OSTEOPATHY

OSTEOPATHY is a system of medicine in which the structure and functions of the body are given equal importance and advocates the body's natural ability to heal itself under the right conditions. Focusing on the "rule of artery," osteopaths manipulate body joints in an effort to improve circulation. The frontier physician Andrew Taylor Still (1828–1917) developed the system in 1874 while living in Kansas. As Still's system of treatment evolved, he attempted to present his methods to the faculty of Baker University in Kansas but was turned away. Without the support of the medical community or any patients, Still made his living as an itinerant doctor until his popularity grew enough for him to establish an infirmary. He settled in Kirksville, Missouri, in 1889. Just three years later, Still opened the American School of Osteopathy (later renamed Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine); the school was chartered a year later. The first graduating class of seventeen men and five women studied under Still, his sons, and other doctors. Dr. James Littlejohn and Dr. William Smith—Smith, the first to be awarded the Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.) degree, from Scotland—played important roles in the growth of the school and popularity of osteopathy. In 1897, the American Association for the Advancement of Osteopathy, later called the American Osteopathy Association, and the Associated Colleges of Osteopathy were formed. Once organized into professional associations, osteopaths began to formalize educational and professional standards. In 1905, a three-year course of study was developed; in 1915, the course was increased to four years. As the profession grew, it received recognition from governmental departments as well as the Department of Defense, which granted officer rank to osteopathic doctor volunteers. By the close of the 1970s, Doctors of Osteopathy held full practice rights in all fifty states. In 1982, more than twenty thousand doctors of osteopathy were practicing in the United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wardwell, Walter I. Chiropractic: History and Evolution of a New Profession. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby-Year Book, 1992.

Lisa A. Ennis