Origin of Osteopathy

Well, orientation is Monday thru Friday and then the fun begins as I set sail on my medical journey the next Monday, July 28, at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. I was just flipping through a few pages of one of my many obese textbooks and reading about the origins and principles of osteopathy. I am thinking that most people have a pretty good understanding of physicians and what they do, but I am willing to bet that most don't have much knowlege about the brand of medicine known as osteopathy. So I just decided that over the next four years I will occasionally post something on the subject that I have recently learned, whether it be interesting or strange, or that I think will help others understand. And I hope that I have enough MD friends that will read and comment in order to discuss the similarities and dissimilarities of our medical education and philosophy of medicine hoping that in the meantime we all become better physicians.

With the intro aside, I want to define osteopathy in this first post with the help of Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine (second edition):

Andrew Taylor Still, M.D., D.O., the founder of osteopathic medicine and the term itself, began using osteopathy to describe his practice and philosophy in the 1880s. The words roots simply break down as 'osteon,' meaning bone, and 'pathos,' meaning to suffer. He reasoned that the skeletal system was his starting point to determine the cause of pathological conditions. He said that "bones can be used as levers to relieve pressure on nerves, veins and arteries."

However, "osteopathy is not only a neuromusculoskeletal-oriented dignostic and treatment system, it is also a comprehensive and scientifically based school of medicine that emabraces a philosophy," which according to A.T. Still is "a scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology in the hands of a person of intelligence and skill, who can apply that knowledge to the use of man when sick or wounded by strains, shocks, falls, or mechanical derangement or injury of any kind to the body," and "the object of Osteopathy is to improve upon the present systems of surgery, midwifery, and treatment of general diseases." (Remember he wrote this in the late 1800s)

Also an important emphasis made in Osteopathic Medicine is found in the following quote from Still: "To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease." And in finding health the Doctor of Osteopathy is taught the importance of the full scope of health including mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life alongside the pathophysiologic issues.

I will try to keep these shorter in the future and hope they don't bore anyone outside the medical field.

-CB