Open Forum 2024 - Registration

We are delighted to welcome you to our 9^th “Open Forum for Osteopathic Education” Conference "Osteopathic Models - between tradition and evidence-based practice" on 7^th & 8^th November 2024 in Saronno, Italy. Following up on Steve Vogel’s IJOM editorial from 2021, we dedicate OsEAN’s 2024 Open Forum Conference to the discussion of our theoretical models, inviting educators and researchers alike. As a profession, we need a new consensus and together we might be able to make a step in that direction.

Osteopathy and osteopathic education are undergoing a critical transition. While some schools still mainly adhere to traditional osteopathic models and theories, others try to integrate the ever-growing insights from the research that was published since the turn of the century. This is a daunting task, as an overall framework for osteopathy is missing.
Recent suggestions from some authors seem strongly biased toward the bio-psycho-social model. While it is true that the psycho-social aspects have long been neglected in osteopathy, most of what is proposed now stays quite vague and far from usable in clinical practice. So what’s left as a take-home message for educators, is that we should put more emphasis on patient communication and education.
Also - despite evidence to the contrary - some champions of the bio-psycho-social model seem to omit or even deny the "bio"-part, i.e. any effects of our manual treatment on patients' bodies. OMT arguably is the main reason why our patients come to see an osteopath rather than a psychologist specialized in pain science, so any model that does not include it seems thoroughly lacking.

The programme includes speeches by Dr. Jerry Draper-Rodi, Assoc. Prof. Paul Vaucher, Prof. Eyal Lederman and fifteen other presentors, a final panel discussion as well as eight poster presentations. For more information check out the conference programme.

We are looking forward to meeting you again in person in Saronno!