OSTEOPATHIC VS. ALLOPATHIC from the old Hawaiian Guy

[philenom]

HAS ANYONE AT SABA APPLIED TO ANY COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHY IN THE UNITED STATES.
MY PREMED COURSES WERE "TARGETED" TOWARDS PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE; I THEREFORE, MAJORED IN PSYCHOLOGY. THE MIND-BODY-SPIRIT CONNECTION IF YOU WISH.

OSTEOPATHY SEEMS TO "FIT". WHEN YOU'RE MY AGE YOU'VE LONG FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE CRADLE AND BECOME MORE AWARE OF MORTALITY AND SPIRITUAL CONCERNS.

THERE ARE APPROX. 20 SCHOOLS IN ALL OF THE MAINLAND US.

I AM STILL DOING SOME SOUL-SEARCHING AT AGE 57 AND COUNTING THE COST. ONE MD FRIEND WITH GENUINE CONCERN FOR ME HAS BEEN VERY CANDID ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE HAS A PHYSICIAN. I CAN SORT OF RELATE WITH ALL OF MY CLINICAL EXPERIENCE AS A PARA/NURSE (EMT-P / RN /ETC.; HOWEVER, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A DIAGNOSIS WAS NOT IN MY SCOPE OF WORK. IF ONE IS CARING FOR THE PATIENT AND NOT LOOKING FOR THE BUCKS THAT ONE MIGHT MAKE AS THE FIRST PRIORITY; THEN THE EDUCATION AND HOMEWORK IS NEVER ENDING. JOURNAL READING VS. PLAYING WITH THE KIDS, POSSIBILITY OF A MISSED / ERRORS OF OMISSION OR CO-MISSION /THE THOUGHT OF A MISDIAGNOSIS OR WRONG CLINICAL IMPRESSION WAS EMOTIONALLY TAXING AFTER 42 YEARS SINCE GRADUATION FROM MED SCHOOL. HE ADMITTED TO NEGLECTING HIS CHILDREN MANY TIMES KEEPING UP WITH THE JOURNAL-LITERATURE OF HIS SPECIALTY TO MITIGATE ANY POSSIBILITY OF A WRONG-CALL ON A CASE. WE WERE TAUGHT IN EMT SCHOOL (1500 HOURS) THAT TO ERR IS HUMAN BUT IDEALLY THE CREED: "DO NO MORE HARM TO ANOTHER HUMAN BEING" SITS WELL WITH ME.


HE IS ONE OF THE FEW DEVOUT CHRISTIAN PHYSICIANS I KNOW.
OSTEOPATHY STRESSES THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF CARE.
WELL, IT IS OBVIOUS BY NOW......I AM UNDECIDED AND MY BRAINS ARE CHOP SUEY.

BUT, BOY DOES THAT MONKEY SCRATCH MY BACK SOMETING TERRIBLE !!! BETTER, TO HAVE FAILED THAN NOT TRIED AT ALL SOME HAVE SAID. I MAY SWITCH GEARS INTO SOMETHING OTHER AREA OR JUST BE CONTENTED WHERE I AM UNLESS OTHERWISE GUIDED BY DIVINE INTERVENTION.

PERHAPS, I'LL GET AN RX FOR OCD (OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER) I DON'T KNOW WHAT MY AXIS I WOULD BE THOUGH ANY SHRINKS-TO-BE OUT THERE?

TAKE CARE

THE OLD HAWAIIAN GUY.

CONGRATS TO THAT OTHER GUY FROM HAWAII WHO HAS BEEN ACCEPTED FOR JAN 2006 WHO HAD ATTENDED HPU (HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY). HOW ARE MOST OF YOU FINANCING YOU EDUCATION? I'D PROBABLY HAVE TO SELL MY CONDO TO HELP FINANCE ANY FURTHER EDUCATION. DO MOST OF YOU HAVE STUDENT LOANS? HPU IS A GOOD SCHOOL BUT TERRIBLY EXPENSIVE.
SABA IS COSTLY BUT NO WHERE CLOSE TO THOSE SCHOOLS OF OSTEOPATHY AT AROUND $35K CLAMS A YEAR.

LATERZ AND SHALOM,

DA' HAWAIIAN

[ResearchingGuy]

I considered DO schools but did not apply - mostly due to the cost. They are quite expensive these days. I think the philosophy is sound and OMT intrigues me, but I don't see how Osteopaths can really corner the market in whole patient care and spirituality in Medicine. I think a caring and spiritual Allopath can be just as effective ( there are a number of very religious students of various faiths in Saba you never hear much about - most notably a number of LDS families).

As I have started clinicals I have also noticed that the DO's I have encountered are not much different from the MD's and aren't treated any differently. I guess it's all just a toss-up I guess.

As for Axis I. I will defer until a full examination may be undertaken. 8)


Best of Luck!

[JV]

Hey Everybody,

As usual I agree with the insightful words of RG. Having been very interested in the concept of osteopathy before entering medical school, I was somewhat dismayed after spending nearly my entire third year at a primarily DO teaching hospital and seeing the reality of the osteopathic world. During this time I never once witnessing the practice of OMT by student, resident, or osteopathic physician (except in a monthly poorly attended one-hour morning lecture). From my personal experience the important practice of OMT is sustained by a few attending physicians and interested students who continue on into OMT residencies/fellowships.

In all primarily osteopathic teaching hospitals, there are OMT assessment pages in the patients chart. It is provided so the practitioner can document the osteopathic assessment and treatment given to each patient. In the institution where I worked, this sheet was a joke that was given lip-service and laughed about by the residents and attendings when nobody was looking.

The idea that DOs own the monopoly on compassionate and "holistic" patient care is a load of malarky. After nearly ten years of working in a hospital in numerous types of positions, I have seen excellent and pathetic care given to patients regardless of the alphabet soup behind the name of the caregiver (MD, DO, PA-C, NP, RN, EMT-P etc...). I'm sure anyone with patient experience will vouch for that.

Also, although DOs are respected by 99% of their MD colleagues, many patients still have no idea what a "DO" is. I can't tell you how many times I've been working with an excellent attending osteopathic physician and had to watch him or her tell the patient that "Yes, I am a real doctor" or "No, I'm not an optometrist, that's an OD" or "Yes I went to four years of medical school just like your regular MD". Although this may be a small and insignificant inconvenience, it happens frequently enough to be an obnoxious unnecessary delay.

Lastly, with my limited translational skills the term "allopathic" translates into "other disease" and I've always thought it's kind of funny that MDs have adopted that term (which was coined by osteopaths) to describe themselves.

Good luck and keep searching.

Josh

[Scott1981]

DO schools are very adamant about not coining themselves in the field of "osteopathy" even though there are a few US organizations that still us the term. the problem is that the term is used all over the world to refer to something akin to chiropractic medicine.

DOs in the US say that they practice "osteopathic medicine" and dont practice "osteopathy" which is their way of saying...... "we are medical physicians, not chiropractors.