What do the post-nominal letters DO (UK) mean?
The letters ‘DO’ are used by osteopaths and osteopathic physicians around the world. They have different meanings in different countries such as ‘Diploma in Osteopathy’, ‘Doctor of Osteopathy’, ‘Doctorate of Osteopathy’ or ‘Diplome en Osteopathie’. To try and avoid confusion, overseas-trained osteopaths practising in other countries tend to use their ‘country abbreviation’ after their post-nominal letters. This is still the case even when the names of osteopathic programs change through the years. For example, the four year, full-time, clinical ‘Diploma in Osteopathy’ in Britain has now evolved into a ‘Bachelor of Osteopathy’. To avoid confusion overseas, British trained osteopaths tend to use DO (UK) to show that they have a recognised qualification which is accepted in Britain. Other examples are DO (Aus), DO (NZ) and DO (Fr). Within Canada, osteopaths trained ‘post-graduately’ tend to use ‘DO (MP)’, where ‘MP’ represents ‘Manual Practice’. In British Columbia, ‘DO’ (with no identifi
