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How To Become An Osteopathic Doctor?
Unless a person is born with congenital conditions, complications during birth, or an accident, human beings’ health is a representation of what they eat and do. The amount of nutrition that you intake will determine your body’s immunity to fight and reverse under-the-weather health symptoms. Sufficient exercise, intake of water, and rest will repair your body cells and keep you fit. An osteopath works in perspective of these lifestyle-oriented factors that impact your well-being. Osteopaths get an extra two hundred hours of training in musculoskeletal systems as the study believes that bones, nerves, and muscle tendons are interconnected.
People often develop wrist pain when they use their arm in a certain position for too long. However, only an osteopath will be able to assess that the carpal tunnel syndrome that a patient is suffering is linked to their ongoing cervical prolapse or sciatica pain. After due assessment, they work on easing the pain by addressing the root cause. This not only eases the pain but diminishes the chances of the recurrence of the ailment. In a world where healthcare facilities are burdened with too many patients and too few doctors to attend to, preventive medicine will always prove to be beneficial. Osteopaths help in preventive care through manipulative pressures to set the pain source back to health. With the right articulation and acupressure, osteopaths relieve the stress that has been built over a period. They also advise various corrective measures like using compressions, stretch exercises to ease the pain, and spine manipulations to ease the radiating pains.
To practice as a DO or a doctor of osteopathic medicine, one has to clear the COMLEX Level 1 exam before they approach other stages. Aspirants have to sacrifice considerable time and divert their efforts to study consistently to succeed in clearing the exam. The results are rewarding despite the hardships akin to any other residency program of traditional medicine. But there are several steps a future osteopath has to go through before they come to the stage of writing their licensure exams. Each step is equally crucial concerning relevance and use in the future. Here are the steps that one has to follow to become an osteopath:
- Science Majors
Take up science, preferably life sciences in your bachelor program. Maintain a good GPA as med school competition is huge. Take your subjects seriously in understanding the concepts as the licensure exams have several topics based on what you learn in your science subjects in college. In a science major, you will learn about life science topics related to human anatomy and physiology. This knowledge goes a long way in your performance in osteopathy school and licensure exams. Your critical thinking and response time develop with a strong base in science topics.
- Score High In MCAT
MCAT is the entrance and qualifying exam for students looking to study in med and osteopathy schools. It is a test to understand your comprehension of biology, zoology, chemistry, and human behavior. A good GPA in your bachelor program, a high score on the MCAT, and decent recommendation letters can see you through some fine osteopathy schools. In recent times, a score above 515 has placed students in the 90th percentile of students who took the test. The competition gets tougher as several students are likely to score more than that score while maintaining a good GPA above 3.8. Create a structured study plan so that you can maintain your college and MCAT scores above the 95th percentile of the students and improve your chances of acceptance into a good osteopathy college.
- Apply To Osteopathy Programs
An osteopathy program trains you in osteopathic manipulative medicines with an additional two hundred hours of training in musculoskeletal systems as an addendum to regular medicine training. Get practical experience in your rotations to develop your critical thinking and responsive skills. Osteopathy doctors are required in post-trauma and preventive care. Reliving life normally after a major accident is not possible without the aid of an osteopath who uses a holistic approach to help patients heal and regain their motor skills.
- Write COMLEX Exam
Before entering a residency program and training to be a practicing osteopath, all the aspirants of osteopathy school, have to clear a three-level licensure exam known as COMLEX. It is a difficult exam and clearing all the stages is mandated for a successful placement in a residency program.
Prepare a study routine at least four months before each exam level. The topics are long and vast. An early start will eliminate the need to rush through the content. You can strategize to focus more time and energy on high-scoring topics. Use active learning methods like notes and spaced repetitions to easily retain the content for a longer period.
Understand the exam format so that your preparation can be focussed. You can take practice exams as a self-assessment approach. This step ensures that you can explore your weak areas and give enough time to work on them.
- Residency Program
Based on your performance in the COMLEX and upon successful completion of the osteopathy school program, you will be accepted into a residency program. Based on how you fare in the residency program, you can be signed off as a practicing DO anywhere between three to five years.
Conclusion:
The way we live and eat has seen tremendous change. Highly processed food, lack of nutrition, stress, sleeplessness, and an inactive lifestyle are putting most working population at risk. Osteopaths help in holistically treating us based on our lifestyle complications. The scope for osteopaths in wellness clinics is on the rise. Patients with chronic issues can understand the underlying cause and get treatment plans that address the root cause. The recurrence of episodes of pain and discomfort is reduced. Osteopaths are also required in post-trauma and geriatric care where patients need assistance to get back on their feet. In the rigamarole of becoming an osteopath, remember that you have to take care of yourself as much as you advise your patients.
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