For many of us students it is very easy to miss the applications of the principles of osteopathy we are taught. Dr. John Coppinger, Marian University COM’s SAAO faculty advisor, is working to bridge this gap by leading a series on pediatric osteopathic treatment. This event is being co-sponsored with the Pediatric Student Interest Group in an effort to increase the amount of students that will hopefully one day offer OMT to their younger patients.
This series started on April 11th at Marian with a discussion focused on the resiliency of the child’s youthful mechanisms of health. It is obvious to anyone that spends any time with a child that they are bound by nothing but their own imagination. They are wonderfully free to be who they are and become who they want to be! Dr. Coppinger takes a biodynamic approach to osteopathy in the cranial field when he treats children so his treatments are almost exclusively indirect. He cites Sutherland’s work later in life as justification for limiting the amount of force put into a child’s system. The discussion ended with a demonstration on the child of one of ourclassmate’s children. We were fortunate enough to also include Pre-SOMA students to further their understanding and foster their interest in osteopathy.