Our Curriculum

Osteopathy Program

Course Requirements

Every OAoPO student must complete each module of the Osteopathy program, which includes approximately nine in-person courses per year along with online content. Virtual course content includes approximately 4-8 days of online course content per year, including examinations.

Tuition Fees

Osteopathy Modules: $1100.00 CAD per module

Pathophysiology Modules: $200.00 CAD per module

Functional Neurology Modules: $600.00 CAD per module

Palpation Classes: $600.00 CAD per class

Orthopaedics: $1100.00 CAD per online class and in-person training.

  • The Orthopaedics course is provided in a hybrid format: lectures are online and in-person training comprises day-long sessions on campus.

Please note that the above fee for osteopathic modules is for OAoPO students only — professional pricing is $1300.00 per module.

Program Overview

Year 1

The first year at OAoPO introduces students to all basic concepts of Osteopathy. The introductory year focusses on Osteopathic fundamentals, including biomechanics, palpation, principles of osteopathic technique, movement, Osteopathic exercises, the nervous system (NS), and the start of the detailed study of the connective tissue (CT). Year 1 curriculum also revolves around the study of the joints, the musculoskeletal system, the frame of the abdomen, the pelvis, and the diaphragm.

Student practitioners will learn how to mobilize a patient's tissues as well as how to position themselves and move their own bodies efficiently. The curriculum also includes classical Osteopathic courses, such as Muscle Energy Technique, taught by the Mitchells, founders of the technique), and Strain-Counterstrain, taught by Lino Cedros.

One of OAoPO's unique first-year courses is the evaluation course, in which students learn how to access the position of abdominal organs. Student practitioners will also use an ultrasound to verify and identify palpation. The evaluation course is one of the most important courses of the Osteopathy program and is the basis for all visceral studies in subsequent years.

Year 2

Year 2 of the Osteopathy program is a dedicated exploration of kinetic chains. Within that exploration, there are continued studies in Osteopathic assessment; induction and inhibition testing; discussions on how kinetic chains are constructed; as well as the different types of chains. The second year also covers all the superficial and deep fascia of the body. Students will also undergo the first cranial courses.

Our approach to the CT and NS is intentional and continuous. The methodology for all of the body's CTs are the same — the differences lie not in the location of the tissue, but in the type of tissue. At the OAoPO, technique depends on tissue anatomy and physiology. What the student practitioner addresses is as important, if not more important, than where. Terms like “cranial work” and “visceral work” are not only redundant, but also misleading. By contrast, OAoPO students learn about the behaviour of the CT and NS and how to address their very complex relationship.

Year 3

Third-year students return to a comprehensive study of the joints and the abdomen, with courses devoted to the CT of the abdominal organs and to the deep CT of the joints. Exercises are explored again as part of a system of addressing every CT in the body. Year 3 includes another classic osteopathic technique, Chapman’s Reflexes, a neurolymphatic technique that will be part of an Osteopathic examination for NS treatment.

Year 4

The fourth year at OAoPO features an in-depth look at the principles behind normalizations of the entire spine and the thoracic viscera. There are advanced courses in neurolymphatic and neurovascular reflexes, including Chapman’s points, as well as other manual techniques that facilitate inhibition or stimulation of the NS, including the enteric NS.

By the end of Year, the students will have learned a significant amount of the treatment concepts and have spent a significant amount of time in the student clinic as student practitioners. The exam at the end of the fourth year is the most rigorous of the program, as the cumulation of each student’s knowledge and skills will be tested in preparation for fifth year.

Year 5

Fifth-year students are challenged to develop their skills to a level of excellence that makes OAoPO graduates the most skilled and most educated new graduates in the world. That said, the fifth and final year offers all of the most technically demanding courses of the program.

The OAoPO believes that if a student has reached the fifth year, they have more than demonstrated their ability to perform as a practitioner at a high level. Therefore, Year 5 is about consolidating and perfecting skills, as well as personalizing each student’s individual approach to Osteopathy. The emphasis is on honing and perfecting clinical skills and developing a high level of anatomical and physiological knowledge. We highly recommend that students choose a specialty program to pursue by the time they reach the end of their fifth year.

Courses

The Study of Joints

  • Introduction to Joint Normalization for the Appendicular and Axial Skeleton (2 courses)
  • Muscle Energy Technique, Part A: the Cervical Spine (2-day course)
  • Muscle Energy Technique, Part B: the Thoracic Spine and Ribs (2 day course)
  • Muscle Energy Technique, Part C: the Lumbar Spine and Pelvis (2-day course)
  • Exercises for the Kinetic Chains (2 courses)
  • Advanced Evaluation and Treatment of the Pelvis, part A
  • Advanced Evaluation and Treatment of the Pelvis, part B

The System of Diaphragms

  • Evaluation and Treatment of the Thoracic Diaphragm
  • The Cervicothoracic Diaphragm
  • Evaluation and Treatment of the Lesser Pelvis and Pelvic Floor

Connective Tissue Studies, Including Cranial Treatment

  • Connective Tissue Treatment Introduction and Temporal Bone
  • Kinetic Chains of the Extremities and Axial Skeleton Including
    • Lower Extremity Kinetic Chains
    • Upper Extremity Kinetic Chains
    • Kinetic Chains of the Trunk
    • Kinetic Chains of the Cranial Base
    • Kinetic Chains of the Cranial Vault

Advanced Cranial Studies

  • Advanced Cranial, Part A: the Dura Mater and the Trigeminovascular System
  • Advanced Cranial, Part B: the Venous Sinuses, Ventricles and the Intracranial Fluid Homeostatic Mechanisms

Neuroreflexogenic Studies

  • Strain-CounterStrain
  • Pottinger’s Segmental Innervation
  • Chapman’s Neurolymphatic Reflexes
  • Bennett’s Neurovascular Reflexes

Visceral Studies

  • Visceral Evaluation
  • Abdominal Visceral treatment, Part A
  • Abdominal Visceral treatment, Part B
  • Abdominal Visceral treatment, Part C: the Non-digestive Organs
  • Rib Cage Visceral treatment, Part A
  • Rib Cage Visceral treatment, Part B

Student Resources and Hours

Online Course Content

  • 40+ Hours

Class Times

  • Day 1 and Day 2: 10 AM to 6 PM
  • Day 3 and Day 4: 9 AM to 5 PM

How we are reducing student costs

All materials and manuals are provided in our online classroom, including a reference book list. Almost all material for the duration of five-year Osteopathy program will be provided in an online format to facilitate students access and reduce costs for the dozens of resource materials.