The PBS News Hour wraps up its series on the crisis in rural healthcare. The problem is two-fold, with both of them resulting from a lack of funding.
First, many hospitals have closed and, second, with a nationwide shortage of primary care physicians, very few are working at the remaining rural facilities. You will note the report is mostly about Doctors of Osteopathy stepping in where there aren’t enough Medical Doctors.
Chiropractic and Acupuncture have no scientific basis. People who use those services are, in my opinion, wasting their money and/or the money of insurance carriers that have been pressured into covering the treatments.
The holistic approach of Osteopathy includes chiropractic treatment. Which, in my view, has all the validity of astrology compared to astronomy. The “treating the person not the disease” concept is, in my opinion, junk science. Focusing on the importance of diet, exercise, and sleep is my idea of holistic medicine.
Making a person feel they’re being heard works when their problem is emotional, not medical. Without getting into any detail, I saw this for myself with my late father when taking him to an appointment with a DO at a pain clinic.
Despite my unshakable doubts about Osteopathic medicine, DO’s deserve credit and support for providing services in regions where there aren’t enough MD’s. I also think the role of nurse practitioners — RN’s who become NP’s — as primary care providers should be encouraged.
