Osteopathic Medicine

Types of Degrees Osteopathic Medicine Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many osteopathic medicine graduations there were in 2018-2019 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree	6,700

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:

• 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to osteopathic medicine:

• 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.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Osteopathic Medicine Majors

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

• 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?

People with a osteopathic medicine degree often go into the following careers:

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

How Much Do Osteopathic Medicine Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $203,880 to $211,780 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to osteopathic medicine. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Osteopathic Medicine

Some degrees associated with osteopathic medicine may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for osteopathic medicine careers below.

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%

Online Osteopathic Medicine Programs

In 2018-2019, 35 schools offered a osteopathic medicine program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	35	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Osteopathic Medicine Worth It?

The median salary for a osteopathic medicine grad is $203,880 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 411% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $3,279,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Osteopathic Medicine

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

Major	Number of Grads
Nursing	305,309
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	99,641
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	93,192
Allied Health Professions	86,697
Health & Medical Administrative Services	82,868
Public Health	36,569
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	28,559
Mental & Social Health Services	27,743
Dental Support Services	26,183
Health Sciences & Services	25,948
Communication Sciences	21,606
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences	19,767
Medicine	19,720
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	19,354
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services	11,961
Health/Medical Prep Programs	11,279
Other Health Professions	8,168
Dentistry	6,403
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	5,877
Alternative Medicine & Systems	3,576
Veterinary Medicine	3,297
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies	3,251
Chiropractic	2,608
Optometry	1,747
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences	1,685
Medical Illustration & Informatics	1,624
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services	1,044
Medical Science	809
Veterinary Biomedical & Clinical Services	782
Bioethics/Medical Ethics	597
Podiatry	579
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies	444
Alternative Medical Support Services	191
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies	73

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.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By V. Jack Ruther under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.