Osteopathic Docs as Mainstream as M.D.s

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Osteopathic Docs as Mainstream as M.D.s

Sat Oct 12,12:06 PM ET

By Janice Billingsley

HealthScoutNews Reporter

SATURDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthScoutNews) -- What does it mean when your doctor

has a D.O. after her name instead of an M.D.? Is she a " real " doctor?

The answer is an unqualified yes. A doctor of osteopathy has the same

four-year medical school training as a medical doctor -- although at

different medical schools -- as well as a year of internship and a year of

residency.

While the basics are the same, there are subtle differences in the ways the

two groups of physicians practice medicine.

And Oct. 6-12, National Osteopathic Medicine Week, is designed to highlight

the continuing growth of this branch of medical care in the United States.

" When people ask me, I use the analogy of the Democrats and the Republicans.

They are both writing laws, but are coming at them with different

philosophies, " says Dr. Tyler Cymet, a doctor of osteopathy and a professor

at s Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore. " M.D.s and D.O.s are both in

the business of healing, but they have different philosophies and a

different orientation. "

Adds Dr. J. Hill, chairman of the American Medical Association: " The

position of the American Medical Association is that M.D.s and D.O.s are

perfectly comparable. There are no significant differences between the two.

We are very supportive of each other, and it's been a good arrangement. "

D.O.s, Cymet says, are trained in a " whole person " idea, so they focus on

personal history in addition to medical history when diagnosing an illness.

They also receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system, the way the

body's nerves, tissues, muscles and bones are interconnected, with the idea

of understanding how an injury or illness in one part of your body affects

other parts. The training includes osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT),

which is a therapeutic application of force to help patients maintain a full

range of motion.

" Sixty percent of D.O.s are primary-care specialists, " Cymet says. " We are

not just looking at the disease. We try to develop a relationship with the

patient, understanding the social aspects of their lives as well as the

biomechanical problems they may have. "

He adds, " Our philosophy is to use the body to heal itself, to use medical

knowledge to free up motion to allow the person to be active, to help a

person stay healthier. "

Cymet says a typical initial visit with a patient takes an hour. First,

there is a physical examination, and then he spends time getting to know the

patient.

" I ask him how he spends his day, what time he wakes up, what he eats for

breakfastŠ, " he says. " Then I ask about the problem, whether it is new or

old, and how it has changed his life. The discussion itself can be

therapeutic to the patient. "

The treatment can be a standard medical treatment, such as a drug

prescription, or can include manipulative treatment to help the patient with

his pain or range of motion. Because of time constraints, however, Cymet

says he often has to have the patient return for osteopathic manipulative

treatment.

Though an OMT sounds like standard chiropractic treatment, Cymet says it's

more than that.

" We have more medical training, " he says. " We know more about the organs and

soft tissues than chiropractors, and are much better prepared to know if

there is a problem with a prostate or gall bladder or other organs. "

Dr. Alguire, the director of education and career development at the

American College of Physicians in Philadelphia, used to teach a training

program in internal medicine at Michigan State University, which has both a

D.O. and M.D. program. He agrees the training for both specialties is very

similar.

" Many of the courses were the same, and there was no difference in the

baseline knowledge or skills with patients, " he says, except that the D.O.s

took courses in manipulative medicine.

Alguire, an M.D., adds he continues to see little difference in the ways the

two groups practice medicine.

" Holistic care is not unique to D.O.s, " he says. " Starting about 20 or 30

years ago, there has been a push toward generalization, to developing

specialized training tracks for primary-care physicians. "

There are far more M.D.s than D.O.s, says Cymet, but the ranks of D.O.s are

growing.

According to the American Osteopathic Association (news - web sites), there

were more than 44,000 osteopathic doctors in 2000, the latest year with

available figures.

" The number of schools has increased, from six in the 1980s to 19 schools

now, and there are two-and-a-half applicants for every spot, " Cymet says.

What To Do

For an explanation of osteopathic manipulative treatment, you can visit the

American Osteopathic Association. And the American Cancer Society has an

informative explanation of doctors of osteopathy.