Osteopathic Medicine

I thought I'd take advantage of my newfound free time (more on that soon) to look back on my last rotation.

Last month, I was on my Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) rotation. Three weeks were spent in the clinic and one week in the hospital. I think this a perfect opportunity to expound upon the DO difference, since it seems to be a poorly understood difference in general.

DOs, or Doctors of Osteopathy, are fully licensed physicians with the same rights and responsibilities as MDs. DOs can be board certified in any field of medicine. They can diagnose, prescribe, and treat any illness. Education at osteopathic medical schools is very comparable to education at MD schools.

DOs are unique, though, in their history, philosophy, culture, and treatment. Osteopathy was founded by Andrew Taylor Still, an MD, in the late 1800s. He was frustrated by medical practice because, at the time, much of the work doctors did actually caused more harm than good. He did extensive study of the human body and developed a set of principles that have become the bedrock of osteopathic medicine.

1. The body is an integrated unit of mind, body, and spirit
2. The body possesses self-regulatory mechanisms, having the inherent capacity to defend, repair, and remodel itself.
3. Structure and function are reciprocally inter-related.
4. Rational therapy is based on consideration of the first three principles.

 Dr. Still contended that if there is a problem with the body structurally, it can impede the body functionally, both at the site of the problem, and sometimes elsewhere. The body's structural problem, what DOs call "somatic dysfunction," can also impinge upon the body's natural ability to heal itself.

This is where OMM comes into the picture. OMM is a hands-on approach that DOs use to diagnose and treat somatic dysfunction. DOs use OMM to restore structure and function to the body, helping the body to heal itself, restoring motion, and decreasing pain.

Students at Osteopathic medical schools have extra classes and labs every semester during the first two years of medical school to learn these hands-on diagnostic and treatment skills.  We are trained to identify somatic dysfunction based on assymmetry, restriction of motion, and tissue texture changes. We can then often treat these problems using manipulative medicine. OMM can be used for anything from musculoskeletal pain (i.e. back, neck, knee pain) to headaches to ear infections to asthma.

The mind, body, spirit connection is another important hallmark of osteopathic medicine. DOs are holistic in their approach, striving to always see the patient as a whole person, never just a sum of symptoms. DOs are prepared and able to go into any medical specialty, but osteopathic medical education is great about stressing the importance of and, ultimately, providing a lot of physicians for primary care, especially in rural and underserved areas, which I think is awesome too.

When Aaron and I were applying for medical school, we got in at both M.D. and D.O. schools. We wanted to go DO, though, because we liked osteopathic philosophy, wanted to learn OMM, and felt it was a good fit culture-wise for us. We have been so pleased with decision and feel we've gotten a wonderful education. We love the whole person, compassionate approach that is emphasized in our training. We love bringing healing by laying on hands. The power of touch to heal is powerful. We still learn to prescribe medication, use lab values and imaging, etc. as any MD would, but we feel so grateful to have the extra tool of OMM at our disposal, especially for treating pain and other neuromusculoskeletal complaints.

Anyhow, I've used OMM on many of my rotations, but last month was a month totally dedicated to perfecting the skills we'd learned our first couple years of medical school. I really loved having a lot of time to spend with each patient; it was great having lots of time to talk and get to know the patients as I worked on their back, neck, etc. The feeling of taking away someone's pain, sometimes after years of suffering, is one of the best feelings. There were some tears of joy shed this past month in the clinic, which isn't something you get to see too often in medicine.

In the hospital, I was often the bright spot in the patients' day, so it was fun to feel like a heroine ;-) Most of the other medical personnel coming in and out of the patients' room had to bring them bad news about their need to repeat a colonoscopy due to a poor colon prep or stick them with another needle for yet another blood draw... but I got to just be the girl who came in and helped them breathe more easily and rest more comfortably :-) I got to have some great conversations and pray with some patients, and I saw, more than ever, the power of hands in communication and in healing.

So, all in all, it was a great month. Hooray for osteopathy!

(And no, I did not take the above photo specifically for this blog - the photo is 2 years old and was taken for something else. I don't blame you, though, if you thought I did take a fake OMM picture of me and Aaron... I am pretty nerdy like that ;-) )