Practicing Medicine Providing Care

Providing Care

DO Difference

Treating the patient, not the symptoms

As a DO, you believe there's more to good health than the absence of pain or disease. You focus on prevention, working to understand a patient's lifestyle and environment rather than just treating symptoms.

The AOA provides tools and resources designed to help DOs provide uniquely osteopathic, high-quality patient care. The following programs and guides are intended to help keep you up to date on advancements in medicine and improve patient outcomes.


Tools for your practice

Practicing with empathy

Being empathetic means understanding patients’ experiences, concerns and perspectives, and being able to communicate this understanding to your patients. Looking to up your empathy game? These simple strategies can help.

Opioid prescriber education

To take action against the opioid crisis, the AOA joined forces with the CO*RE Collaborative to provide healthcare professionals with CME on pain management and safer opioid prescribing. The CO*RE curriculum is in alignment with the FDA’s mission and follows the FDA Blueprint (September, 2018).

Early childhood education "All it takes is H.E.A.R.T" initiative

The AOA has partnered with Erikson Institute to develop “All it takes is H.E.A.R.T.,” a series of online education modules designed for physicians specializing in family practice, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology. Each module is worth 2 AOA Category 1-B CME credits, and those who complete all three modules will receive a professional development certificate from Erikson Institute.

Teen prescription drug abuse

An estimated 1 in 20 teens has a substance abuse disorder, but research indicates that early interventions can achieve positive outcomes. The AOA partnered with the Coalition of Health Care Providers on Adolescent Substance Abuse to create a two-part online CME course on teen prescription drug abuse.

Antibiotic stewardship app

Download the Prognosis SOMA: Antibiotics custom medical app for a game-based look at antibiotic stewardship. The AOA developed the app, which is available for Apple or Android devices, with the CDC and A. T. Still University. DOs who complete all six case studies in the app can earn up to 1.5 Category 1-B CME credits (0.25 credits per case).

MDA summer camp

In partnership with the AOA, the American Osteopathic Foundation, and the MDA, the osteopathic medical profession has a unique opportunity to deliver osteopathic care to the patients at these camps and to give back to surrounding communities. The MDA needs medical students, resident physicians, and physicians to serve as medical staff or volunteer counselors during the one-week camps held across the country between May and August.

Smoking cessation

Nearly half of smokers try to quit each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and the majority of tobacco and nicotine users say they want to quit—yet only 4 to 7 percent will succeed. The AOA partnered with the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health to provide DOs with free, evidence-based resources to assist their patients at they attempt to quit smoking.

Back To Top