What are the differences between osteopaths and osteopathic physicians?
The training of osteopaths (called Osteopathic Practitioners within BC) and osteopathic physicians have the same origin – in the work of Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, MD. From early in the 20th century, however, these two fields were evolving differently. As the name indicates, osteopathic physicians are medical doctors. As such, they are trained to prescribe drugs, perform surgery, deliver babies, and to have the prerequisites to specialize in other branches of medicine. Osteopaths (or Osteopathic Practitioners within BC) are not the same as MDs, for they are not trained in prescribing drugs, nor in surgery or obstetrics. Osteopathic physicians are almost exclusively trained in the USA – while osteopaths are trained in many countries, all over the world. Worldwide, a majority of osteopaths would say that osteopaths (or Osteopathic Practitioners within BC) are the true inheritors of Dr. Still’s vision of osteopathy – in the sense that they have a very comprehensive practical training in wha
