Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) Labs
The Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) Labs are a vital component of the LUCOM curriculum. In the OMM laboratory experiences, you will gain a hands-on appreciation of the interrelatedness of structure and function in preventive and therapeutic patient care by working with student-doctor colleagues and faculty in small groups. LUCOM faculty will train you in osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) aimed at the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal problems, enhancement of lymphatic and immune function, and application of a variety of unique approaches to addressing organ system problems, injury prevention, and health maintenance and promotion. Taken together, these osteopathic palpatory skills are useful in assisting with the diagnosis of a patient’s medical condition as well as treating or preventing somatic dysfunction.
In this educational space, LUCOM has created a learning environment where you will develop an awareness and an understanding of foundational examination and treatment skills. This establishes an understanding of the importance, and value, of the variety of diagnostic and therapeutic methods needed for practice.
Each week you will develop psychomotor skill competence and confidence, as well as application of proficient communication for patient care by communicating professionally with each other.
The OMM Lab comfortably accommodates over 80 student-doctors per session and is designed to hold over 40 OMM tables. Natural light is provided from large exterior windows for a comfortable learning environment. The lab is also equipped with industry-standard adjustable tables designed to accommodate your individual needs as a student-doctor. Also included, are high definition video monitors to view anatomic motions and manipulation demonstrations. The instructional teaching station has both fixed and portable high definition cameras allowing optimal viewing of techniques with quality recordings for future review.
Patient Centered Medicine (PCM) Lab
A second location to enhance your osteopathic skills, is our Patient Centered Medicine (PCM) Lab.
The PCM laboratory experiences provide similar kinds of collaborative clinical training experiences with guidance and instruction from faculty. You will meet weekly in the lab with a small group of student colleagues to develop critical clinical skills in a patient centered manner. As you learn and practice clinical skills that will help diagnose patients with a variety of issues, you also will be preparing for medical board licensing exams (e.g., COMLEX Level 2-PE examination).
Liberty osteopathic medical students are expected to become comfortable in their ability to inspect, auscultate, percuss, and palpate a variety of body regions in both male and female subjects.
In order to become proficient in physical examination and osteopathic neuromuscular diagnosis and treatment, it is important that you develop skills on a wide variety of body types, genders, age groups, and levels of health and/or disease.
This will help you to develop the appreciation of subtle variations in muscle tone, joint movement, tissue textures, and tissue types that the physician will need to successfully treat.
In the OMM lab, students are randomly assigned to partners and/or groups to allow the greatest depth of experience, in order to meet the standards of quality osteopathic care. Both the OMM and PCM Labs are able to broadcast live feeds to other educational spaces within the Center for Medical and Health Sciences (CMHS).