[SCIENCE&HEALTH] Osteopathy a new trend in medicine

Medical doctors aren’t the only people with licenses to
perform surgery and prescribe medicine.

Students who study osteopathy, a form of medicine that was
established in 1892, receive doctor of osteopathy degrees which
also establish them as fully licensed medical doctors.

Osteopathy, whose popularity is increasing, is a form of
medicine that emphasizes how the structure of the body plays a role
in its function. As a result of the focus on the musculoskeletal
system, osteopathic doctors practice osteopathic manipulative
treatment ““ the use of their hands to diagnose illness. The
form is not taught in medical schools that practice conventional
allopathic medicine.

“(Osteopathic doctors) use a hands-on manual diagnosis and
treatment that would be a part of the patient’s complete
treatment program along with medication and surgery and anything
else you might do,” said Raymond Hruby, chairman of the
osteopathic manipulative medicine department at Western University
of Health Sciences.

The DOs use their hands at times to diagnosis patients and
realign the altered musculoskeletal system that is causing the
symptoms of illness.

“I think that (for) any student that is interested in a
patient-centered sort of holistic approach to diagnosis and
treatment … osteopathic medical school would be a good choice for
them,” Hruby said.

A variety of students apply to osteopathic medical schools.

“Osteopathic medical schools also accept more
nontraditional students,” said Jennifer Fu, a third-year
physiological sciences student who established the alpha chapter of
the pre-Student Osteopathic Medical Association at UCLA.

Nontraditional students who worked in professions such as the
arts or social sciences are accepted into osteopathic medical
schools, according to the American Osteopathic Association. About
20 to 25 percent of osteopathic students have families of their
own.

Benny Rossner, a fourth-year psychology student who is a member
of pre-SOMA, is applying to osteopathic medical schools.

“I was interested in the emphasis on the hands-on approach
to the musculoskeletal system,” Rossner said.

The UCLA pre-SOMA organization promotes osteopathic medical
education by providing information on osteopathy to students who
are unsure of what type of medicine they would like to pursue.

“Most students in pre-SOMA are students still debating
whether they want to go pre-med or students who knew a little about
osteopathic medicine and want to learn more,” she added.

The education between allopathic and osteopathic school is
similar except osteopathic students receive more hours of education
of the musculoskeletal system as well as osteopathic manipulative
medicine,

“In osteopathic medical school, the students learn the
same subjects that are taught in any medical school. … We go to
school the same length of time, we use the same textbooks, we do
the same amount of post-graduate training,” Hruby said.

After graduation, an osteopathic doctor has the option of
entering either an osteopathic or an allopathic residency program.
There is no difference in pay between allopathic and osteopathic
doctors within the same field of medicine. Most osteopathic
students practice primary care medicine, which includes family
medicine and pediatricians, after graduating from medical school.
Michigan State University, College of Osteopathic Medicine is
ranked fourth in the nation for primary care education.

Members of osteopathic medical schools say the level of
difficulty in getting accepted into an osteopathic school is
comparable to most allopathic medical schools. In addition, the
undergraduate coursework that students are required to take to be
considered for admission is the same that allopathic medical school
admission committees require of students.

“There are more similarities than differences between DOs
and MDs. Both take the MCATS, both have four years of medical
school, including residency, both must pass board exams, DOs and
MDs work side by side in the same hospitals and they make the same
amount of money,” Fu said.

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