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Medicine is diverse, and more advanced alternatives are unveiled daily to help get a patient through recovery. If you’re considering a medical career, you should pick a niche that allows you to pursue your passion and learn new aspects of the industry, such as osteopathic medicine.
Ideally, it operates on the basis that all of the patient’s body functions and systems are coordinated. So, as a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), you get the chance to treat your patients exhaustively, not just their symptoms but their overall lifestyle choices, which can result in other illnesses.
If you’re intrigued about taking a career in osteopathic medicine, read further to gain more insight about it.
As a doctor, your main aim is to treat your patients so they can heal completely. However, you may treat a symptom today, and after a week or so, another one manifests, forcing your patient to come back for another checkup. This cycle is repetitive and exhausting to you and your patient. Thus, avoiding reductionist medicine through osteopathy enables you to delve deeper into a patient’s system beyond the observable symptoms. You get to check your patient’s lifestyle and surroundings because, in most cases, it can affect their overall well-being.
After making a diagnosis, you can also give your patients pointers on preventing illnesses, which will save them from making regular visits to your clinic.
During your training, you’ll learn some special skills you may not gain in other fields of medicine. For instance, you can be taught about musculoskeletal systems, which entails studying the body’s system, like the bones, nerves, and muscles. Often, these interconnected systems play a crucial role in most illnesses.
You’ll also learn how to practice handling these bodily systems’ functions through Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), which helps boost the body’s function and rebuild balance.
Moreover, with osteopathic medicine, you can specialize in your preferred niche. It gives you an easier time learning one thing and mastering it to perfection to give your patients the best medical care they need. Some of the different specialties under osteopathic medicine are:
If you’re interested, you can also delve into surgery, gynecology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, and cranial osteopathy.
Compared to other medical degrees, you can start your practice quickly with osteopathic medicine because it usually takes five years to finish studying, unlike others which take eight years or more. You can complete your studies in four years, wherein you’re trained in preventive and holistic patient care. Then, you can intern for a year to handle patience in pediatrics, midwifery, family practice, or surgery to gain more experience.
You can still specialize in a specific field after the primary care doctor training. If you choose to specialize further, you can train for about two to six years.
Osteopathic medicine gives you career freedom because you don’t have to be employed at a health facility. You can set up a solo practice once you’re fully licensed. Then, you can see patients and note their medical history, conduct diagnostic analysis, suggest a suitable treatment method, and advise them on how to take care of themselves to have a long and healthy life.
You can quickly get employed after completing your studies and obtaining a medical board license. You can earn a lucrative salary depending on where you choose to practice, the number of hours you work, and the rates you decide to charge your patients.
Besides employment, you can get into private practice right away. Running an osteopathy clinic of your own can be highly profitable if you strive to build your brand. You can even travel to other countries where you’re qualified to practice, which can be both a fulfilling experience and an excellent supplement to your credentials.
A significant population doesn’t have access to medical attention, which can make their illnesses progress to the point it’s too late to treat them, which could be fatal. Thus, you can always give back to the community by undertaking osteopathic medicine. You can work as a physician for those in low-income areas or rural places with little access to quality medical services.
Conclusion
Osteopathic medicine is a lucrative career and allows you to treat your patients as people, not only their symptoms. It’ll enable you to discuss your patient’s lifestyle choices and environment one-on-one, then allow you to advise them on what to do to prevent illnesses. Transforming a patient’s life holistically is gratifying.
