The practice of osteopathy began in the United States in 1874. The term “osteopathy” was coined by Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO. Still was a physician & surgeon, Kansas state & territorial legislator, a free state leader, and one of the founders of Baker University, who lived near Baldwin City, Kansas at the time of the American Civil War. In Baldwin, he developed the practice of osteopathy.
Still named his new school of medicine “osteopathy,” reasoning that the bone (osteon), was the starting point from which he was to ascertain the cause of pathological conditions. Still founded the American School of Osteopathy (now A.T. Still University of the Health Sciences) in Kirksville, Missouri, for the teaching of osteopathy on May 10, 1892. While the state of Missouri, recognizing the equivalency of the curriculum, was willing to grant him a charter for awarding the MD degree, he remained dissatisfied with the limitations of conventional medicine and instead chose to retain the distinction of the DO degree.
The practise of osteopathy has a long history in the UK. The first school of osteopathy was established in London in 1917 by John Martin Littlejohn, PhD, MD, DO (doctor of osteopathy), a pupil of A.T. Still (doctor of osteopathy), who had been Dean of The Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. After many years of existing outside the mainstream of health care provision, the osteopathic profession in the UK was finally accorded formal recognition by Parliament in 1993 by the Osteopaths Act. This legislation now provides the profession of osteopathy the same legal framework of statutory self-regulation as other healthcare professions such as medicine and dentistry.
The General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) regulates the practise of osteopathy under the terms of the Osteopaths Act 1993. A person cannot practise unless they register with the GOsC. The General Osteopathic Council has a statutory duty to promote, develop and regulate the profession of osteopathy in the UK. It fulfils its duty to protect the interests of the public by ensuring that all osteopaths maintain high standards of safety, competence and professional conduct throughout their professional lives. In order to be registered with the General Osteopathic Council an osteopath must hold a recognized qualification that meets the standards as set out by law in the GOsC’s Standard of Practise. This Act provides for “protection of title” A person who, whether expressly or implication describes himself as an osteopath, osteopathic practitioner, osteopathic physician, osteopathist, osteotherapist, or any kind of osteopath is guilty of an offence unless he is registered as an osteopath. There are currently approximately four thousand osteopaths registered in the UK.
In the United Kingdom, courses in Osteopathy have recently become integrated into the university system. Instead of receiving a Diploma in Osteopathy (DO), with or without a Diploma in Naturopathy (ND), graduates now become Masters or Bachelors of Osteopathy, or Osteopathic Medicine, (BOst or MOst) or else Bachelors of Science (BSc) in Osteopathy or Osteopathic Medicine, according to the institution attended.
The recognition of osteopathy also means that doctors can now refer patients to osteopaths for treatment with the transfer of clinical responsibility rather than simply delegating the responsibility for care, as is the case with other healthcare professionals. It may or may not be a covered benefit under the National Health Service depending on where in the UK you may live.
Osteopathic medicine is regulated by the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and the General Medical Council (GMC) under the terms of the Osteopaths Act 1993 and statement from the GMC. A person cannot practise unless they register with both the GMC and GOsC. There is one “cross-over” institution, the London College of Osteopathic Medicine, which teaches osteopathy only to those who are already physicians.
Foreign-trained osteopathic physicians, who are registered with the GMC and GOsC, hold both a full medical practise and osteopathic license. Each applicant will have to pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board test (PLAB) and work for one supervised year in the National Health Service (NHS). Following that year, the applicants will be able to apply for full registration (unsupervised practice or private practice). If the physician is already a specialist, postgraduate training will need to be separately recognized by thePostgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB).
