How to Choose the Right Osteopathy School in Canada

Osteopathy is an amazing profession. It does wonders in treating chronic pain. It is the ability of manual osteopaths in treating chronic pain that makes them high in demand, with some of them becoming fully booked within a few months of graduation, through word of mouth referrals. 

The profession is highly rewarding, financially and emotionally. It has the highest job satisfaction (98%) when compared to 25 health professions in Canada. Average treatment fees charged by manual osteopaths in Canada are $80 to $140 per hour (however some of our alumni now charge between $250 to $400 per hour), with average annual income being $90,000. The profession is chosen by CIBC as one of the top 25 occupations in demand in Canada.

    

Here is a quick guide on what to look for when choosing an osteopathy school for your osteopathic education: 

1-      What kind of diploma will you receive? Make sure the school offers a DOMP title (most accredited Canadian schools do). It is the most offered diploma in Canada. Most insurers in Canada accept the title of DOMP (Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice) as it is a Canadian title used exclusively in Canada. Dr Shawn Pourgol, president of the National Academy of Osteopathy (www.nationalacademyofosteopathy.com) is the copyright holder of the DOMP title in Canada, registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office on October 09, 2013 (registration # 1108241).

2-       Is the school affiliated with the CRMOO? The Coalition for the Regulation of Manual Osteopathy in Ontario (founded in 2017) is in the process of getting the manual osteopathy profession regulated in Ontario. National Academy of Osteopathy has provided $200,000 in funding to CRMOO. If the school is not a member of CRMOO there may be a chance that its alumni may not become part of manual osteopathy regulation in Ontario once the profession is regulated. Dr Shawn Pourgol, president of National Academy of Osteopathy (founded in 2010) is the founder of the Coalition for the Regulation of Manual Osteopathy in Ontario.  You should make sure the osteopathy school in Ontario you plan to attend is a member of CRMOO to assure you are included in the process of manual osteopathy regulation in Ontario.

3-      What associations can you join after graduation? You should make sure the college of osteopathy you plan to enrol is accepted by associations such as College of Registered Manual Osteopaths (Canada), ACMA, College of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners of Ontario and other osteopathic associations that are approved by Canadian extended health plan insurers. While manual osteopaths in Canada can work on cash basis without joining any associations, to bill insurers for manual osteopathic care they must join one or more associations to get license numbers for insurance billing purposes. There are many associations in Canada that are accepted by insurers and there are also some that are not. Currently all insurers that cover manual osteopathy, also accept associations National Academy of Osteopathy alumni can join. More alumni of National Academy of Osteopathy are presidents of associations in Canada than any other schools of osteopathy. NAO alumni are presidents of associations in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba. The license numbers of many of these associations are accepted by most extended health plan providers. Currently NAO alumni who are members of selected associations are getting reimbursed by all insurers that cover manual osteopathy in Canada.

4-      Can you join OCPCC after graduation? The Osteopathy Chronic Pain Clinics of Canada (www.osteopathypainclinic.com), founded by Dr Shawn Pourgol, MBA, DC, DO, PhD, currently has 333 clinics in US, Canada and 28 other countries. It is the largest privately owned chronic pain and osteopathy clinic in the world and the main provider of manual osteopathic care to Canadians. Its size allows it to market effectively to all medical doctors across Canada as well as the public. This brings many referrals to OCPCC members and they dominate the osteopathic care market. Currently OCPCC accepts only manual osteopaths from NAO and two universities (all founded by Dr Pourgol). NAO offers a free postgraduate fellowship program in chronic pain management to its alumni. All manual osteopaths joining OCPCC must become a chronic pain specialist by completing a postgraduate fellowship program in chronic pain management. OCPCC is a member of the Coalition for the Regulation of Manual Osteopathy in Ontario. It is involved in the process of manual osteopathy regulation and the negotiations with the government, policy makers, third party payers & insurers. The Canadian Union of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners, whose president is Dr Shawn Pourgol, offers free membership to all manual osteopaths who join OCPCC. This union membership allows OCPCC members to become the preferred provider of osteopathic care to union workers across Canada.

5-      How many alumni the school has? You should choose a school that has a large number of alumni. More alumni means the school has a larger say when dealing with the government, regulation, extended health plan insurers and policy makers. A successful osteopathic college generally means its alumni are also successful in their clinics. The word of mouth referrals from successful happy alumni is what makes a school successful. You should ask the osteopathy college you plan to attend how successful are they? Currently over half of the manual osteopaths in English speaking Canadian provinces are alumni of the National Academy of Osteopathy (Canada). NAO is the largest provider of manual osteopathic education in the world with alumni in 72 countries.  Currently all manual osteopaths in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Northwest Territories of Canada are NAO alumni.

