Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine can claim more than one “first in the nation” titles. Not only was it the first to join with a university to establish a college of osteopathic medicine, it was also the first publicly funded college of osteopathic medicine in the country, as well as the first to share basic science faculty and some specialized facilities with a college of human medicine. Today, MSU, through its College of Osteopathic Medicine and its College of Human Medicine, continues to grant degrees to both DOs and MDs, and, following MSU’s lead, other universities have followed suit, the two newest being in Denver and New York City.

Osteopathic medicine has a uniquely American history. According to Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine Marvin Strampel, himself a DO, “Osteopathic medicine was developed in the United States soon after the Civil War by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still. When his wife and three daughters all developed spinal meningitis, they were treated using the prevailing methods of the day, a treatment which included the use of a medication containing mercury. None of them survived. Dr. Still realized that there had to be a better way. His philosophy of a holistic approach to treating patients that integrates body, mind and spirit became what is known today as osteopathic medicine, which emphasizes prevention, the relationship between the structure and function of the body and stimulating the body’s self-healing properties.”

As part of treatment, DOs may practice osteopathic manual medicine (OMM), a hands-on tool for diagnosis and therapy used both to prevent and correct injury and disease.

Dr. Still founded the first school of osteopathic medicine 140 years ago in Missouri, followed soon after by schools in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, and Pennsylvania, all of which continue to educate physicians today.

Statistics attest to the rapid growth of the profession. In 1960, there were 13,708 physicians who were graduates of the five original and, at that time, only osteopathic schools. By 2002, there were 49,210 practicing physicians from 19 osteopathic schools. Between 1980 and 2005, the number of osteopathic graduates per year increased over 250 percent from about 1,000 to 2,800. Today, there are 28 schools of osteopathic medicine in the United States. The American Medical Association estimates that, by 2020, the number of osteopathic physicians will grow to 95,400

According to Dr. Strampel, “Most DOs prior to World War II practiced in the states where the five schools of osteopathic medicine were located. But during the war, many MDs from Michigan went into the armed services, and DOs began coming here to practice to fill the need for physicians. Soon, Michigan was one of the leading states in the number of DOs in practice. In the early 1960s, DOs, through their professional organization, agreed to tax themselves $2,000 a year over a five-year period to raise money to establish a school of osteopathic medicine in the state. By 1969, such a school was founded in Pontiac. Soon after, the state Legislature, at the urging of the Michigan Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, passed Public Act 162, ordaining that a school of osteopathic medicine be located at an existing campus of a state university with an existing college of medicine. The private osteopathic college in Pontiac transferred to East Lansing in 1971 and became known as the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM).

The first dean of MSUCOM was Myron S. Magen, DO, who served for more than two decades. He was followed by Douglas L. Wood, DO, PhD, Allen W. Jacobs, DO, PhD, and the current dean William D. Strampel, DO, who came to MSU after a long and distinguished career serving in the United States Army. A Michigan native, he left a posting at the Pentagon to begin serving as MSUCOM dean in 1999.

MSUCOM admits some 200 plus students a year out of the over 4,000 applications they receive. Students complete their first two years on the MSU campus and then study and work in their third and fourth years in hospitals and other healthcare settings throughout the state before going on to their residencies.

First-year students in both the MSUCOM and the MSU College of Human Medicine take classes together, concentrating on the basics required for a medical education. After the first year, few classes overlap. The first two years of the osteopathic medical curriculum focus on basic sciences while the third and fourth years emphasize clinical work, with much of the teaching in community hospitals, major medical centers and doctors' offices.

Currently, about 53 percent of MSUCOM’s students are women, reflecting a trend throughout the country in medical education.

Strampel is particularly proud of the school’s commitment to Michigan.  “Over 90 percent of our students are Michigan natives, and complete their internships and residencies in Michigan. Upon graduation, over 75 percent of our DOs remain in the state to practice. Our physicians practice in 79 of Michigan’s 83 counties. In comparison, less than 50 percent of Wayne State University graduate physicians practice in Michigan, and the percentage for the University of Michigan is even lower. And more than half of all MSUCOM alumni practice primary care medicine [family practice, general internal medicine or general pediatrics],” said Strampel.

Pending accreditation, the MSUCOM will begin operating two campuses in the Detroit area in July of 2009; each program will admit 50 students. One of the sites will be the Detroit Medical Center in Central Detroit, and the other will be housed at the Macomb University Center in Clinton Township.  Strampel emphasizes, “As we expand our program by moving into Detroit, we will be taking nothing away from the program here in the Lansing area. We understand the need in Michigan for more healthcare workers, and this expanded program will help us meet that need.”

But the MSUCOM doesn’t limit its involvement to Michigan. It truly has a worldwide reputation. For instance, Pat Grauer, communications manager for the MSUCOM, mentioned the work of Dr. Terrie Taylor, only one of the many extraordinary faculty members.

“It’s not hyperbole to say that Dr. Taylor is world-recognized for her research in childhood malaria and her service to the people of Malawi,” said Grauer. For over 20 years, she has worked in Malawi in addition to her teaching here at MSU. Currently, six of our students are working with her in Africa. Taylor works at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi’s largest city, treating patients and conducting research on a disease that kills as many as 3 million children in Africa each year.

Through the efforts of James Potchen, an MSU professor of radiology and chairperson of the department, the General Electric Corp. is donating an MRI unit to the hospital; it will be the first MRI in the entire country of Malawi and will also serve the neighboring nations of Mazambique and Zambia, neither of which has an MRI unit. The MSUCOM is donating more than $400,000 for a building which will house the unit. This MRI, costing over $1 million, will assist Taylor in both her research and her day-to-day work with her patients.”

Whether in Lansing, a rural community in the Upper Peninsula or a world away, the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine truly is making a difference.