Abstract
Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) is the most visible distinction between osteopathic physicians and allopathic physicians, and the osteopathic medical profession recognizes the proven clinical efficacy and value of OMM. The recently published report by the US Army Surgeon General's Pain Management Task Force provides a strong endorsement for the Army to increase the practice of OMM, to create OMM continuing medical education opportunities, and to improve research in OMM's role in pain management. This comprehensive restructuring of the Army's approach to pain management provides a unique opportunity for the civilian osteopathic medical profession—the true OMM experts—to collaborate with Army osteopathic physicians in OMM training, teaching, and research.
Osteopathic medicine in the United States Army has matured rapidly over a relatively short period. During World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, osteopathic physicians (ie, DOs) were drafted as enlisted soldiers and served in the role of medics or, more often, in nonmedical roles.
1 Their training as physicians was not recognized by the Army at that time. In 1966, the casualty demands of the Vietnam War forced the Army to enlarge the physician draft, and DOs were then afforded the same status as allopathic physicians (MDs) in the Army Medical Corps.
1 Also during the Vietnam War, DOs were first accepted into Army graduate medical education (GME) training programs.
1
In 1996, the Army appointed Lieutenant General Ronald R. Blanck, DO, as the Surgeon General of the Army.
2 Dr Blanck served in that position until 2000. The Army now views board certification through the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) as being equivalent to certification through the allopathic American Board of Medical Specialties—except for the specialty of neuromusculoskeletal medicine, which does not have an equivalent allopathic specialty.
3-5 Osteopathic physicians represent every specialty and subspecialty in the Army Medical Corps.
In the present article, we review the practice of osteopathic medicine in the Army, and we examine how recent developments in the Army's approach to pain management provide a unique opportunity for civilian DOs to collaborate with Army DOs in training, teaching, and research related to osteopathic manipulative medicine.
Recent Developments in Army Pain Management Related to the Osteopathic Medical Profession