About the Cleveland Academy of Osteopathic Medicine
Created during the 1920's as a professional association for area osteopathic physicians, the Cleveland Academy of Osteopathic Medicine (CAOM) continues to follow its original mission to promote and elevate medical education, postgraduate training and research, and to encourage mutual understanding and cooperation between Academy members and public health agencies for the improvement of public health.
Located in Beachwood, CAOM is one of the 13 district Academies in Ohio that comprises the Ohio Osteopathic Association (OOA). Each district provides professional support to DO's locally, and promotes osteopathic visibility and outreach in the community. The OOA serves as the divisional society of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), which is the national association located in Chicago.
Currently, CAOM membership is comprised of over 200 physicians, almost 300 residents and interns, and approximately 100 students. The Academy continues to strive to assure necessary, appropriate, high quality, and accessible medical care.
About Osteopathic Medicine
If you're like most people, you've been going to a doctor ever since you were born, and perhaps were not aware of whether you were seeing a DO (osteopathic physician) or an MD (allopathic physician). You may not even be aware that there are two types of complete physicians in the United States.
The fact is that both DO's and MD's are fully qualified physicians licensed to perform sugery and prescribe medication. Is there any difference between these two kinds of doctors? Yes. And no.
Similarities Between DO's and MD's
Applicants to both DO and MD medical colleges typically have a four-year undergraduate degree with an emphasis on scientific courses.
Both DO's and MD's complete four years of basic medical education.
After medical school, both DO's and MD's can choose to practice in a specialty area of medicine - such as pedicatrics, family practice, psychiatry, surgery or obstetrics - after completing a residency program (typically two to six years of additional training).
Both DO's and MD's must pass comparable state licensing examinations.
DO's and MD's both practice in fully accredited and licensed health care facilities.
DO's comprise a separate, yet equal, branch of American medical care. Together DO's and MD's enhance the state of care available in America.
However, it is the ways in this DO's and MD's are different that can bring an extra dimension to your family's health care.
History of Osteopathic Profession
Osteopathic medicine is a unique form of American medical care that was developed in 1874 by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. Dr. Still was dissatisfied with the effectiveness of 19th century medicine. He believed that many of the medications of his day were useless or even harmful. Dr. Still was one of the first in his time to study the attributes of good health so that he could better understand the process of disease.
In response, Dr. Still founded a philosophy of medicine based on ideas that date back to Hippocrates, the father of medicine. The philosophy focuses on the unity of all body parts. He identified the musculoskeletal system as a key element of health. He recognized the body's ability to heal itself andstressed preventive medicine, eating properly and keeping fit.
Dr. Still pioneered the concept of "wellness" over 125 years ago. In today's terms, personal health risks - such as smoking, high blood pressure, excessive cholesterol levels, stress, and other lifestyle factors - are evaluated for each individual. In coordination with appropriate medical treatment, the osteopathic physician acts as a teacher to help patients take more responsibility of their own well-being and change unhealthy patterns.
Osteopathic Physicians Today
Just as Dr. Still pioneered osteopathic medicine on the Missouri frontier in 1874, today osteopathic physicians serve as modern day medical pioneers. They continue the tradition of bringing health care to areas of greatest need:
DO's are one of the fastest growing segments of health care professionals in the United States. By the year 2020, it is estimated that at least 100,000 osteopathic physicians will be in active medical practice.
Applications to U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine are up by nearly 8.8%, and today, nearly one in five U.S. medical students is training to be an osteopathic physician, at ratio that is expected to grown to one in four by 2019.
Approximately 65% of all osteopathic physicians practice in primary care areas such as pediatrics, family practice, obstetrics/gynecology and internal medicine.
Many DO's fill a critical need for doctors by practicing in rural and medically underserved areas.
Osteopathic physicians continue to be on the cutting edge of modern medicine. DO's are able to combine today's medical techology with their ears, to listen caringly to their patients; their eyes, to see their patients as whole persons; and their hands, to diagnose and treat injury as well as illness.
DO's Bring Something Extra to Medicine:
Osteopathic medical schools emphasize training students to be primary care physicians.
DO's practice a "whole person" approach to medicine. Instead of just treating specific symptoms or illnesses, they regard your body as an integrated whole.
Osteopathic physicians focus on preventive health care.
DO's receive extra training in the musculoskeletal system - your body's interconnected system of nerves, muscles and bones that make up two-thirds of its body mass. This training provides osteopathic physicians with a better understanding of the ways that an injury or illness in one part of your body can affect another.
Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is incorporated in the training and practice of osteopathic physicians. With OMT, osteopathic physicians use their hands to diagnose injury and illness, and to encourage your body's natural tendency toward good health. By combining all available medical procedures with OMT, DO's offer their patients the most comprehensive care available in medicine today.