Osteopathy (정골요법)

Osteopathy is a field of medicine dedicated to treating and healing the entire patient, rather than focusing on one body part or symptom. In most parts of the world, osteopathy is considered an alternative therapy, and those who practice it are called osteopaths. In the United States, however, doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs) are the legal and professional equivalent of medical doctors (MDs), and a majority of them use similar techniques and treatments.

 

비록 그 원칙은 Hippocrates (c.460 - c.377 BC)로부터 거슬러 올라가지만, 정골의학은 1874년에서야 미국에서 공식적으로 시작되었다. 정골의학의 설립자는 Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917 ) 로써 많은 19세기의 의학과 수술들은 쓸모없다고 믿고 있었던 의사였다. 대신에, 그는 인체는 대체로 그 자신을 치유할 수 있다고 믿었다. 그는 단지 질병만을 치료하는 대신에 적절히 먹고 운동하는 것과 같은 건강의 속성을 연구하고 건강과 예방의학의 개념을 개척했다.

 

Still also held some beliefs that have since been disproved: He thought that all disease was caused by mechanical interference within the nerves and blood supply, that he could diagnose these disease by feeling the body with his hands, and that these diseases could be cured by manipulation of displaced bones, nerves, and muscles. His autobiography states that he could "share a child and stop scarlet fever, croup, diphtheria, and cure whooping cough in three days by a wring of its neck." This idea of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is still taught today, although most osteopathic physicians only use OMT in addition to conventional medical treatments.

 

일반의사와 마찬가지로 정골의학의사는 기초적인 의학교육을 4년간 이수하고 나서 어떤 전문과 내에서 실습하는 것을 선택해야 하는데, 수술, 응급의학 혹은 소아과 같은 것 등이다. 정골요법 의사는 또한 인체의 근골격 시스템의 수기요법에 대한 공부를 추가로 300 에서 500 시간 받아야 한다. 그들은 환자의 전반적인 건강을 평가하고 건강한 생활습관과 웰빙에 관한 교육자의 역할을 하도록 배운다.

 

 

 

There are 20 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine and about 44,000 osteopathic practitioners in the United States.

 

Approximately 65 percent of practicing osteopathic physicians specialize in primary care areas, such as pediatrics, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, and internal medicine.

 

While osteopathy and mainstream medicine practices are similar in the United States, osteopathic organizations claim that osteopathy is a more comprehensive form of care.