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In April of 2022, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) graciously invited the D.O. or Do Not Podcast to attend their national meeting, the “Educating Leaders” conference, in Denver, Colorado. Our two producers, Lerone Cark, MS-II at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Brooke Pillegi, MS-II at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as Ben Berg, our premedical student liaison, attended the conference to continue our mission of promoting awareness of osteopathic medicine by interviewing leaders in the field.

We would like to thank Dr. Robert Cain, president of AACOM, Joseph Shapiro, director of media relations, and Helene Cameron, vice president of medical education services for having us at the conference and supporting the podcast. We had an amazing experience and would recommend the conference to any medical or premedical students interested in learning more about the inner workings of osteopathic medicine and osteopathic medical education.

Today on the D.O. or Do Not podcast, we have Dr. Sharon Gustowski, the chair of the Department of Osteopathic Principles and Practices (OPP) at Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. For those unfamiliar, D.O.’s treatment modalities are similar to our M.D. counterparts, with OPP being one of the main factors that makes osteopathic physicians unique by giving us another “tool in the tool belt” with hands-on musculoskeletal treatment.

In this episode, Dr. Gustowski discusses both her clinical practice, which focuses on manual therapy for children, as well as her role as a professor of OPP in Texas. She will further share her views on how new osteopathic students engage with the philosophies and techniques of osteopathic manipulative medicine, and why these techniques and philosophies bring value to all osteopathic students, regardless of what specialty they pursue.