List of Osteopathic Titles Granted by Schools

Designations Used in Osteopathy

There are a number of different designations offered by accredited schools of osteopathy across the world. Please note that there are two types of osteopathy being taught across the world. In the United States, osteopathy means American style osteopathy, also known as osteopathic medicine. The education of osteopathic physicians and surgeons in USA is quite similar to medical education. In Canada the titles DO and MD can be used interchangeably by American style osteopaths. American style osteopathic education is available only in the US. In the rest of the world European style osteopathy, also known as manual osteopathy or osteopathic manual practice is being taught. The title “DO” means three different things. It could mean American style doctor of osteopathy, European style doctor of osteopathy or a diploma in osteopathy.

 

Designation	Name	Education Length	Location Offered
DO	Doctor of Osteopathy or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine	7 to 9 years full time, campus based (3 years bachelor, 4 years osteopathic school, 2 years residency)	American style DO (osteopathic medicine) is offered only in the USA by 30 universities
DO	Doctor of Osteopathy	7 years full time, campus based or online (3 years bachelor, 4 years manual osteopathic school)	European style DO (manual osteopathy) offered only in Spain by the National University of Medical Sciences (Spain)
DO	Diploma in Osteopathy	2 to 5 years full or part time, campus based	Offered across the world, mostly in Europe and Quebec (Canada)
DOMP	Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice	1 year full time, campus based or online, 2 to 5 years part time	Offered only in Canada. The title of DOMP is copyrighted by Dr Shahin Pourgol on behalf of National Academy of Osteopathy in Toronto.
BSc	Bachelor’s degree in Osteopathy	3 to 4 years full time, campus based or online	Offered by a number of schools in United Kingdom, Spain and USA
MSc	Master’s degree in osteopathy	5 years full time, campus based as entry level program, 1 year full time as postgraduate program	Offered mainly in Australia and Spain
PhD	Doctor of Philosophy in Osteopathy	6 to 9 years full time, online or campus based as an entry level program. 2 to 4 years full time as a postgraduate program.	Offered only by the National University of Medical Sciences (USA) and the National University of Medical Sciences (Spain).