Osteopathic Medicine - Osteopathic Principles

Osteopathic Principles

Osteopathic medical students take the Osteopathic Oath, a revised version of the Hippocratic oath, to maintain and uphold the "core principles" of osteopathic medical philosophy. Revised in 1953, and again in 2002, the core principles are:

1. The person is a unit, and the person represents a combination of body, mind and spirit.
2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health maintenance.
3. Structure and function are reciprocally interrelated.
4. Rational treatment is based on an understanding of these principles: body unity, self-regulation, and the interrelationship of structure and function.