I like that approach.

Doing his residency. I didn't even know what a DO was until he started that program. I've been VERY impressed with him and his knowledge on the total body vs. treating the specific issue. I bounce EVERYTHING my doc tells me off of him with some issues I've been having lately.

I would suspect that a DO in psych would be just as thorough. Probably not so much a "push the meds" approach, but more comprehensive if I had to guess.

Good luck. I hope the relationship works well for you. Keep us updated on it. I'm very interested in the differences with a DO.

More than a hundred years ago, in the bad old days of medicine when medical science was sketchy at best, Doctors of Osteopathy were the bone-and-structure guys while Medical Doctors were the classical Hippocratic Four Humors guys.

The introduction of the scientific method to both sorts of medical practice resulted in a convergence in training. Both schools of medicine now have equivalent training solidly grounded in the sciences.

Traditionally Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine tend to be more open to so-called alternative medicines. It's not sure thing however. There are DOs who will roll their eyes when you tell them you'd like to try some herbal medicine, just as there are MDs who will suggest appropriate herbal medicines for their patients who want to try that.

D.O.s are shut out of some specialist medical fields but this has more to do with history and politics, not the rigor of their training. D.O.s are fully licensed to practice medicine in all fifty states.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Osteopathic_Association

My doctor is a D.O.