Treatment of Pain and Injury

D.O. stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, also known as an Osteopath.  D.O.s and their allopathic counterparts, M.D.s (Doctor of Medicine), are both fully qualified physicians licensed to perform surgery and prescribe medication. These are the only two professions considered complete physicians. 

D.O.s practice a "holistic" approach to medicine, regarding your body as an integrated whole. Osteopathic physicians focus on preventive health care. D.O.s also receive additional training in the musculoskeletal system, which is the body's interconnected system of muscles, nerves, bones and blood vessels. 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 other areas of the body. Osteopathic manipulative medicine or treatment (OMM or 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 healing. By combining all available medical procedures with OMT, D.O.s offer their patients the most comprehensive care available in medicine today.

A large majority of D.O.s practice in the primary care areas of family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics.  The remaining minority choose other fields of specialty, one of which is osteopathic manipulative medicine.  Many D.O.s practice in small towns and rural areas, often taking care of entire families and whole communities.