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Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine

Who We Are

Focusing on the musculoskeletal system

The Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) Department integrates the principles and practice of osteopathic medicine throughout the continuum of medical education at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, from undergraduate classes and clinical rotations, through our residency programs at our clinical campuses, and on through continuing medical education for certified physicians.

What is Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine?

Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) is a complete system of medicine focusing on the musculoskeletal system.

All patients can benefit from Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) or from the manually guided forces of an osteopathic physician. The mission of OMT is to restore maximal pain-free movement by increasing motion in restricted areas of musculoskeletal function and to help with systemic medical problems. OMT works by improving physiological function or promoting homeostasis either after disease has set in or as a primary prevention method.

Graduate Training Programs

Graduate Training Program

Continue your journey

Ready for the next step? Our graduate programs will further your education of osteopathic medicine principles as they apply to the clinical setting.

Graduate Programs (opens in a new window)

Our Programs

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Being prepared for success

Find the resources you need to get off to a running start this semester.

See Our Programs

OMM

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Resources

From the annual report to employment opportunities, you’ll find it all here.

See Our Resources

 

McConnelsville Primary Care Clinic event date Wednesday, April 9 event time 9:00 AM — 3:00 PM event location Morgan County Health Department

Psychiatry and Neurology - Serenity Grove Supply Drive event date Wednesday, April 9 event time 10:00 AM — 2:00 PM event location Heritage Hall

Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association - Bibibop fundraiser event date Wednesday, April 9 event time 10:30 AM — 9:30 PM event location Off Campus

  • Healing with a Purpose: Spotlight on Keshee’ Harris

    Keshee' Harris took a nontraditional path to medical school, and along the way she became acutely aware of the disparities in the medical field. Now, she has advice for those who may not have the confidence to pursue their dream of becoming a physician.

  • Student organization creates anti-racism video series

    Members of the Heritage College chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society have created a video series as part of an anti-racism campaign. Two student leaders share more about the project. 

  • Happy (Black) Independence Day

    Ryan Clopton-Zymler, assistant director of our Office of Inclusion at the Heritage College, Cleveland, shares information about Juneteenth, including the importance of the day and ideas for celebrating it.

  • Faculty connect form to function in field, lab … and Heritage College classes

    Much media attention earned by the Heritage College comes from faculty discoveries relating to the anatomy of a range of vertebrate animals. What does this have to do with the mission of an osteopathic medical school? More than you might imagine.

  • Why diversity and inclusion are more important than ever

    With so many workplaces and classrooms going online during the coronavirus crisis, it's a good time to review some guidelines that can help ensure an engaging and inclusive culture remotely.

  • Heritage College faculty take to the podcasting airwaves

    Podcasting is filling up more and more of the world’s listening bandwidth, with shows discussing every conceivable topic. Alert to this trend, some Heritage College faculty members are using podcasts to enlighten listeners on important health care issues.

  • Alumna shares frontline view of pandemic

    Pon Ti Cruise, D.O., a 2019 Heritage College graduate, shares her very personal experience with COVID-19, both as a resident physician battling the pandemic and as a mom.

  • Student leader shares message with fourth-year medical students

    E. Scott Wong, Ph.D., OMS-IV, past SGA president and national representative, spoke to our fourth-year students during a videoconference with college leadership this week to discuss how clinical education will play out during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

  • Pioneering faculty member looks back on four-decade legacy

    Over more than 40 years, Harold Thompson III, D.O., has earned a place in the history of both southeast Ohio and the Heritage College as an engaged community doctor, medical educator, pioneer of diversity and mentor to many future osteopathic physicians.

  • Open Book Project focuses on narrative medicine

    Faculty and staff from throughout our medical school and the Scripps College of Communication have developed the Open Book Project, a unique program grounded in narrative medicine that’s part of a larger movement to embrace diversity, cultivate inclusion and promote affiliation.

  • Symposium helps dad understand daughter’s medical condition

    Graham Smith is neither a medical clinician nor a research scientist. But when the Heritage College hosted the third annual International Symposium on Growth Hormone and Metabolism, he attended to learn more about his daughter’s growth hormone (GH) deficiency.

  • RUSP: Learning from and with rural and urban underserved communities

    Incoming students in our Rural and Urban Scholars Pathways program learned about health care needs and experiences in underserved areas of Ohio during a three-day community-based immersion experience.

  • Heritage College staffer shares one family’s story of opioids, stigma and hope

    When Heritage College staffer Sherie Steinberger learned about a book project collecting personal accounts of Ohio’s opioid crisis, her family contributed a message about the value of honesty – and the danger of stigma – in helping a loved one battle addiction.

  • Student group continues pursuit of art for medicine’s sake

    The Heritage College, Dublin, was only 1 year old when the Humanism in Medicine student group was launched there in 2015. Four years later, the group is still celebrating “the continuity of art and medicine."

  • Alumnus follows his ‘restless soul’ to ends of the earth

    John Allerding's incurable wanderlust has led the 1985 Heritage College alumnus to places around the world - including two trips (so far) to Antarctica.

  • Doctor Mike talks osteopathic medicine

    Mikhail Varshavski, D.O., better known in the social media world as Doctor Mike, spoke to a packed house at the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium about the need for physicians to raise their voices in the media.

  • From astronauts to elders, Brian Clark studies how we stay strong

    When Brian Clark moved to Athens, he thought it might be a brief stop. But he stuck around and helped turn OMNI into a powerhouse of research into pain disorders and healthy aging.

  • Learning from Cuba

    A first-year medical student and a faculty member discuss lessons learned during a global health experience, where health professions students at Ohio University learned about health care in Cuba.

  • Behind the White Coat: A Night of Storytelling

    On a winter evening, more than 70 students, faculty and staff gathered in the OMM lab on the college's Athens campus to participate in “Behind the White Coat,” a storytelling event organized by students and inspired by “The Moth” Podcast.

  • Our new curriculum is all about that teamwork

    The Heritage College's innovative new Pathways to Health and Wellness curriculum, launched in the fall of 2018, demonstrates what medical training of the future looks like.