6-      Is business management part of the education? To become a successful manual osteopath you must learn business management. Make sure you inquire about what type of business management courses are offered by the osteopathic college you plan to attend. National Academy of Osteopathy has about 200 lectures on business management. Students learn about personal improvement and becoming more, marketing, promotion, public relations, tax planning, investments, financial planning, and asset protection. This is one of the main reasons why so many practices of NAO graduates become fully booked within months. And it is the reason why so many manual osteopaths from other schools join NAO to benefit from our business education. Just applying the lesson on how to open a health spending account for an osteopathy clinic for example will generate over $1800 in tax saving per year for NAO alumni. We strongly believe that to earn more, you have to become more.While the average income of manual osteopaths in Canada is $90,000, NAO alumni gross about $150,000 per year, $60,000 more than other manual osteopaths. This is attributed mainly to the 200 business lectures they receive at NAO.

7-      Is the school accredited by CMOE & UCOMPE? You should make sure the school is accredited by the Council on Manual Osteopathy Education (CMOE) of the International Osteopathic Association (www.internationalosteopathicassociation.org) which ensures that the school meets a certain standard in manual osteopathic education. If you plan to practice in the States you should ensure that the school is accredited by the US Council on Osteopathic Manual Practice Education (www.ucompe.org). NAO is an accredited member of CMOE and UCOMPE. 

8-      How long is the osteopathic education? You should make sure the osteopathic education has about 2000 hours of education with 1000 hours of it being in the form of clinical education. In Canada most Council on Manual Osteopathy Education accredited schools offer education that is similar in total hours of lecture time (about 2000 hours). However most offer it in 3 to 5 years part time (one weekend a month). There is no full time manual osteopathy program in English speaking Canadian provinces that is longer than 1 year. NAO (Canada) offers a 1 year full time, a 2 years part time, and a 5 years part time DOMP program through on-campus in Toronto or online video lecture format across the world. NAO offers a 2,200 hour DOMP program.

9-      How many professors teach in the school? You should aim to choose a school that has many instructors. This allows you to lean more diverse subjects. NAO has about 30 instructors, including more technique instructors than any other schools in Canada. Many of our faculty members have doctoral level education in osteopathy and related fields. We have more professors with a doctor of osteopathy (DO) degree than any other colleges of osteopathy. To see the list of NAO instructors click on the link below: http://www.nationalacademyofosteopathy.com/faculty.html.

10-   How dedicated is the school to osteopathy? You should choose a school that is dedicated to the profession. For us at NAO, this is our life. We live, think, and breath osteopathy. It is because of NAO that manual osteopathy is now expanded to 72 countries around the world. It is because of NAO that we now have a World Osteopathy Day on June 22nd (founded by NAO president Dr Pourgol in 2012) that is set to be recognized by the Ontario parliament as the official World Osteopathy Day. It is because of NAO that Osteopathy Chronic Pain Clinics of Canada, with 333 clinics in 30 countries, has become the main provider of osteopathic care in Canada. It is because of NAO that the Coalition for the Regulation of Manual Osteopathy is funded with $200,000 to help manual osteopathy become regulated in Ontario. And it is because of NAO that we now have Osteopathy TV (www.osteopathytv.com) which is in the process of preparing "The Last Resort", the first documentary on manual osteopathy which is going to be offered to Netflix, PBS, and the Documentary Channel to increase public awareness in the role of osteopathy in chronic pain management. This documentary explains how and why manual osteopathy is so effective in treating chronic pain. No other school has done as much for osteopathy as NAO in elevating the profession.

11-   Does the school offer clinical internship? You should ensure the school you are interested in offers a teaching clinic for students to see clients. NAO offers a teaching clinic in Toronto for its campus based students. Our campus based students receive 1000 hours of supervised clinical education which makes our program World Health Organization (WHO) compliant. Online NAO students who wish to enrol in the optional 1000 hours NAO Bridge Program (Osteopathy Clinical Internship Program), have the option of doing supervised clinical training under NAO clinicians in different cities which includes seeing 200 patients, completing 12 clinical rounds, handing in 12 clinical case reports, doing treatments on NAO clinicians, getting treatments by NAO clinicians, a thesis suitable for publication, and on-site practical and written exams.

12-   Did you speak with a few alumni? You should contact alumni of the school you are interested in and ask them about the quality of education they received. Our alumni love National Academy of Osteopathy! Here are some testimonials from them:  https://www.facebook.com/studenttestimonial/. You can contact more than 200 alumni of NAO at Osteopathy Chronic Pain Clinics of Canada (www.osteopathypainclinic.com).

13-   Did you get an osteopathic treatment from an intern or alumni? Make sure you receive some free treatments by interns of the school you wish to attend to evaluate if their style of practice is interesting to you. We recommend everyone to contact admissions@nationalacademyofosteopathy.com to book appointments for free hour long osteopathic care with an NAO intern. If you do not live near Toronto, visit one of our alumni for osteopathic care. You can find some of our alumni at www.osteopathypainclinics.com. Come see why we are the best!

