Nomenclature
Physicians and surgeons who graduate from osteopathic medical schools are known as physicians or osteopathic physicians. Upon graduation, they are conferred a professional doctorate, the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), instead of the more familiar degree, the Doctor of Medicine, or M.D.
Osteopathic curricula in other countries differ from those in the United States. European trained practitioners of osteopathic manipulative techniques are referred to as "osteopaths": their scope of practice excludes most medical therapies and relies more on osteopathic manipulative medicine and alternative medical modalities. While it was once common for D.O. graduates in the United States to refer to themselves as 'osteopaths,' the American Osteopathic Association now recommends against this usage, in favor of the term "osteopathic physician."
Read more about this topic: Osteopathic Medicine In The United States