Osteopathic physicians?!
Question:
Osteopathic physicians?
what are do's?
Answers:
Hi Ronald P,
Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, or D.O.s, apply the philosophy of treating the whole person (a holistic approach) to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness, disease and injury using conventional medical practice such as drugs and surgery, along with manual therapy (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine or OMM).
As with Doctors of Medicine (M.D.s), D.O.s educated in the United States are fully licensed physicians and surgeons who practice the full scope of medicine. Currently, there are 24 accredited osteopathic medical schools[2] in the United States and 125 accredited M.D.-granting U.S. medical schools.[3]
M.D. and D.O.-granting U.S. medical schools have similar curricula. Generally, the first two years are classroom-based, while the third and fourth years consist of clinical rotations through the different major specialties of medicine. Upon graduation, both M.D. and D.O. physicians may opt to pursue residency training programs. Depending on state licensing laws, osteopathic physicians may also be required to complete a one-year rotating internship at a hospital approved by the AOA - the American Osteopathic Association. Osteopathic physicians also have the opportunity to pursue allopathic residency programs, however, the converse is not currently permitted. Within the U.S., osteopathic physicians practice in all medical specialties including, but not limited to, internal medicine, emergency medicine, dermatology, surgery, and radiology. There is no difference in compensation between allopathic and osteopathic physicians. Physician salaries do differ among the various medical specialties.
Osteopathic medical physicians educated in countries outside of the U.S. do not follow the same curriculum as U.S.-trained D.O.'s. Their scope of practice is limited mainly to musculoskeletal conditions and treatment of some other conditions using OMM and various alternative medicine methods.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Jason Homan