VCOM 2023 Annual Report

What is Osteopathic Medicine? The History of Osteopathic Medicine

in lower mortality rates than hospitals. By the 1960s, the profession was recognized by the American Medical Association as having an education equivalent to an allopathic medical degree. I n the years since VCOM’s opening in 2003, the number of osteopathic medical schools and physicians has grown quickly. There are currently 41 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States.

A ndrew Taylor Still was born in 1828 in Lee County, Virginia. His father was a Methodist minister and physician, and A.T. Still would follow in his footsteps. Dr. Still earned his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Kansas City, which

was subsequently absorbed by the University of Kansas School of Medicine. After serving as an apprentice to his father, Dr. Still served in the Civil War, providing a number of medical services to the Army.

“To find health should be the object of any doctor. Anyone can find disease.”

F ollowing the Civil War, Dr. Still became disenchanted with

conventional medicine, believing it often caused significant

- Andrew T. Still, founder of osteopathic medicine

harm to patients. He was a proponent of preventative medicine and treatments that did not involve drugs, which led him to establish the first osteopathic medical school in Kirksville, Missouri, in 1876. I t took several decades for the osteopathic profession to be accepted. It first reached national recognition during the 1918 influenza epidemic, when osteopathic treatments—then consisting of manipulative treatments that promoted pulmonary function, isolation, hygiene and fluids—resulted

What is a DO? N early 14% of all physicians in the United States are Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs.) Like A.T. Still, today’s DOs bring a unique, patient-centered approach to the full spectrum of medicine. D Os practice in all medical specialties, including primary care, pediatrics, OBGYN, emergency medicine, psychiatry and surgery. While a DO may enter any specialty of medicine, the majority of VCOM graduates choose to enter primary care and many are dedicated to the care of those in rural and underserved areas.

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