Read the Osteopathic Pledge of Commitment

Osteopathic physicians, also known as DOs, work in partnership with their patients. They consider the impact that lifestyle and community have on the health of each individual, and they work to break down barriers to good health. DOs are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine in all 50 states. They practice in all types of environments, including the military, and in all types of specialties, from family medicine to obstetrics, surgery, and aerospace medicine.

DOs are trained to look at the whole person from their first days of medical school, which means they see each person as more than just a collection of organ systems and body parts that may become injured or diseased. This holistic approach to patient care means that osteopathic medical students learn how to integrate the patient into the health care process as a partner. They are trained to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds, and they get the opportunity to practice these skills in their classrooms and learning laboratories, frequently with standardized and simulated patients.

Today, when the challenge of ensuring an adequate number of primary care physicians extends to osteopathic medicine, more than one-third of osteopathic medical school graduates choose careers in primary care. Osteopathic medicine also has a special focus on providing care in rural and urban underserved areas, allowing DOs to have a greater impact on the U.S. population's health and well-being than their numbers would suggest. Over the past three years, more than a third of osteopathic medical school graduates indicated they plan to practice in a rural or underserved area.

Osteopathic medicine is also rapidly growing! One in five medical students in the United States is attending an osteopathic medical school.

One key concept osteopathic medical students learn is that structure influences function. Thus, if there is a problem in one part of the bodys structure, function in that area, and possibly in other areas, may be affected.

Another integral tenet of osteopathic medicine is the bodys innate ability to heal itself. Many of osteopathic medicines manipulative techniques are aimed at reducing or eliminating the impediments to proper structure and function so the self-healing mechanism can assume its role in restoring a person to health.

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What Is Osteopathic Medicine - Its History & Philosophy