Osteopaths (the other 'real' doctors) to convene

Mary Beth Faller
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 8, 2005 12:00 AM

Hundreds of family physicians will gather at Phoenix Civic Plaza next week for their annual convention, discussing such typical medical topics as headaches, diabetes treatment and nutrition.

Though "real" doctors in every sense, they don't carry the credentials M.D. after their names, but D.O.

So what makes this group, the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, different from "regular," or allopathic, family physicians?

In many ways, they are similar. Both groups attend medical school and are licensed to perform surgery and prescribe medicines. If you have the flu, you're likely to get similar treatment from either.

The difference is more in the focus.

"Training for an osteopathic doctor focuses tremendously on the various interrelationships in the body, and we learn to treat patients not as a series of symptoms, but as a whole person," says Scott Steingard, an osteopathic family physician in Phoenix. "We're also concerned with things that affect them in their daily life.

"That's not to say that other doctors don't do that, but the uniqueness of osteopathic medicine is that the focus is to look right at that."

Osteopathic medical schools also emphasize training for primary care, especially in underserved rural areas. About 3 percent of all doctors in Arizona are osteopaths and half of them are in primary care, according to the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association.

Osteopathic medicine was founded in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, a Missouri physician who was disillusioned by the medical practices of the time. He believed there was a strong correlation between the musculoskeletal system and the organs of the body, a principle stressed in osteopathic training today. D.O.s practice the technique of osteopathic manipulative treatment, or OMT, a hands-on treatment of gentle pressure, stretching and resistance. The goal of OMT is to restore the body to a neutral pattern, according to Steingard, who says that not every D.O. performs manipulation.

"The beauty is that we have the advantage of every modality: medicine, surgery, nutrition, manipulation - everything is at our disposal," he says. He uses OMT on about half of his patients.

Because chiropractors, who do not go to medical school, also practice a form of manipulation, there's a lot of confusion between the two practices.

"We've done a poor job of promoting our profession," Steingard says.

Like many people, Janalee Hagen was a bit skeptical of osteopathic doctors.

"My mother-in-law went to one for years, and I thought, 'What the heck are you doing?' " says the Phoenix resident.

But after unsatisfactory experiences with M.D.s and recommendations from relatives, Hagen, 58, decided to try an osteopath.

When she pulled a muscle in her back, her D.O. performed manipulation on her. "I thought, 'OK, this is nice.' And it felt much better," she says.

"I don't think I would ever go back to a regular doctor. Now my whole family goes."

A small study conducted in Maine and published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association in 2003 compared patients who visited osteopaths with those visiting allopaths, and concluded that D.O.s scored higher is such areas as using patients' names, discussing emotions and family life, and better explaining the cause of a disease.

Many people consider osteopathy as "alternative" medicine, although it's not.

"Patients come in and ask about (alternative treatments)," Steingard says. "There's a certain expectation that I know what it is because I'm a D.O., so I keep abreast of new treatments all the time."

Many D.O.s are members of the Arizona Medical Association, says Andrea C. Smiley, communications director. "Their medical training is very similar," she says. "We think highly of them."

To find an osteopathic doctor, visit the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association Web site at www.az-osteo.org or call (602) 266-6699.