The DOs: Osteopathic Medicine in America

CHAPTER 3 IN THE FIELD

IN THE FIELD A lthough a few of Still’s early graduates remained in Kirksville to serve as assistants in the infirmary, the majority went out into the field to establish their own private practices. A directory published in 1900 listing 717 graduates shows 121 (16.8 percent) residing in Missouri, 84 (11.7 percent) in Iowa, 83 (11.7 percent) in Illinois, 48 (6.6 percent) in Ohio, 32 (4.4 percent) in Pennsylvania, 31 (4.3 percent) in New York, and 30 (4.2 percent) each in Indiana and Tennessee, with the rest scattered throughout thirty-five other states and territories.1 Some returned to their hometowns to begin work, while others were recruited by well-to-do patients to accompany them back to their city of origin to continue the treatment. Under such sponsorship the osteopath was formally introduced to the entire community. ESTABLISHING A PRACTICE The most important task for the freshly settled DO was to create a favorable impression on the townspeople. The system was new and in many areas unheard of. Often the term osteopathy was a handicap; quite a few prospective patients took it to mean that DOs thought all ailments were due to diseased bones or that they only treated fractures and dislocations. A few of Still’s students recognized the potential problem and pleaded with him to change the name. He remained adamant. “I don’t care what Greek scholars say,” he bristled, “I want to call my boy osteopathy.”2 In their advertisements in local papers or in printed brochures and journals, DOs explained that osteopathy was a totally original and independent system of health care. Several pointed out that it had “nothing in common with faith cure, Christian Science, spiritualism, hypnotism, mag3 netic healing, Swedish Movements, mental science, or massage.”3 Many in their audience, however, remained skeptical. All of those systems and others could involve, as did osteopathy, the “laying on of hands.” Therese Cluett, DO, of Cleveland, found that this shared trait led to much misunderstanding : A lady entered my office and asked if I was a theosophist. I said, “No madam, I am an osteopathist.” “Oh well,” she replied, “It’s all the same thing.” Then it took me fully an hour to explain the difference between theosophy and osteopathy . On another occasion, I was approached with the question “Are you a Christian? because I don’t want to take treatment from anyone who is not a Christian.” This fairly caught my breath. . . . I asked her if she had put the same question to [her last physician] that she had put to me. She replied that she had not. It took me another hour to explain the difference between osteopathy and Christianity. For one patient I had to insulate the table, as they think this is some form of magnetic treatment. The next patient spies the insulators (as I had forgotten to remove them) and then there is trouble, as this patient won’t have anything along that line of business.4 Cluett’s problem was shared by Herbert Bernard, DO, who noted, “When I first came to Detroit, a woman telephoned me asking what price I charged to pray for people. Another one looked all over one of my operating tables trying to find the electric wires that he thought were hidden . . . . Quick results were dangerous in those days, as the patients would think there had been some rabbit’s foot business worked upon them. They were afraid to tell of their relief . . . thinking people would take them for faith-cure followers.”5 In explaining their system and differentiating it from others, many osteopaths told their patients that they alone could be considered “anatomical engineers.” Only DOs knew where every bone, muscle, nerve, or blood vessel should be and what significance each held in the maintenance or restoration of health. Several of them published descriptions that were eloquently worded and simple to understand. If one accepted the metaphor of “man as a machine,” the osteopath’s logic made sense. As a violin or engine needed tuning or adjustment every so often, so also did the human body. On the other hand, a good number of practitioners preferred the hardsell approach, which, though less dignified, was nonetheless successful in drawing attention. “Osteopathy,” said one appeal, “deserves your patron40 THE DOS: OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE IN AMERICA Dain Tasker, DO, of the Pacific School of Osteopathy, demonstrating...