D.O.'s and M.D.'s

COMPARING DO’s, MD’s AND CHIROPRACTORS

	D.O.	M.D.	CHIROPRACTIC
Undergraduate Training	4 years	4 years	2-4 years
Graduate Training	4 years Osteopathic Medical School leading to a Doctor of Osteopathy degree (D.O.)	4 years Medical School leading to a Doctor of Medicine (M.D.)	4 years at a Chiropractic College leading to the Doctor of Chiropractic degree (D.C).
Postgraduate Residency Training	1 year of internship; 2 to 8 years of a hospital residency, depending on the specialty selected.	1 year of internship; 2 to 8 years of a hospital residency, depending on the specialty selected.	Not applicable.
Licensure and Scope of Practice	Fully licensed to practice medicine in the United States. Recognized by each state and nationally by the AOA (American Osteopathic Association) and the AMA (American Medical Association). Physicians may hold one or more licenses to practice medicine in 54 U.S. licensing jurisdictions. Licenses are granted to ensure the public that the physician who presents himself/herself for licensure has successfully completed an appropriate sequence of medical education, including a specified amount of residency training in an accredited program, and has demonstrated competence through successful completion of an examination or other certification demonstrating qualification for licensure.	Fully licensed to practice medicine in the United States. Recognized by each state and nationally by the AOA and the AMA. Physicians may hold one or more licenses to practice medicine in 54 U.S. licensing jurisdictions. Licenses are granted to ensure the public that the physician who presents himself/herself for licensure has successfully completed an appropriate sequence of medical education, including a specified amount of residency training in an accredited program, and has demonstrated competence through successful completion of an examination or other certification demonstrating qualification for licensure.	Not licensed to practice medicine in the United States. "A duly licensed chiropractor may manipulate and adjust the spinal column and other joints of the human body and in the process thereof a chiropractor may manipulate the muscle and connective tissue related thereto." - California Board of Chiropractic Examiners
Prescribe Medications	Yes	Yes	No
History	Dr. Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917) developed Osteopathic Medicine and founded its first school in Kirksville, Missouri, 1892. Still believed that the body’s natural ability to heal itself can be facilitated by working on the inter-relationship of the structure, function, and motion of the human body. Today, the majority of osteopathic physicians do not specialize in traditional osteopathic manual medicine. Less than 20% of osteopathic physicians in the U.S. specialize in Osteopathic Manual Treatment (OMT).	Allopathic medicine is the name given by Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. The term is sometimes used today to refer to conventional or Western medicine. Hippocrates (460-360 B.C.) founded the first school for physicians. His drugs were mainly herbal, prescribing diets and baths. He believed in the power of Nature to heal. During the past fifteen years, the term "evidence-based medicine" has spread through medicine with amazing speed. The term was originally coined by Dr. David Eddy; based on the idea that what happens to patients should be based, to the greatest extent possible, on evidence. However, according to Dr. Eddy, today only 15% of what doctor’s practice is backed by hard evidence.	In 1893, David Palmer was a patient of Dr. A.T. Still and learned HVLA – High Velocity Low Amplitude. HVLA is one of the techniques developed by Dr. Still to adjust or move the vertebrae in order to open the blood vessels. Two years later, in 1897, the first Chiropractic College was founded in Davenport, Iowa, 200 miles from Kirksville. He believed, through rapid and forceful adjustment of the spine, one could effectively address 95% of all illnesses.
Manual Medicine training	Over 500 hours of extensive training in manual manipulation. Training in every aspect of the human body including the spinal joints, extremities, fascia, vessels, ligaments, tendons, and viscera (organs).	No training in manual manipulation. *	Over 500 hours in the use of spinal manipulation.

*Any fully licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) is elibgible to take osteopathic courses.

COMPARING OSTEOPATHS WITH CRANIAL SACRAL THERAPISTS

	CRANIAL OSTEOPATHY	CRANIAL SACRAL THERAPY
Training	4 years undergraduate education, 4 years medical school 1-5 years hospital residency * Physicians who wish to pursue the field of Cranial Osteopathy must train an additional five years in practice to be certified in this area of expertise.	Variable. Some are massage therapists, physical therapists and even non-health care providers Prerequisite for massage school is a high school diploma. Cranial Sacral therapists may attend a minimum three day course for instruction.
License	Fully licensed to practice medicine in the United States and throughout the world.	Cranial-sacral therapists have no governing body, state licensure, or federal certification available.
History of creation	Dr. Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917) developed Osteopathic Medicine and founded its first school in Kirksville, Missouri, 1892. Still believed that the body’s natural ability to heal itself can be facilitated by working on the inter-relationship of the structure, function, and motion of the human body. In 1939, Dr. William Sutherland, one of Dr. Still’s early and best students developed Cranial Osteopathy. While he was a student, Sutherland took apart the cranial bones. This led him to understand the inherent, rhythmic movement of the central nervous system. He termed this movement the primary respiratory mechanism (also known as the cranial sacral mechanism). Today, the majority of osteopathic physicians do not specialize in traditional osteopathic manual medicine. Less than 20% of osteopathic physicians in the U.S. specialize in OMT. Less than 5% of osteopaths practice cranial osteopathy.	“Developed” in the 1970s by John Upledger, D.O., he patented the phrase “cranial sacral therapy”. He began teaching limited osteopathic techniques to massage therapists, physical therapists, and other non-physicians. Upledger’s cranial sacral courses are typically 3 days long.