A New Beginning
In this holiday season we see the theme of rebirth, resurrection and new growth. This symbolism applies to countless things, and we we see it referenced in many contexts. Like a phoenix from the ashes, sometimes things need to crumble so that they can grow better again.
This article written by Dr. James Jealous, D.O. in 1999 outlines what happened to Osteopathic Medicine in the United States. The article can be downloaded with this link: https://ostemed-dr.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/myfirst/id/10184/download. Although it is a bitter pill to swallow, accepting the death of osteopathy in the United States is what will leave way for the rebirth of this forgotten healing art.
Osteopathic medicine was founded in the United States by A.T. Sill, a man who saw that most of the medicine in his time was actually harmful. He also noticed that if the body was working in optimal condition, it had tremendous capacity to heal. He developed a diverse set of techniques in manual medicine which is referred to as Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM).
These techniques proved tremendously useful, and have helped people not only with musculoskeletal problems, but also with recovering from pneumonia more quickly, as well as meningitis and many other ailments. Over the years, as modern medicine began to develop, there was pressure on Osteopathic physicians to prove that they are as competently trained as their M.D. counterparts. By today, D.O.’s are trained with all of the same vigor and meeting all of the same standards as M.D.’s. The only difference is that D.O.’s are also trained in OMM.
This seems like it would be a good thing. Osteopaths who are fully licensed physicians! However, this isn’t what happened. As Dr. Jealous astutely notes, the result is that Osteopathic medicine has become a clone of allopathic (or standard western) medicine. It’s not that allopathic medicine isn’t good, but rather that it already exists, so what’s the reason for this other degree if they are being trained virtually the same? Few D.O. students are interested in learning OMM and even fewer utilize it after they graduate in practice. D.O. students go on to do all of the same types of specialty training as M.D.’s, and have basically become clones of them. This is the great challenge of branding the Osteopathic profession today. What does being an “Osteopathic” physician even mean?
The practice of OMM still persists and actually flourishes outside of the United States. Osteopaths are not uncommon in other parts of the world. Ironically, here in the country in which it was founded, and where the Doctors of Osteopathic medicine are fully licensed physicians, the practice is all but lost and forgotten. It has died, barring just a tiny fraction of D.O.’s like myself who are passionate about it. But accepting this death is the only way to move forward, so that the spirit of Osteopathy may be resurrected in the years to come.