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Osteopathic Medicine Major

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Osteopathic Medicine

What Osteopathic Medicine Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to osteopathic medicine were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Osteopathic Medicine Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

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  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  • Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Skills for Osteopathic Medicine Majors

osteopathic medicine majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Osteopathic Medicine Majors

As a osteopathic medicine major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

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  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Osteopathic Medicine Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with osteopathic medicine:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Family and General Practitioners 14.3% $201,100
Physicians and Surgeons 11.4% $200,890

Some careers associated with osteopathic medicine require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to osteopathic medicine have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. 3.5%
Doctoral Degree 65.4%
Post-Doctoral Training 31.1%

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to osteopathic medicine.

Major Number of Grads
Nursing 308,114
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 88,809
Allied Health Professions 85,413
Health & Medical Administrative Services 85,302
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 79,189
Public Health 42,551
Health Sciences & Services 35,887
Mental & Social Health Services 31,550
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 29,934
Medicine 29,206
Dental Support Services 25,040
Communication Sciences 23,288
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 19,017
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 18,729
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services 10,516
Health/Medical Prep Programs 9,413
Other Health Professions 7,387
Dentistry 6,961
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 5,644
Bioethics/Medical Ethics 5,056
Alternative Medicine & Systems 3,431
Chiropractic 2,698
Medical Illustration & Informatics 2,689
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies 2,244
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 1,845
Optometry 1,789
Medical Science 1,090
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services 760
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies 468
Alternative Medical Support Services 136
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies 116

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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