OSTEOPATHY YESTERDAY AND TODAY
Osteopathy is a field of diagnosis and treatment with over a hundred years of tradition. Its main premise is to treat the human body as an integral whole in which related processes occur. According to this principle, osteopathic examination cannot focus solely on one selected part of the body, and its task is primarily to find the primary dysfunction of the body, which may seem to be unrelated to current ailments. Importantly, osteopathy as a field using clinical diagnostic methods is not an alternative to academic medicine, but it is a perfect complement.
The concept of osteopathy as a form of improving conventional medicine has been around since 1874. Its creator was the American doctor Andrew Taylor Still, who eighteen years later founded the first school of osteopathy of the American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri. University graduates received the title of doctor of osteopathy (the D.O. designation which has been functioning until today was created in contrast to M.D. – the title of doctor of medicine received by graduates of medical academies).
Soon A. Taylor Still founded Kirksville College, which became one of the largest centers of osteopathic education and research in the USA.
Founded in London by one of Still’s students, the British School of Osteopathy was the first osteopathic college on the old continent. Further schools were created, including in Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Austria, France and Italy.
In 2008, the Osteopathy Academy began its activity, implementing a curriculum compliant with OSEAN requirements.