Osteopathic Training

All osteopaths associated with the IOA have to go through demanding, 4 year full-time training. Osteopaths acquire a thorough understanding of the body’s anatomy and physiology and these subjects are given high priority in the curriculum and throughout an osteopath’s career.  An osteopath studies bio-mechanics in great depth in order to understand the function of each joint, muscle and ligament.  This way when a patient presents with a problem, the osteopath can make an accurate anatomical evaluation.

Much emphasis in the training is put on the study of pathology so that an osteopath understands when it is inappropriate to treat a patient and when to refer to other medical specialists for further investigation.  Other subjects include reading of imaging (X-Ray), sociology, obstetrics and gynaecology and a wide range of other medically oriented subjects. The training is underpinned by a thorough clinical training, so that an osteopaths leave college having had a diverse clinical experience.