New med school proposed for city
ANNA VELASCO
News staff writer
The presidents of the Jefferson County Commission and Miles College are trying to drum up support to start an osteopathic medical school, hoping to address doctor shortages in rural and low-income urban areas and to boost the number of minority physicians.
Doctors of osteopathy, or DOs, are licensed physicians but have different training programs from MDs. [...]
[...] Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), a Civil War surgeon in the Union army, is credited with discovering osteopathy as an alternative to the medical practices common in his day, practices which failed to save his three children from spinal meningitis. Still became convinced that he could cure diseases by shaking the body or manipulating the spine. In his autobiography, he says he could "shake a child and stop scarlet fever, croup, diphtheria, and cure whooping cough in three days by a wring of its neck" (Barrett). He also advocated clean living, including abstinence from alcohol and medically prescribed drugs. Surgery was to be avoided, if possible. [...]
Well, bless his heart.As for me, I'd rather not have any of my tax dollars going to support such an endeavor, ESPECIALLY when there are so many other worthy projects that require funding, such as my perpetual motion machine factory.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at August 18, 2005 12:00 PMMy family doc is an DO. From what I can tell, there is no difference from an MD except for the letters after his name. He prescribes drugs, listens to coughs and sends me off for tests and surgery. I suppose if I really wanted it, I could get him to pop my spine but I stick with better living through chemistry just as if I were seeing an MD.
Posted by: Larry Anderson at August 18, 2005 02:52 PMDoes all of the medicine he gives you say "Shake well before using"?
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 18, 2005 03:05 PMActually, he is a good doctor. I suppose I was prepared for an alternate to MDs by the Army's heavy use of physician assistants for most day to day care. My doc is very attentive and a good diagnostician. For at least 30 years, the DOD has treated DOs the same as MDs when it comes to military medicine. I haven't seen any evidence that the MDs in the Army treat them as second class.
Posted by: Larry Anderson at August 18, 2005 03:33 PMBhwhaha.
Bwhahahah
AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHA!!!
Ok, sorry....
I'm not nocking DO's at all I'm laughing because it's like Larry Langford sits around all damn day dreaming up ideas on how he can spend the county's money to improve his "pet" areas of the county. Throwing money at a problem NEVER fixes it (unless you're NASA, and you're flying to the Moon).
Makes me want to do this for all of the local races....
Posted by: nate at August 18, 2005 03:51 PMI'm just teasing you, Larry--I figure a large part of doctoring is good common sense, and that's a good thing no matter what the initials are that come after the name.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 18, 2005 03:52 PMAnd Nathan, I like your idea about a website, although I would not be able to comment on it. Fear of stepping on the wrong toes, you know.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 18, 2005 04:04 PMI knew that Terry. The best caregiver I had in the Army was a retired PA mostly because he worried about "his young man" as he called everyone.
Posted by: Larry Anderson at August 18, 2005 04:26 PMI'm trying to figure out how well the "Visionland Scenario" would apply to starting a med school. Hmmm...would a private company buy a defunct med school for pennies on the dollar?
Posted by: Stan at August 19, 2005 07:34 AMOne also imagines that there will be a large bronze statue of the commission president at the front gate.
It's a worthy thing to try to get more minority medical professionals, and get them to work in rural areas, but I sure hope that if COUNTY money is being proposed for this little venture that some stipulation is made that doctors who graduate have to serve IN THIS COUNTY for a specified period of time. I certainly hope no one has gotten the bright idea that it is somehow the responsibility of Jefferson County taxpayers to provide healthcare for people outside of the county.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 19, 2005 08:05 AM"I certainly hope no one has gotten the bright idea that it is somehow the responsibility of Jefferson County taxpayers to provide healthcare for people outside of the county."
You mean it's not? ;)
It's not like we already don't fund HUNDREDS of other projects around the state while our infrastructure rots away
Posted by: nate at August 19, 2005 08:12 AMAnd yet, I still can't get my perpetual motion machine funded. I must not know the right people.
Posted by: Terry Oglesby at August 19, 2005 08:31 AM