The First Palpation / Symposium F: Various Concepts, Presentation

One of the joys of teaching is teaching palpation to brand new students who have never been exposed to an osteopathic palpation. Initially, these students are sceptical and claim not to be feeling anything , but, as the palpation continues, all of them will feel something that we call PRM and some will even feel […]

Report on the development of a multi-station OSPE for assessing palpation and treatment skills in osteopathy in the cranial field / Symposium E: Cranial Palpation, Presentation

The assessment of palpatory and manual osteopathic therapeutic skills presents multiple challenges, particularly in terms of reliability. The added challenge of inter-rater reliability in the cranial field has been considered in osteopathic journals by a number of authors and adds to the difficulty of developing an assessment tool which is sufficiently reliable to be used […]

High-Tech for higher touch? Exemplars & research / Key Note

Professor Michael L. Kuchera, DO, FAAO: Professor, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Director, OMM Research / Human Performance & Biomechanics Laboratory; Clinical Director, Center for Chronic Disorders of Aging Very few “gold-standards” exist to validate palpatory findings of somatic dysfunction or its modification with Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) techniques. Background: At the Philadelphia College of […]

Palpation Acquisition: Developing a Feedback and Validation Model / Symposium C: Various Concepts, Presentation

A major obstacle to palpation development, is receiving adequate and reliable feedback. In some form, feedback is essential to building confidence, proficiency, precision and accuracy in osteopathy’s instrument of measure, palpation. Other professionals who rely upon their senses, such as chefs, wine tasters, and musicians, have progressive mechanisms in place for providing feedback and validation […]

The need for standardized, evidence-based terminology in palpation teaching / Symposium B: Language, Presentation

Background: Palpation is considered as much an art as a science. Its teaching therefore presents many challenges. Four main issues have been described in the manual therapies scientific literature and should be addressed to improve palpation teaching: hand positioning, amount and direction of force and interpretation of tissue response. Additionally and specifically to osteopathy, interpreting […]

Palpation and Virtual Patients / Symposium A: Technology, Presentation

Information technology, developed for gaming and social networks, has given rise to the “virtual patient.” This simulation technology is being used for education and competency assessment for skills ranging from cultural competency to invasive procedures. Virtual patients offer greater standardization, scalability, and cost-effectiveness than other training methods. Utilizing virtual patients to teach or evaluate skills […]

Enhancing students’ learning of palpatory skills: A focus on language / Symposium B: Language, Presentation

Although debates about the validity and reliability of palpation as an assessment tool continue, palpation remains one of the core assessment skill of osteopathic medicine. Teaching palpation to osteopathic students is a complex and challenging task which is compounded by the limitations of human communication. According to sociocultural learning theory, learning results from verbal interactions […]