The History of Osteopathy:

What is a D.O.? M.D.’s and DO.’s are the only two fully licensed physicians in the United States. “M.D.“ stands for Medical Doctor or allopath. “D.O.” is Doctor of Osteopathy or osteopath. Both M.D.’s and D.O.’s obtain a four year undergraduate degree prior to admission into medical school. Medical school is four years with the first two years of basic sciences and the second two years of clinical rotations. An internship and passing of state and national boards is required for state licensure. After internship a variety of residency programs are available to both allopathic and osteopathic physicians for example: obstetrics, surgery, and internal medicine. The American Osteopathic Association also accredits residency training in O.M.M., Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, now named N.M.M., Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. M.D.’s and D.O.’s practice together in our clinics and hospitals. And both require continuing medical education (C.M.E.) to maintain state licensure.

Unique to Osteopathic education is an additional 200 hours of coursework, lecture and lab, in osteopathic manipulative medicine. This includes principles of Osteopathy as well as hands on manipulative techniques and application to patient care.

There are the four tenents of Osteopathy:

1. The body is a unit. The physician uses a whole person approach to wellness and disease treatment and prevention.

2. The body has self-protecting and regulation mechanisms. The body, mind and spirit compensate to maintain health.

3. Structure and function are inter-related and interdependent. An imbalance in one system affects the other systems.

4. The final principle state that all three of the prior tenents must be incorporated into a patients treatment plan.

Osteopathic medicine was born in America. Its development began in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, M.D. Dr. Still was a Civil War physician with a wife and three children. In the years following the war, he practiced frontier medicine and stood by helpless as his wife and three children died of meningitis. The tools available to a frontier doctor at that time were such therapies as morphine, laudanum, and mercury. Dr. Still felt these therapies were not curative and often were more harmful than helpful. He dedicated his work to the development of a system of medicine that would promote healing in his patients. He did this by returning to the drawing board of anatomy and physiology. He was particularly interested in restoring normal circulation and nerve flow to maintain health. Dr. Still named this practice of medicine Osteopathy to distinguish it from allopathy.

After nearly 20 years of practice he settled in Kirksville, Missouri. With his colleague, William Smith, a Scottish M.D., he founded the first school of osteopathy. The American School of Osteopathy opened in 1892 approximately 80 miles north of Columbia, Missouri. Dr. Smith agreed to teach anatomy in exchange for learning osteopathy. The first class of osteopathy included 15 students. One third were women.

In the early 1900’s a national chartering body evaluated medical schools across the U.S. in an effort to standardize medical curriculum. A.S.O. was chartered to grant an M.D. or D.O. degree upon completion of study. A.S.O., American school of Osteopathy, became Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery, now Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine retains this charter. Today K.C.O.M. is part of A.T. Still University which includes their Arizona campus of allied health.

In the early 1900’s when newer medications became available that were more helpful than harmful, many Osteopathic physicians wished to incorporate these therapies into their patient care. A fraction of D.O.’s held the belief not to use medications and to continue osteopathy only as taught by Dr. Still. It is these physicians that founded the first overseas school in Britain, and that school’s progeny forms the basis for the European model of Osteopathy. European Osteopaths do not give injections nor perform surgery.

Currently, there are 23 Osteopathic schools in the United States and Harvard, Georgetown and Michigan State offer electives in osteopathy.
Abroad there are Osteopathic schools of the European model in England, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Japan has the newest of the overseas schools with a mixed model of European and American schools.
Read more osteopathic history in The D.O.’s Osteopathic Medicine in America, Norman Gevitz, 1982 Johns Hopkins University Press. Or try these osteopathic websites for great book lists and resources.

For more information contact

American Osteopathic Association
1.800.621.1773
www.AOA-NET.ORG

American Academy of Osteopathy
1.317.879.1881
www.academyofosteopathy.org

Cranial Academy
1.317.594.0411
www.cranialacacademy.org

Or visit
The Still National Osteopathic Museum
Kirksville, Missouri