The Founding of A.T. Still University

SteveFoerster — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:49:00 GMT

“I have no desire to be a cat, which walks so lightly that it never creates a disturbance.” — Andrew Taylor Still

A.T. Still University was founded in 1892 by a physician named Andrew Taylor Still who had lost three children to disease and dedicated the rest of his life to finding alternatives to the medical science of his era. Dr. Still founded an alternative medical approach called osteopathy. This approach focused on the wellness of the whole patient rather than just treating the symptoms of disease, and its centerpiece was a set of techniques called Osteopathic manipulative medicine that involved manually moving patients' bodies to help the body overcome musculo-skeletal problems, which Still saw as the primary cause of ailment.

Or at least that's how I understand it. But I have to admit that I don't know much about it. ATSU may have started out as the first osteopathic medical school, but 117 years later they're a large diverse institution whose programs also include dentistry, audiology, health sciences, physician assistant, physical therapy, and even my program of health education. I only knew a little about the difference between osteopathic physicians, who earn a DO degree, and “normal” physicians who earn an MD.

What I do know is that while Dr. Still's theories were kind of kooky, that was a long time ago, and since the second world war DOs have become mainstream, learning all the same evidence-based medicine that MDs do. While DOs still also take a course or two on Still's theories for tradition's sake, in surveys most say they don't ever use them. DOs practice medicine alongside MDs in every U.S. state, compete for the same residencies, and so forth. Meanwhile, physicians from MD programs have come around on what was originally an osteopathic idea of looking at the wellness of the whole patient rather than just looking at symptoms as diagnostic puzzles to solve on their own. So to me, they've pretty much met in the middle.

Anyway, when I first looked at ATSU I read a bit about this because I wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything kooky about it, that I wasn't going to a school with medical theories that aren't supported by scientific evidence. But at the same time I was attracted to the holistic approach that osteopathy emphasizes. If anything, I wish my program could find a place for a course on a holistic approach to wellness and health education!

Next up, my wife explores her distance learning options for law school.

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My A.T. Still University Experience : osteopathic philosophy

The Founding of A.T. Still University