By an edhat reader
Is there a local osteopath that readers would recommend? They’re pretty common in other countries but am having a hard time finding one locally.
Osteopath
Anonymous
September 30, 2021, 9:30 am
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My sister, the smart one in the family, got a DO degree in Des Moines, IA — there was no MD program in town. She did her residency at the Mayo Clinic, a reputable place that recognizes the quality of DO training. She’s been in practice as a neurologist for over 30 years now. DOs are not some quack medical group.
The U.K. is not the U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine
“Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O.) is a medical degree offered by medical schools ***in the United States***. A DO graduate may become licensed as a physician. DOs have full practice rights in all 50 ***US*** states. As of 2021, there were more than 168,000 osteopathic physicians and osteopathic medical students ***in the United States***.[1]
DO degrees are offered ***in the United States*** at 37 medical schools .[2][3][4] As of 2021, more than 26% of ***US*** medical students were DO students.[5][6] The curricula at osteopathic medical schools are equivalent to those at MD-granting medical schools, which focus the first two years on the biomedical and clinical sciences, then two years on core clinical training in the clinical specialties.[7]
==>Only US-granted DO and MD programs are listed as medical schools in the World Directory of Medical Schools.
Parsing language that attempts to ignore that DO “medical” schools are the same as MD “medical” schools is the problem. What people learn at schools that respect investigation, science and the total body is different than what DO schools proudly brag is their superiority. So if a DO grad goes to a real medical school afterwards, great. One hopes that she or he enters into the tradition of successful western scientific human care. But if she or he simply uses the DO to claim the right to diagnose and treat the whole gambit of medical issues the patient is being shortchanged. Go to a chiropractor or masseuse, its cheaper and you can use the savings to go to an MD for proper care.
3:45 PM here. The first sentence should say that the DO schools are NOT the same as the MD schools.
The cited material shows that none of these claims are true in the U.S.
Thankfully they are rare locally. They should be non-existent. You should look for a scientifically based care giver.
For those that are unaware: Osteopathic medicine is a “whole person” approach to medicine—treating the entire person rather than just the symptoms. With a focus on preventive health care, Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) help patients develop attitudes and lifestyles that don’t just fight illness, but help prevent it, too.
“Ahh, no, I want you to focus on the pain in my lower back.”
Rude and wrong.
“Osteopathic medical students complete four years of medical school, plus three to nine years of additional medical training through internships and residencies in their chosen specialties. After earning their degree, D.O.s also must pass state licensing exams and national boards.”
“Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine graduates attend the same graduate medical education programs as their MD counterparts.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine
“One notable difference between DO and MD training is that DOs spend an additional 300–500 hours to study a set of hands-on manipulation of the human musculoskeletal system along with learning conventional Western medicine and surgery like their MD peers.”
Here’s what the National Health Service of UK says about this sort of practice: There’s some evidence to suggest that osteopathy may be effective for some types of neck, shoulder or lower-limb pain, some types of headache, and recovery after hip or knee operations.
There’s only limited or no scientific evidence that it’s an effective treatment for conditions unrelated to the bones and muscles…. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/osteopathy/
My brother graduated from a DO program. He then completed an Internal Medicine residency (that MD’s were also competing for) at a reputable hospital system in the LA area. He then got into a fellowship (again competing against MD’s ) for endocrinology. Along the way I know he had to take the same board exams as someone who went to an MD program. As far as I know, the DO degree covered all the same material as an MD program.
@9/30 – 9:34AM – I think perhaps you are thinking about homeopathic medicine?