The "American School of Osteopathy" is located in Kirksville, Missouri.
The course of study required is of three years duration, of nine months each, and the degree of D. O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) is given to the graduates.
OPERATIONS.
There has been a great change in regard to operations among the laity of late years. There is much less opposition and prejudice. The people are being educated to the necessity for operating in many diseases. A great deal of the opposition was due to the doctors themselves. There have been doctors who would operate at every opportunity. Some doctors could not treat a woman for diseases of the womb and ovaries without suggesting that an operation was necessary. There have been a great many healthy organs removed, or at least organs that could have been saved by proper treatment. Fortunately such doctors are becoming less in number and there is more discrimination being used. On the other hand there has also been too much conservatism. Many persons have spent years in suffering who could have been relieved by an operation. Years ago a person suffering from terrific attacks of gall stone colic continued to suffer all their natural life. Now an operation is performed and relief is obtained at very little risk to life. The same is true of cancers, tumors, etc. These, if taken early, can be removed safely and successfully in very many cases and lives saved and suffering relieved.
If an operation is needed the family should go to their family physician, in whom they have confidence. He can do the operation or direct the family as to what surgeon to choose. Bad results of operations are, sometimes, due to the operator. It is the duty of the family to choose a competent and honest surgeon. There are plenty of them all over the world,—and very few competent surgeons operate simply for the money they receive. As a rule they earn all and more than they are paid. There are more surgeons today than ever and they are also more competent, for our medical schools prepare them in the hospitals for that kind of work.
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The surgeons connected with our hospitals, public and private, are doing a great work in relieving the ills of humanity, others in private practice are doing great work. Here and there one is found who operates only for the money, but persons who employ such a doctor are usually entitled to the results they receive. Your family physician, even if he is not a surgeon, is the best person to consult when an operation may be necessary. He will send you to some honest and competent man. Operations usually should be performed as early as possible. In malignant disease the operation must be done early. This applies to cancers of the lip, face, tongue, breast, womb, ovaries, stomach and the abdominal cavity.
Then again, operations are far less dangerous now than before the days of aseptic and antiseptic surgery. Cleanliness on the part of the surgeon, nurses and patient is the first law of success in all operations. Any case that becomes infected through fault of the surgeon or attendants is no longer looked upon as a thoroughly successful operation, even though the patient recovers.
As in other branches of medicine, there are now many specialists in surgery. In the major operations it is best to employ a specialist, but in the minor cases the "family doctor" should be competent. If he does not care to perform the operation himself he can advise and direct you in selecting a competent surgeon. Always seek his advice early; do not wait until the patient is weak or dying before you decide to allow the operation, as then the chances are it cannot help. If you are in doubt as to the necessity of the operation consult more than one surgeon. There is a possibility of a wrong diagnosis in some cases.