Osteopathic Training

Under the combined system the osteopathic designation is now available for any interested DO or MD residents, with the goals of enhancing techniques in osteopathic manipulative treatments (OMT), gaining new skills from our five community osteopathic faculty and three core osteopathic faculty, and learning to properly code for osteopathic services.  Participants will grow their foundation of osteopathic principles and practices through monthly didactics and will have ample opportunities to strengthen hands-on techniques and competencies, including an optional osteopathic elective focusing on inpatient treatments.

Interested MDs will want to notify the program as early as possible in order to enroll at the start of residency.  There is not a separate application process, however, the ACGME has some requirements that we need to work on together in order to provide a foundation in osteopathic principles and practices prior to entry into residency.

The Ascension Via Christi Family Medicine Residency has an Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) specialty clinic.  This allows us to provide OMM consultative services for our allopathic colleagues and opportunities for interested residents to maintain and improve their OMM skills.  The clinic is staffed by residents and supervised by several osteopathic family physicians from the community who have a special interest in OMM in their private practices.  In addition to our OMM specialty clinic, both Family Medicine Residency Clinic locations also have OMM treatment tables in the exam rooms.  Residents are encouraged to incorporate osteopathic principles, structural exams and manipulative medicine into the care of their continuity patients during regularly scheduled clinic visits.

A 2-4 week Osteopathic Elective is available with the primary goal of providing inpatient osteopathic consultation for the Family Medicine hospital service.  In addition, residents work with community Osteopaths in an outpatient setting to enhance treatment skills.

There is also a monthly didactic session, providing additional opportunities to hone skills and to build on the foundations of osteopathic principles and practices obtained in medical school.  This is well attended by both osteopathic and allopathic residents interested in learning OMT.

Through the generosity of The Riverside Health Foundation, our osteopathic residents are provided with state of the art OMT tables, registration fees for the ABOFP exam, and attendance at the annual ACOFP Conference - all expenses paid, in addition to numerous educational resources.