OSTEOPATHY
I had never heard of Osteopathy or
Osteopathic physicians until I was
applying to medical school. Andrew Weil, M.D., the guru of alterna
tive
medicine in our country, has done more to spread the word than anyone else, in
his book "Spontaneous Healing." Dr. Weil writes in chapter three
how
he was frustrated as an MD and searched the world for truly great healers, and
he "found the best in my own backyard," when he met Dr. Fulford, an
osteopath. Osteopathy is a
medical philosophy as much as it is a medical practice and approach to health
and disease. It is kind of like America's best kept secret.
This is medical treatment, approved by insurance companies, accepted as a
"medical procedure" for billing purposes, and not new to western
medicine.
Osteopathy was founded 150 years ago by A.T. Still, MD. He was a Civil War doctor who lost four children to disease and he felt amidst his loss that there must be a better way than drugs and surgery to heal ourselves. His gift of understanding medicine in a new light brought profound and safe improvement in those patients lucky enough to have been treated by an Osteopathic physician. In this country, Osteopathic physicians learn everything MD physicians learn, plus they learn manipulation/manual medicine. Manual medicine is becoming a popular class in MD schools, now that more natural means of treatment is being sought.