Evaluating perspectives, knowledge and behaviors of osteopathic medicine in a United States osteopathic medical school: A study in employee education and changes in understanding

The institutional culture where students complete training may significantly impact their professional identity and practice habits related to osteopathic medicine principles and the use of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT). This is the first study to evaluate institutional culture, perspectives, knowledge, behaviors, and the effect of an educational intervention among an institution's employees surrounding the principles of osteopathic medicine. To explore the impact of a standardized educational intervention in osteopathic medicine for employees in promoting greater integration of osteopathic principles and practice into our institutional culture at a single multi-campus institution.. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess osteopathic knowledge, perspectives, and behaviors through two surveys provided before and 6 months after an educational intervention. The educational intervention consisted of 7 online, asynchronous modules. A baseline (PRE) survey and 6-month follow-up (POST) were treated as independent samples, as not all study respondents participated in the educational intervention. Contingency tables were generated for the preliminary data set to assess the relationships among survey responses. Chi-square tests were conducted to test relationships and Fisher Exact Tests employed when assumptions for the chi-square test were not met. Analyses of variance and independent t-tests were conducted to evaluate score differences across different employment categories and backgrounds. All employees were invited to participate in the study, 96/370 (25.9 %) completed the PRE and 94/370 (25.4 %) completed the POST surveys. In the POST survey, 45/94 (47.9 %) of respondents indicated they participated in the educational modules. After the training, a greater number of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they understand the fundamentals of OPP [PRE: 80/95 (84.2 %); POST: 88/92 (95.7 %); P = 0.01] and the origins and history of osteopathic medicine in the United States [PRE: 62/94 (66 %); POST: 79/92 (85.9 %); P = 0.003]. Within the administrators/staff category, significantly more had experienced OMT at the end of the study [PRE: 38/48 (79.2 %); POST: 45/48 (93.8 %); P = 0.04]. There were significantly more participants who correctly identified body systems impacted by OMT [PRE: 68/96 (70.8 %); POST: 79/93 (84.9 %); P = 0.01]. Faculty planned to integrate osteopathic principles into their teaching [37/40 (92.5 %)] and written exam items