteopathic just because its better. in my opinion, it only takes 2 seconds to see that osteopathic medicine is better than regular old allopathic. i've gone to both DOs and MDs throughout my life, and i've had great MDs and bad MDs, but i've never had a bad DO (for some reason they're always nicer . . .)
anyway, to answer your question, i had an interview and an acceptance from LECOM before some of those stupid MD schools had mailed out their secondaries. i loved LECOM, so i withdrew all my applications from the other schools i had applied to. i didn't need to wait around for them, because i knew i would be happy at LECOM. my advice-- apply to a lot of different places, check them all out, do your research, and by the time you need to decide what to do, you'll know whats right for you. in the end, it won't matter what you've chosen, as long as you're good at it. .

 

[angelic02]

What opportunities exist for allopathic doctors to study OMM, if any?

 

[Ca$h MaNi]

I've seen some OMM-type programs integrated into a couple allopathic programs here in the chicago-area...which can be taken as electives called "Biomechanics" or various other spins off of OMM....but they are rare and few. And again they are just electives not required as they are in an osteopathic curriculum. The best thing to do in order for you to really understand the advantages and results of OMM is to shadow a med student on his 3rd or 4th year rotations. I was fortunate enough to shadow my family physician(who is a DO)...and she happened to be one of the rotation sites for Family Practice...for M-3's and M-4's....it was then that I truly began to love OMM as I saw people's reactions and faces light up with relief from severe back pain to problems with breathing. It really does loosen up tightness and allows for fluids to flow better and for the patient to be more relaxed. At least that was the impression I got from the many patients that came in and got OMM done on them by the med student.

Mani

 

[OphthoBean]

DOnut, I sent you a PM...and now am craving Krispy Kreme.

 

[unk_fxn]

Originally posted by angelic02
What opportunities exist for allopathic doctors to study OMM, if any?

Michigan State Univesity (which grants both MD and DO degrees) has a series of CME programs in manipulation and manual medicine. They are labeled as level 1, 2, etc.... supposed to be pretty good. They are expensive. I think something like the muscle energy (weird name for a localized isometric stretching technique) level 1 might be exactly what you are looking for starting out. Other than that, if you are a student, just call up the OMM department at the COM of your choice and ask about electives. Expect some flak - there are a few in the old guard who view OMT as some sort of state secret or mystical knowledge that can only be granted after the appropriate ammount of suffering, but I am sure you can find a good elective somewhere.

 

[Docgeorge]

Easy, the 130K-250K supplament to my base pay from OMM

But in all seriouseness I just liked the DO's that I shadowed and I love the school that I'm attending.