A retrospective analysis of osteopathic manipulative treatment techniques used by 3rd and 4th year medical students

Objective

To determine whether there is a correlation between the frequency with which osteopathic manipulative techniques are taught in preclinical osteopathic medical school years one and two and the prevalence of student use during years three and four. The secondary objective was to determine the students’ reported comfort and perception of ease and safety when using osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT).

Methods

Third- and fourth-year OMT patient encounter logs for the classes of 2020–2022 were retrospectively reviewed for the students' technique of choice. These techniques were compared to how frequently that technique was taught in the preclinical curriculum. Survey data was collected from the class of 2025 third-year students upon completion of their family medicine rotation evaluating factors that influence students’ use of certain OMT techniques while on third- and fourth-year rotations.

Results

Final analysis included 20,149 OMT logs and ninety-six student surveys. The logs indicated that Muscle Energy (ME) was the most used technique among the classes. Muscle energy is also the most frequently taught in the preclinical curriculum. The data show ease of use and confidence were significantly correlated to students’ use of osteopathic techniques during clinical rotations. There was a strong correlation of consistency (0.72-0.98) among the different classes and all pairwise correlations were statistically significant.

Conclusion

The use of osteopathic techniques during third and fourth-year clinical rotations is directly related to their confidence and ease of performing the technique. Correlations exist between curricular frequency and students’ confidence, indicating the importance of preclinical curriculum and hands-on lab time.