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Osteopathic Medicine: The Patient-Centered, Whole-Person Difference

People sometimes ask. “What’s the difference between an M.D. and a D.O.?” And “Do you practice manipulation?” I’m delighted to explain. First of all…

So considering the similarities, you might be asking what I mean by “the patient-centered, whole-person difference.” It’s a way of saying that osteopathic medicine opens doors to more opportunities for patients to improve their quality of life and achieve a lasting state of wellness.

Expanding the Reach of Mainstream Medical Care

As mentioned on our home page, “wellness must be more than the absence of illness.” This means the goal is to get and keep our patients on track for a lifetime of optimized health. The core principles of osteopathic medicine guide us to meet this goal through a holistic approach which includes:

In summary, an underlying principle of osteopathic medicine is that the osteopath’s job is to facilitate the body’s own healing powers. Thus they tend to be more open to alternative approaches when treating chronic disease while also educating and guiding all patients in common-sense proactive and preventive health care.

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*Note that some D.O.s go on to specialize in osteopathic manipulative treatment. Although at New Beginnings we incorporate the philosophy of structure and function into our practice, we do not specialize in manipulation techniques.

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