Using Osteopathic Medicine to ‘Go the Extra Mile’ for Patients 
Meeting Rural Healthcare Needs

February 13, 2024

I believe in osteopathic medicine because I know it works. Not only have I repeatedly witnessed the effectiveness of osteopathic medicine’s whole-person approach, but I’ve also been a patient.

As a graduate student in the 1980s, I was involved in a five-car accident that caused a whiplash injury resulting in intractable neck pain. I was a student, so I didn’t want to take medications that would interfere with my studies. My family doctor referred me to a doctor of osteopathic medicine who used OMT (osteopathic manipulative treatment) instead. Not only did the experience significantly improve my neck pain, but it inspired me to become a DO.

When I finally made that career decision, I never had another doubt about what I should do with my life. I was in a field where I could provide compassionate care to each patient. I could ease suffering and touch people’s lives, calm their nerves, reassure them, take care of their problems, and on wonderful days, heal them.

I feel like it’s a God-given privilege to be able to do that. Now I realize that as an educator, I can pass on that osteopathic approach of taking care of patients by considering everything that makes them who they are. I can teach students how to listen to patients, look at them with an osteopathic eye and truly help them by going the extra mile. If I can inspire students to do that, then I will do so much more than I ever did working with one patient at a time.

Even though PCOM South Georgia just opened its doors in the fall of 2019, we’re already making a difference in a region that needs us. This May we’ll graduate our second class of doctors. In addition to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree program, we also offer the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences program. This master’s degree, which can be completed in two years or as an accelerated one-year program, prepares students for medical school, careers in other science fields, or advanced academic pursuits.

Doctors of osteopathic medicine learn to do all the same things as their MD colleagues but have additional training in osteopathic manipulative medicine. With additional coursework and teaching in how to perform a structural analysis and evaluation of the musculoskeletal system, a DO can use their hands to diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses utilizing osteopathic manipulative techniques. These hands-on techniques can be used to improve medical conditions without the need for medications. A DO can use OMT in combination with other medical procedures, treatments, and medications when necessary to provide the best treatment available. Osteopathic physicians or DOs, doctors of osteopathic medicine, are licensed physicians. Although the osteopathic approach and mission focus on primary care, DOs can pursue training in any medical specialty of their choice.

Even DOs who don’t practice OMT still utilize osteopathic principles in their approach to treating a patient. There’s more to practicing medicine than just prescribing medications for a list of symptoms. Osteopathic medicine goes beyond treating symptoms. A DO identifies the cause of a patient’s illness and focuses on helping patients learn how to live healthier lives.

Of Georgia’s 159 counties, 120 of them are classified as rural, and most of those are in South Georgia. Rural areas have a long history of being medically underserved. There just aren’t enough doctors or other healthcare professionals to meet the needs.

PCOM South Georgia does more than teach our students. We’re also giving back to our community. Many of our students already volunteer with various nonprofit organizations because they want to make a difference in the world around us. Through their efforts with these groups, our students have made a difference.

Now we realize that we can also teach our community. We can provide instruction on how to purchase inexpensive, nutritious food and how to prepare it. We can provide instruction about how to understand medical terminology and medical options that physicians may not explain during the course of a regular office visit. We can demonstrate ways to live healthier lives built on exercise and lifestyle choices as alternatives to pharmaceuticals.

We’re about more than just preventive health care. We’re about whole-person healthy living. That’s the osteopathic way—mind, body and spirit. Doctors of osteopathic medicine understand that all three are essential for true optimum health.

We have some incredible plans for the future. Working hand-in-hand with our community and regional partners, we’re improving health from within South Georgia.

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