What To Bring To Your Appointment

In the U.S.A. there are two types of physicians trained and licensed to provide comprehensive medical care. They are Doctor of Osteopathy (DO’s) and Medical Doctor (MD’s). Both can prescribe medication and preform surgery. Both can specialize in Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, Radiology, etc. Both must meet the necessary educational and licensure requirements to practice medicine, but only DO’s are trained to utilize the musculoskeletal system as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the treatment of disease along with the appropriate drugs and surgery.

 

Theodore Roosevelt, Hellen Keller, William Randolph Hearst, George Bernard Shaw, William Howard Taft, Nelson Rockefeller and Mark Twain were aware of Osteopathic Medicine and advocated it.

 

Osteopathic Medicine begins with its founder, Andrew Taylor Still M.D.. Dr. Still learned medicine through apprenticeship (from his father), attended the Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons, and also studied at McGill University in Montreal, which was believed to be the finest medical school on the continent at the time.

 

Dr. Still was a community leader. He was a representative in the Kansas State legislature to keep Kansas one of the free states. He worked with Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential Campaign, and served the 9th Cavalry as a Major and Surgeon.

 

It was only when Dr. Still’s three children (two born to he and his wife and a third adopted) died of spinal meningitis did he begin to look for methods to improve the practice of medicine. He began with the study of anatomy as he believed this to be the only true science of his day. Many accepted medical practices of Dr. Still’s time would be considered unacceptable by today’s standards and it was for this reason he desired a science based more on reason and less speculation. His contribution to medicine was the development of a logical and effective means of improving the abnormalities within the musculoskeletal system and thereby enhance the physiological response of the body to disease. HE did not say the musculoskeletal system was the sole cause of disease but correcting the problems there would be favorably influence the body’s return to health and decrease recovery time.

 

Although Dr. Still’s incorporation of musculoskeletal manipulation into his medical practice brought skepticism at first, his ability to get results where other established physicians did not, brought him much popularity. Dr. Still’s petition to teach and explain his findings at Baker University in Baldwin, Kansas was rejected. The decision was a painful one since his family had donated the land for the institution and then helped build it. Nevertheless Dr. Still’s respectability continued to grow. Due to numerous request he began the establishment of the “American School of Osteopathy” in 1802 chartered by the state of Missouri, which allowed it to grant the M.D. degree. Dr. STill insisted on granting the D.O. degree instead in order to distinguish its graduates from other physicians. He declared the school open to all regardless of race/gender and had three women in his first class.

 

The school from the beginning was considered to be an institution embracing all of the arts and science of medicine. It was gauged to improve the practice of medicine, as the charter issued to the school indicated and read in part:

 

“To establish a College of Osteopathy, the design of which is to improve the present system of Surgery, Obstetrics, and treatment of diseases generally, and place the same on a more rational and scientific basis, and to impart information to the medical profession and to grant an confer such honors and degrees as are usually granted and conferred by reputable medical colleges; to issue diplomas in testimony of the same to all students graduating from said school under the seal of the corporation, with the signature of each member of the faculty and of the president of the college.”

 

During Dr. Still’s stay in Kirksville, Missouri not only was the American School of Osteopathy established and then increased in size to accommodate the ever increasing student body and growing practice, but also the train depot was very busy. New hotels were being built, and patients that could not be housed in hotels for lack of space were housed in boarding houses or private residences within easy reach. A representative of the infirmary was at the train station day and night to help patients needing assistance and Kirksville’s population went 3,510 in 1890 to 5,966 in 1900.

 

Now there are more than 28,000 DO’s in the USA, about 50% are in General Practice and 1,375 are in the military. Although all DO’s are trained in Osteopathic diagnosis and treatment of the musculoskeletal system, it is now becoming a specialty of medicine. In addition only 1-2% of all DO’s have the advanced training necessary to treat the difficult musculoskeletal problems that a specialist in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine tends to see.

 

So what happened to Osteopathic Medicine from the 1900’s to the mid 1980’s? Although Osteopathic Manual Medicine is older than the more well known Chiropractic school, the general public knows little if anything about it or how much it differs from other forms of manipulation, when delivered by a skilled Osteopathic Specialist. It is also interesting to note that Osteopathic Manual Medicine is now more commonly used to treat musculoskeletal pain, although in the past it was used regularly on patients after surgery, those with pneumonia and asthmatics to decrease recovery time and improve management of the disease along with appropriate medical and surgical treatments.

 

So where does Osteopathic Medicine stand today? There seems to be growing interest on the subject and it is enjoying more acceptance and respect every year. Osteopathic Manipulation has proven effective in cases that are refractory to other forms of manipulation. Back manipulation in general is more acceptable now than ever. The American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons included a symposium at their annual meeting on Back Manipulation. A spokesman there said “No doubt manipulation is an accepted medical treatment today. Ten years ago you could have been considered a quack if you performed manipulation.” More physicians are beginning to provide manipulative services or referring patients to a skilled specialist. After much research and clinical evaluations more physicians are discovering how Osteopathic Manual Medicine augments the healing process.

 

To quote from medical economics May 15, 1989, “Having experienced both Chiropractic and Allopathic Medicine, I’ve decided that the most valuable degree is one I don’t have: D.O.. I find it hard to believe that Doctors of Osteopathy haven’t already taken over responsibility for primary care. To my way of thinking, they have it all — Pharmacology, Surgery, and Manipulation.” (L.D. Gilley M.D., D.C.)

 

So what can we say from all this? Osteopathic Medicine is not something different; it’s something more!

 

Rajiv L. Yadava D.O.
Specializing in Osteopathic Manual Medicine
Deaconess Medical Center – West Campus