Advice for a Student!

My Classes start in April, I am keen to go and have been reading as much AT Still as I can, I have his three books, Carol Trowbridge's Biography, and his Autobiography is in the mail.  It blows my mind what a huge pile of Awesome ATS is, the more I learn about him the more passionate I become about our field. 

But is this the right approach, in our modern setting, to prep for classes, or should I just cool it and spend my time reviewing A & P? 

Thoughts, Please!

Nathaniel

Tags: osteopathy student, study osteopathy

Treatments: 512

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Andrew Pallas on February 18, 2012 at 3:20pm

Bearing in mind ATS's passion for anatomy, maybe you could usefully review the A & P whilst thinking about how that knowledge might be applied, in the light of the osteopathic philosophy you have been reading. A & P is a major foundation of much that you will learn and do in osteopathy, but viewing it from an osteopathic perspective could give you an advantage in seeing how aspects of a persons health are inter-related, rather than getting funnelled into seeing distinct conditions and diseases too early on.

Have fun with your studies and good luck for the future.


community teamPermalink Reply by Ronan O'Brien on February 18, 2012 at 8:42pm

Hi Nathaniel, I think it's fantastic you are reading Still and Trowbridge prior to your studies. I maintained my passion for osteopathy during (despite! :) my degree by reading Still, Littlejohn and Rollin Becker. Balancing what inspires you with your course requirements is something you will have to do.

A&P are fundamentals to osteopathic practice so spending time on this in advance of your studies would be helpful. It might also help to remember the goal of an osteopathy degree is not to learn osteopathy but to take the first steps towards learning our craft.  Good luck! 

Permalink Reply by Roger Kingston on February 18, 2012 at 11:09pm

Teachings in the Science of Osteopathy by Sutherland is one to read along with anything by Rollin Becker.

Unfortunately you may not get too miuch exposure to any of the "old greats" in an undergraduate course these days but their teachings remain as brilliabt and applicable as they have always been.

Good luck.

Permalink Reply by clotilde chereau on February 19, 2012 at 10:24am

If you want more chances to become a "real" osteopath. It is great you do this kind of reading to start with. It will open your future osteopathic mind. As regard being prepares for your academic years- It will do little for you indeed. The osteopathic training has become very clinical, so this is what you will have to be good at the get you degree. But for your general development as an osteopath beyond your degree, it is good you do those readings now as you might not have the time to get back into it once you start the degree.

However, you could always get a head start learning a bit of your anatomy (muscles in particular). As you just need to know it (and there is A LOT to know), there is no way around that. And you will start by that at uni.

All the best.

Permalink Reply by Roger Kingston on February 19, 2012 at 10:34am

A great anatomy and physiology book is"Princioples of Anatomy and Physiology" by Tortora and Anagstokos.  Lovely book to read.

Permalink Reply by Small Fry on February 19, 2012 at 11:22am
Henry Lindlahr's Philosophy of Natural Therapeutics is a must (imho) for understanding the vision of health and disease underpinning natural healing of any kind. Luckily it's very easy to read.
Permalink Reply by indikate on February 21, 2012 at 8:33pm

The anatomical series by Netter is very visually instructive, for me it vivified anatomy and I became fascinated by the precision of the paintings (he was an artist MD who painted smoking big cigars) and the vision of the artist which seemed to convey a reverence for the human structure.

The other subject you may wish to get aquainted with in great detail is the role of vitamins and minerals and their relationship to physiology and disease. you will find this information useful throughout your career and it probably wont be taught comprehensively at college due to time and other constraints. web is best bet.

all the best with your studies osteopathy can be a fantastically fullfilling career if you explore its full potential

Permalink Reply by Quad on February 22, 2012 at 7:47am


Hi Ibdikate

what vit & min book/s or site would you recommend
 indikate said:

The anatomical series by Netter is very visually instructive, for me it vivified anatomy and I became fascinated by the precision of the paintings (he was an artist MD who painted smoking big cigars) and the vision of the artist which seemed to convey a reverence for the human structure.

The other subject you may wish to get aquainted with in great detail is the role of vitamins and minerals and their relationship to physiology and disease. you will find this information useful throughout your career and it probably wont be taught comprehensively at college due to time and other constraints. web is best bet.

all the best with your studies osteopathy can be a fantastically fullfilling career if you explore its full potential

Permalink Reply by Nathaniel on February 22, 2012 at 12:43pm

I have the Netter!  It is beautiful.  Thanks everyone, I have Anatomy trains on the way, and I will look into Becker, I know who the littlejohns are :) 


community teamPermalink Reply by Ronan O'Brien on February 22, 2012 at 9:49pm

Something else to consider Nathaniel is developing a movement practice. Practices like Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais even dancing are worth exploring to help develop your own sense of rhythm, coordination and wellbeing, which are invaluable for good hands on work. 

Permalink Reply by Yan-Chee Yu on February 22, 2012 at 11:23pm

I would strongly second Ronan's advice.  Learning to feel the insides of someone else's body is much easier if you have learned how to feel the insides of your own body, and the beauty of this is that you can practice feeling the inside of your own body during every waking hour you have, instead of limiting your learning time to 2 hours a week of technique tutorials...

Ronan O'Brien said:

Something else to consider Nathaniel is developing a movement practice. Practices like Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Alexander technique, Feldenkrais even dancing are worth exploring to help develop your own sense of rhythm, coordination and wellbeing, which are invaluable for good hands on work. 

Permalink Reply by Nathaniel on February 22, 2012 at 11:26pm

Hmm... I 've been a musician for years, Guitar, and recently Tabla drummer.    I should think that counts... I only considered that since you just mentioned it here.  But I do dance like a half dead fish. 

 I've actually been more concerened about feeling and finding by feeling the lesions, tenderness, etc more than I have been concerned about the academia.  I can only trust school will guide me  there...  

Keep 'em coming, I'm listening!

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2012   Created by Ronan O'Brien.

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service