Osteopathy is a type of pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. In most countries, practitioners of osteopathy are not medically trained and are referred to as osteopaths.
Osteopathic medicine is a branch of the medical profession in the United States that promotes the practice of science-based medicine, often referred to in this context as allopathic medicine, with a set of philosophy and principles set by its earlier form, osteopathy. Osteopathic physicians (DOs) are graduates of American osteopathic medical colleges and are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery in all 50 US states; they have historically applied for medical licensure in 87 countries outside of the United States, 85 of which provided them with the full scope of medical and surgical practice. The field is distinct from osteopathic practices offered in nations outside of the U.S., whose practitioners are generally not considered part of core medical staff nor of medicine itself, but rather are alternative medicine practitioners. The other major branch of medicine in the United States is referred to by practitioners of osteopathic medicine as allopathic medicine.
Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO was the founder of osteopathic medicine. He was also a physician and surgeon, author, inventor and Kansas territorial and state legislator. He was one of the founders of Baker University, the oldest four-year college in the state of Kansas, and was the founder of the American School of Osteopathy, the world's first osteopathic medical school, in Kirksville, Missouri.
Midwestern University (MWU) is a private medical and professional school with campuses in Downers Grove, Illinois and Glendale, Arizona. As of the 2020–21 academic year, a total of 2,987 students were enrolled at the Downers Grove campus and 3,902 were enrolled at the Glendale campus.
The Flexner Report is a book-length landmark report of medical education in the United States and Canada, written by Abraham Flexner and published in 1910 under the aegis of the Carnegie Foundation. Many aspects of the present-day American medical profession stem from the Flexner Report and its aftermath. The Flexner report has been criticized for introducing policies that encouraged systemic racism.
The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) is a private medical school on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia (VCOM-Virginia), with branch campuses in Spartanburg, South Carolina (VCOM-Carolinas), Auburn, Alabama (VCOM-Auburn) and Monroe, Louisiana (VCOM-Louisiana). VCOM also recently added Bluefield University to its list of campuses. Founded in 2002, VCOM graduated its first class of 139 students in June 2007.
Abraham Flexner was an American educator, best known for his role in the 20th century reform of medical and higher education in the United States and Canada.
The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) is the representative member organization for the more than 176,000 osteopathic medical doctors (D.O.s) and osteopathic medical students in the United States. The AOA is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and is involved in post-graduate training for osteopathic physicians. Beginning in 2015, it began accrediting post-graduate education as a committee within the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, creating a unified accreditation system for all DOs and MDs in the United States. The organization promotes public health, encourages academic scientific research, serves as the primary certifying body for D.O.s overseeing 18 certifying boards, and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools through its Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. As of October 2015, the AOA no longer owns the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP), which accredited hospitals and other health care facilities.
James J. McGovern is an American academic, who served as president of A.T. Still University (ATSU) from 1997 to 2008. He was also a professor in the university's Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.
Medical school in the United States is a graduate program with the purpose of educating physicians in the undifferentiated field of medicine. Such schools provide a major part of the medical education in the United States. Most medical schools in the US confer upon graduates a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, while some confer a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree. Most schools follow a similar pattern of education, with two years of classroom and laboratory based education, followed by two years of clinical rotations in a teaching hospital where students see patients in a variety of specialties. After completion, graduates must complete a residency before becoming licensed to practice medicine.
Most physicians in the United States hold either the Doctor of Medicine degree (MD) or the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree (DO). Institutions awarding the MD are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME). Institutions awarding the DO are accredited by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA). The World Directory of Medical Schools lists both LCME accredited MD programs and COCA accredited DO programs as US medical schools. Foreign-trained osteopaths do not hold DO degrees and are not recognized as physicians in the United States or in other jurisdictions.
The New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYIT-COM) is a private medical school located primarily in Old Westbury, New York. It also has a degree-granting campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Founded in 1977, NYIT-COM is an academic division of the New York Institute of Technology. Formerly the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, it is one of the largest medical schools in the United States.
A.T. Still University (ATSU) is a private medical school based in Kirksville, Missouri, with a second campus in Arizona and third campus in Santa Maria, California. It was founded in 1892 by Andrew Taylor Still and was the world's first osteopathic medical school. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. ATSU includes three campuses on 200 acres with seven schools and colleges.
Sigma Sigma Phi, is the national osteopathic medicine honors fraternity for medical students training to be Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.). The National Osteopathic Medicine Honors Fraternity is a group united in the interest of preserving the highest class of medical scholastic excellence and includes community service.
Eclectic medicine was a branch of American medicine that made use of botanical remedies along with other substances and physical therapy practices, popular in the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
The Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) is one of the two public medical schools of Michigan State University, a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. The college grants the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree, as well as a DO-PhD combined degree for students interested in training as physician-scientists. MSUCOM operates two satellite campuses in Clinton Township and Detroit. The college is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) and by the Higher Learning Commission.
Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. is an American physician, academic, and the first African-American woman to serve as dean of a U.S. medical school; she is also known as the sister of global music sensation Diana Ross along with being the aunt of actress Tracee Ellis Ross, and singer-songwriters Rhonda Ross Kendrick and Evan Ross. She majored in biology and chemistry at Wayne State University, graduating in 1965. Then, in 1969, she entered Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Ross-Lee then went on to open her own private family practice, teach as a professor, and hold other positions within the medical community. In 1993, she was elected as the first woman dean of a medical school, at Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has earned several awards and honors for her work and accomplishments.
William Smith (1862-1912) was a Scottish American physician who was an early proponent of osteopathic medicine and an early associate of Andrew Still in Missouri.
