Osteopathic Medicine
Osteopathic Curriculum
Our Osteopathic Medicine Track is designed for the resident who wants to gain proficiency in the use of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) and Osteopathic Principles and Practice (OPP) and implement these skills into their post-residency practice. Our program is proud to hold ACGME Osteopathic Recognition.
Our Osteopathic Medicine Track has three primary components:
We provide biweekly lectures and hands-on sessions, using the nearby facilities at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Dublin Campus OMT lab. These lab sessions are "clinically oriented," organized by presenting pathology with a focus on creating efficient and effective treatment approaches that can be immediately used in the office. Labs are typically led by Dr. Byler, with occasional help from interested residents or guest speakers.
We provide direct supervision of resident OMT visits three half days a week in our OMT Clinic. This clinic is staffed by resident physicians in our OMT Track and precepted by Dr. Byler and Dr. Madachy. Each morning has up to 5 patients who have been referred to the clinic for OMT treatment, either by residents in our own office or outside providers. We see a wide range of patients and complaints, from infants with torticollis or feeding difficulties to adults with post-surgical fascial restriction. Direct supervision in this clinic provides significant benefits to our resident learners. Drs. Byler and Madachy can provide immediate feedback, demonstrate new techniques, model effective treatment and patient communication, and evaluate resident competency.
Residents are also encouraged to routinely use OMT in their personal clinic time. This is typically indirectly supervised, and serves as a great space for practicing skills residents have gained in didactics and the OMT clinic.
The demand for OMT is very high in our area. The OMT Clinic is typically scheduled out 6-8 weeks. Multiple third year residents have been told to stop adding new OMT patients to their personal schedules due to concerns that they were seeing too much OMT and not enough general family medicine!
Allopathic Focused Curriculum for MDs:
We have designed our OMT curriculum to be accessible for both DO and MD residents. For example, our didactic labs contain both basic concepts of OMT and advanced techniques. The clinical orientation of these labs make them accessible to MDs who already have a clear understanding of pathology presentations based on their training. The direct observation in OMT clinic allows for individualized training adapted to each resident's proficiency. Our residency program has successfully trained multiple MD residents who demonstrated competency in OMT techniques prior to graduation.
MD residents in the OMT track are required to take the Osteopathic Medicine for All Course - a 2 day course offered in conjunction with OUHCOM Dublin Campus that is designed for MD or DO residents to improve Osteopathic knowledge and better integrate OMM/OPP into their training and improve skills. Osteopathic graduates may also enroll in this course if desired.
If you have questions about the Osteopathic Medicine Track, please email Dr. Byler at dorvan.byler@ohiohealth.com for more details.