Are osteopathy graduates prepared for practice?

Newly published research indicates that new graduates are safe to start practising independently and that they are familiar with the current standards of osteopathic practice.

As part of our statutory duty to promote high standards of education, in 2011 we commissioned a research project to help us understand how prepared graduates of osteopathy training courses are for practice. Our aim was to find out whether further support is required to help osteopaths make the transition from student to practitioner. The purpose of this is to ensure that patients continually receive a high standard of care.

The research was carried out by Professor Della Freeth and a team from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, who have experience of doing similar work for other healthcare professions.

The research found that new graduates are safe to start practising independently and that they are familiar with the current standards of osteopathic practice.

You can read further findings of the research here and read the full report.

With the osteopathic educational institutions, we are exploring the implications of this research with a view to strengthening some areas of training. We are also exploring implications for the GOsC, for example: should we require or facilitate particular types of continuing professional development to support new graduates in their first few years of practice? How can we encourage high quality support from the osteopathic community for newly registered osteopaths?

New Graduates’ Preparedness to Practise: Research report of a study commissioned by the General Osteopathic Council, by Prof Della Freeth, Dr Paul McIntosh and Dr Dawn Carnes.

Further information about osteopathic research is available on this website at www.osteopathy.org.uk/news-and-resources/research-surveys