Would You Like to Dance?

Sometimes I get asked why I attend an osteopathic, instead of an M.D. type (allopathic) medical school. The short answer is because it was a D.O. school that accepted my invitation to dance. Being an older guy, you've got to have some moves if you want to get out on the floor. And even then, it helps to choose the right partner. You can spend a lot of time alone at the table otherwise.

I was looking for someone who was more than attractive. She needed to have her own ideas and be able to articulate them. It would be even better if she had a philosophy and heaven if it dovetailed with mine. She should be comfortable with herself and not need me to complete her. And there had to be chemistry, that ineffable something that you can't quantify but know it when you find it because you can feel it.

So, when I began the club crawl, I knew what I was looking for, but how to catch her eye? For one thing, it was time to leave the jeans at home and dress the part. Even at Billy Bob's Texas you need to polish your boots. Then, take a step or two (no pun intended) and ask. Eventually you hit the right combination and she says, "Yes."

For me, all this means I was looking for a way of doing medicine that was based on a philosophy of patient care. One that regarded patients as persons and integrated ones at that. In other words, an approach that related body to mind and both to spirit. While most physicians, I think, would agree on these principles (whatever intials are behind their names), osteopathic medicine writes them on their doorposts. It's what I was looking for in the right partner and can she ever dance.


(Image by nelly! via Flickr)