14-   Is the school accredited in the States? If you plan to practice manual osteopathy in the states (the profession is known as osteopathic manual practice in US) make sure the school is accredited by the US Council on Osteopathic Manual Practice Education (UCOMPE). Only graduates of schools accredited by UCOMPE are permitted to sit for the board exams administered by the American Osteopathic Manual Practice Examining Board - AOMPEB (www.aompeb.org). Successful completion of these board exams allows you to join the American Association of Osteopathic Manual Practice - AAOMPS (www.fb.com/osteopathicmanualpractice). Upon joining AAOMPS you will be awarded with the title of COMP (Certified Osteopathic Manual Practitioner). AAOMPS has copyrighted the title of COMP and only its members are permitted to use this title. National Academy of Osteopathy is an accredited member of UCOMPE. Our alumni are permitted to sit for the board exams of AOMPEB and to join AAOMPS upon graduation. Most osteopathic manual practitioners in the states are alumni of our three schools.

 

15-   Can you join the Union after graduation? You should ensure the school is accepted by the Canadian Union of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners (www.fb.com/osteopathyunion), the first and only union for manual osteopaths in Canada. Membership in CUOMP is offered free of charge to alumni of National Academy of Osteopathy who are members of the Osteopathy Chronic Pain Clinics of Canada (OCPCC). NAO president, Dr Shawn Pourgol is the elected president of the Union. Potential benefits of becoming a Union member include:

-insurance direct billing,
-increased patient referrals,
-becoming preferred providers of osteopathic care to union workers across Canada, and
-savings on a number of goods and services.

16-   Can you use the DOMP title in USA? National Academy of Osteopathy president, Shawn Pourgol, MBA, DC, DO, PhD is the copyright holder of DOMP (Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice) in Canada and USA. In Canada many colleges of osteopathy award the DOMP title and we have so far no problem with that. However in the US, our new school, the American College of Manual Therapy (scheduled to start operation in Fort Myers, Florida in 2019) is the only college offering campus based diploma level osteopathic manual practice education and as such we are restricting the use of the DOMP title in the States. We will only permit graduates of National Academy of Osteopathy and the American College of Manual Therapy to use the title of Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice (DOMP) in USA. If you plan to practice in the United States of America it is best to study at National Academy of Osteopathy to ensure your right to use the title of DOMP in USA is guaranteed.

Osteopathy is an amazing profession and you would love it! It does wonders in treating chronic pain. Financially and emotionally it offers many rewards. Manual osteopaths have 98% job satisfaction rate (the highest among all health professionals in Canada). They also have the highest patient loyalty of all health professions (over 95%). On average they charge $80 to $140 per hour. However we have alumni in Toronto (Ontario) charging about $275 per hour of osteopathic care and some in Bermuda and Malaysia who are charging $400 per session.

Most osteopathic schools in Canada offer amazing education. However we strongly believe that National Academy of Osteopathy (Canada) offers the best osteopathic education possible because it focuses on unique, innovative, and practical education that alumni can use in their practices. We have more alumni in Canada than any other school of osteopathy.

Our alumni made us the leader in osteopathic education and we are proud of them. They are some of the most distinguished manual osteopaths in the world. Presidents of many osteopathy organizations have studied osteopathy with us including the following: 

American Association of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners,

Canadian Union of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners,

American Osteopathic Manual Practice Examining Board,
College of Registered Manual Osteopaths (Canada), 

Council on Osteopathic Manual Practice Education (USA),

European Osteopathic Association,

Caribbean Osteopathic Association,

Canadian Manual Osteopathy Examining Board,

International Osteopathy Examining Board,

Ontario College of Osteopathic Rehabilitation Sciences,

British Columbia Association of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners,

College of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners of Ontario,

Nova Scotia Osteopathic Association,

Newfoundland and Labrador Osteopathic Association,

L’Alliance Canadienne de Médecine Alternative,

National Osteopathic Practitioners Association,

Council on Manual Osteopathy Education,

Manitoba Osteopathic Association,

College des osteopathes canadiens,

Iranian Osteopathic Association,

African Osteopathic Association,

Osteopathy Association of Asia and

International Osteopathic Association.

We do hope you choose us for your osteopathic education. We love osteopathy, we are passionate about osteopathy and we are sure you would love osteopathy as well.

To receive National Academy of Osteopathy (Canada) information package and academic calendar please send an email to admissions@nationalacademyofosteopathy.com.

For more information about the Diploma in Osteopathic Manual Practice (DOMP) program offered by NAO please visit our website at www.nationalacademyofosteopathy.com.

Our goal is to make sure patients in every corner of the world have access to osteopathy, this wonderful health profession. We encourage you to study osteopathy. You would love every minute of it.

Thank you for reading NAO blog.