So you’re thinking about enrolling at an osteopathy school — good for you! It takes a special kind of mind to choose osteopathic rather than allopathic studies when considering a medical degree. It shows that you’ve got an independent spirit, willing to explore different avenues for helping people, to free them from their pain.
Once you’ve made up your mind to apply for admission, you’ll want to make sure to maximise your chances of being accepted. After all, applying into any med school takes a lot of work, and just getting in is an achievement in itself.
And while you might have heard that applying for osteopathic studies might not be as rigorous as applying for your typical med school, you should know that osteopathic schools consider other components of your application that traditional medical schools don’t. Hence, the following tips.
Tip 1: Ask yourself, “Why Osteopathy?”
You might as well ask yourself this all-important question now because 10 to one they are bound to ask you this during your admissions interview. What is it about osteopathy that made you seriously consider spending a good four years (and possibly more) or about 1,000 hours of your life mastering osteopathic techniques — and not chiropractic or physiotherapy methodologies?
For that matter, why an allied health profession, and not a general medical profession (like a doctor, nurse, or dentist)? And don’t just ask yourself this solely for the interview — it’s highly advisable to do a little soul searching for yourself, too.
If you didn’t already have a pretty good idea of what osteopathy was, now would be the best time to have it crystal clear in your mind. Familiarise yourself with the values and focus areas of osteopathy, and what differentiates it from other forms of medical treatment. Not only will you be more likely to ace your interview, but you’ll be more confident going in for your classes later on.
Tip 2: Find out what an osteopathy course entails
The four years and thousand hours mentioned above weren’t theoretical or a ballpark figure. The average BSc in Osteopathy will take you four years; five years if you decide to go in for a Master’s — during which time you’re going to spend those thousand hours in the clinic.
And again, much like any medical degree, you’ll be studying Musculoskeletal, Cranial, and Visceral subjects along with subjects like Paediatrics, Psychology, and (of course) Pain. Apart from clinical consultations there are also seminars and exams, medical testing — not to mention hours of research and preparing and making presentations.
Knowing this will not only help you, again, during your interview, but also help you when you apply. You’ll know, for instance, whether you want to go in for a four-year course or five-, and get a better idea of whether you might want to focus on children, seniors, pregnant women or some other osteopathic specialisation.
Tip 3: Rack up some experience points
Maybe you’ve gone in for osteopathic treatment yourself, or you’ve got a relative who owns or works at an osteopathic clinic. If you can arrange to spend some time as a volunteer or an intern — or even just shadow an osteopath at work at this clinic, this time can be invaluable to your application.
Of course, it’s not just the time you spend in the clinic, but what you learn there — be sure to take careful notes or record in one form or another what you’ve learned, and think about how you’re going to share this experience on your application.
Interestingly, some schools will also ask (or accept) experience that isn’t directly related to osteopathy but might be related somehow — maybe you or someone you were close to had an accident, injury, or medical condition. Or, you might be into sports or sports medicine. Figure out how you might be able to relate this experience to your interest in osteopathy.
Tip 4: Collect your letters of recommendation
Osteopathy schools do ask for recommendation letters as part of your application. Many of them usually ask for three: one from a doctor (of osteopathy or general medicine) and two from teachers who’ve graded you in a physical science or biology class.
You might be able to ask for a letter from the osteopath at the clinic where you racked up those experience points, especially if you were able to shadow one. Each letter should contain information about your experience in a clinical setting — how much you were able to work with patients and whether you were shadowing or a volunteer.
Tip 5: Take the relevant courses
Having mentioned physical science and biology classes, you’ll have to make sure you’ve taken all the right prerequisites when you apply for osteopathy school. You’ll need a diploma, an IB diploma, and four A-levels credits. While some osteopathy schools will have additional prerequisites, typically, you’ll need to have completed:
- Chemistry (2 years)
- Biology (1 year)
- Physics (1 year)
- English (1 year)
Bonus Tip: Visualise your future practice
This tip may seem far-fetched — picturing yourself in your own osteopathy clinic when you’ve yet to even apply for osteopathy school. But here’s the reason: many osteopaths do go into private practice, rather than, say, a hospital.
This means you’ll have to know how to work independently, the dynamics of which can be very different from working in a large hospital or institution. If you were able to get that experience at an osteopathy clinic, you’ll have a pretty good idea of how a practice works.
When you apply, your interviewer is going to suss out whether you have the right personality or temperament to work independently as an osteopath. True, there are multi-speciality practices where you’ll find an osteopath and a physiotherapist in the same clinic, but these practices are also usually smaller and will still, more or less, require being able to work on your own.
If you are rock-solid sure why you want to enter an osteopathy school, and you’re determined to graduate and practice as an osteopath — given that you have your letters and taken all the prerequisites — then you’ve got a winning application. You can get started here at https://esointernational.asia/.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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