Nova Southeastern University has doubled its number of osteopathic medical graduates training in South Florida in the last 10 years, helping to ease a shortage of physicians at a time when demand for medical care is increasing.

The university's Davie-based College of Osteopathic Medicine now has about 250 graduates in residency training programs in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, said Fred Lippman, NSU chancellor of the Health Professions Division.

Partners, such as Fort Lauderdale's Broward Health Medical Center, have stepped up to train more residents who have graduated from NSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lippman said. Physicians have to go through a residency before being allowed to practice medicine.

Broward Health now trains 105 osteopathic physicians as residents a reason why the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration last month designated it a statutory teaching hospital, the first in Broward and the 10th in the state.

In fact, Broward Health has nearly doubled its training of osteopathic medical residents in just four years.

This ensures "we're meeting the evolving health care needs of our population," said Dr. Natasha N. Bray, the public health care system's vice president/designated institutional officer and director of graduate medical education.

Both osteopathic physicians and the better known medical doctors, or MDs, undergo four years of medical school and once licensed can treat patients, prescribe medicine and perform surgery.

According to the American Osteopathic Association, osteopathic physcians practice a "whole person" approach to medicine. They are taught that structural abnormalities can compromise a person's overall health. To help restore the body's proper function, DOs are trained to use their hands in osteopathic manipulative treatment, or OMT.

Florida has two osteopathic medical schools: NSU's and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton.

Osteopathic medical schools emphasize training students to become primary care physicians, which is South Florida's greatest need. There aren't enough primary care physicians to see patients with an undiagnosed health problem, from colds to diabetes, Bray said. The Affordable Care Act has provided health insurance to thousands of South Floridians, many of whom are now seeking medical help, she said.

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NSU doubling medical school grads training here