The osteopathic manual medicine (OMM) curriculum for first-and second-year medical students (on campus) consists of year-long didactic and hands-on lab sessions. During weekly lectures and labs, students gain, in a stepwise manner, the necessary knowledge and hands-on skills to provide OMM treatments.
The course is tied into a solid background of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics with significant clinical correlation to medical diagnoses and disease processes.
We administer practical examinations throughout the year, which provide necessary evaluations of students' competency. This ensures that DMU students are ready to begin the clinical phase of their osteopathic educations.
While our course is primarily focused on training future osteopathic physicians to provide the best treatment possible for their patients, we are also committed to preparing our students for success on standardized tests and board certification examinations. Our department members have been called upon to write questions for the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, and have served as subject matter experts and examiners for board certification processes (AOBNMM, AOBPMR). We have department members that have served on national committees for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO). Additionally, we have had department members recognized with the prestigious awards including the Fellowship in the AAO (FAAO) as well as the Fellowship in the National Academy of Osteopathic Medical Educators (NAOME).
We have an established an annual elective course for interested students encompassing a 40-hour cranial course.
At DMU, we in the OMM department pride ourselves on training students who are comfortable placing their hands on a patient and appropriately diagnosing and providing osteopathic manual treatment (OMT).