Osteopathy is not only a job, it is a vocation!

Item

Title
Osteopathy is not only a job, it is a vocation!
Author(s)
Forthuber Karin
Abstract
This thesis deals with the research question: “What motives does a practitioner with already completed medical training have to undergo a six-and-a-half-year training program in osteopathy and does vocation play a role in the decision?”
The research is primarily based on current literature on job motivation, professional choice, lifelong learning, motivation for social professions and motivation research.
In addition, synonyms and related aspects of “vocation” like destination, self-actualization, life crises, visions, talents, personal skills and strengths are integrated and discussed in this thesis.
But since specific osteopathic literature on this topic is not available and since the objective of this thesis is also to obtain a subjective view of career choices, the thesis is also based on a qualitative study by means of a problem-focused interview with open and partly closed questions supported by interview guidelines. To obtain a representative distribution of results I interviewed eight practitioners, two male and two female doctors and two male and two female physical therapists. Other professional groups, like midwives or veterinary doctors, who are also admitted to osteopathic training, were neglected.
All interviewees displayed common traits: they “wanted to develop”, were “interested in new things” and they shared the desire to understand the human being in its totality. All these things seem to be decisive factors for personal development in the direction of osteopathy.
Motives like discontentment with the status quo after the original training in medicine or physical therapy, the desire to achieve the best possible treatment result for the patient, thirst for knowledge, curiosity and the wish for personal development, independence from public health insurance carriers and medical specialists placement problems, the improvement of manual skills and the realization to have reached certain limits with conventional treatment methods as well as the conviction to be able to overcome theses limitations with osteopathy are crucial factors that influence the decision in favour of osteopathy.
The knowledge of why a practitioner decides to study osteopathy as well as what are the expectations of the individual towards the training and whether theses expectations are really fulfilled are very relevant for osteopathy in general and for the Wiener Schule für Osteopathie (Vienna School of Osteopathy) in particular.
Date Accepted
2007
Date Submitted
1.3.2007 00:00:00
Type
osteo_thesis
Language
English
Number of pages
101
Submitted by:
62
Pub-Identifier
13230
Inst-Identifier
781
Keywords
Motivation
Recommended
0
Medium
Forthuber_engl.pdf
Item sets
Thesis

Forthuber Karin, “Osteopathy is not only a job, it is a vocation!”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed March 28, 2024, https://www.osteopathic-research.com/s/orw/item/3021