Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to evaluate the education of osteopathic physicians who integrate osteopathic manipulative medicine in practice and attempt to find key factors that might be viewed as best practices to be adopted by colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs), Departments of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), and postgraduate training programs; and 2) to evaluate if gross human anatomy was seen as valuable in OMM training.

A 31-question, online survey was distributed to English-speaking members of the American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO) in the United States from July through October of 2016. Of the 438 respondents, 325 (74.3%) reported having a mentor in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) or osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) while in school. In addition, 270 (61.6%) had dedicated time to practice OMT while in school, with 186 (42.5%) practicing supervised in a school clinic, 340 (77.6%) practicing during an undergraduate rotation, and 244 (55.7%) practicing after school hours. Many of the mentees participated in several of the above activities. Chi square test was applied to participants who are Fellows of the American Academy of Osteopathy (FAAOs). This test revealed that 24 of 26 (92.3%) of FAAOs, who responded, had a mentor, a statistically significant relationship between having an OMT/OMM mentor and becoming an FAAO (P=.03).

Almost all survey participants (438 [99.5%]) had some type of gross anatomy while in medical school. The majority of respondents (321 [73.8%]) performed dissections, 81 (18.6%) had both prosection and dissections, 33 (7.6%) only had prosection, and 321 (73.8%) found that it was extremely helpful in their OMM training. In comparison, 341 respondents (78.2%) reported that gross anatomy was important to their specialty.

The survey clearly demonstrated that early exposure to an OMM mentor leads to increased use of OMT and OMM and that a strong foundation in gross human anatomy was found to be useful for physicians across specialty training, including OMM.

Abstract

A new variant of the Still Technique is described involving the use of a local force vector applied directly to the restricted tissue during the passive movement of the tissue from its ease through its restriction. This new “short lever” version is easily taught and, based on classroom experience, can be readily mastered by students of osteopathic manipulative medicine at all levels.