My career has been dedicated to the advancement of osteopathic principles and practice (OPP). I have worked to advocate for the clinical integration of OPP through osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) curricular development and delivery, clinical practice and mentoring, performance and publication of OMM research, and integration of OPP on national licensure examinations and ACGME residency programs.
My interest in research began during an internship with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, when I was able to investigate methods of explosive detection. Research experiences continued in graduate school, where I studied potato genetics.
Changing gears, I went to osteopathic medical school at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. While serving as a pre-doctoral OMM fellow, I was able to work with my mentor, Karen Steele, DO, FAAO, on her project assessing the efficacy of OMM as adjunct treatment for otitis media. Thus, began a continuous interest in osteopathic research.
Since those early projects, I have been able to work on the interexaminer reliability of palpatory findings, clinical correlations of somatic dysfunction, clinical outcomes and practice management of osteopathic manipulative treatment, and educational methodology of OMM.
Participating in DO-Touch.net is a logical part of advancing osteopathic medicine through research. Being able to gather real practice data from real OMM practitioners allows a much better understanding of the tremendous benefits provided by the integration of osteopathic principles into clinical practice.
