The Blurred Lines between Medicine and Wellness: A Historical Approach Comparing Osteopathic Physicians, Chiropractors, and Physical Therapists

In modern society, there stands a large number of medical titles with nuances that complicate the layperson’s ability to differentiate standard of care and capabilities. As the world evolves, new job opportunities in the medical and related fields are being constructed to provide positions with various levels of certifications that qualify many caregivers to provide similar and often coexisting levels of care. Some disciplines may agree or disagree on principle; this is just one point of confusion for the mass. Furthermore, disciplines that disagree on principle may still apply analogous treatment models. Such confusion has yielded several challenges for less populated subsets of medical professionals, including those who hold the title Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). Here, we offer a comprehensive understanding of the osteopathic physician’s virtues, scope of work, and historically novel techniques as they compare to healthcare counterparts that offer similar modalities