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Osteopathic Manipulation Medicine Residency Program

Our program is designed for the study and application of Osteopathy across a broad range of clinical scenarios within a diverse patient population. The clinical aspect of our training takes full advantage of the hospital’s complex and underserved patient population.

Resident Wellness at SBH

We offer a wealth of resources to ensure a smooth transition into our residency programs. We also provide detailed wellness information, highlighting the support systems in place to maintain your physical and mental health during your residency.


Resident Wellness

Curriculum, Requirements, Benefits

Thank you for your interest in the SBH Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (ONMM) Residency Program! SBH has been training OMM specialists since 1993. Initially an AOA training program, we have completed our transition and are now fully accredited by the ACGME.

SBH Health System has a 270-bed acute care facility that is currently a level 2 trauma center. There are busy medical and surgical inpatient services, and we perform between 500 to 1000 consults per year on medical, surgical, and trauma patients. There is also a newborn nursery, a dedicated pediatric floor, and a labor and delivery unit that performs approximately 1000 births per year. We treat every newborn, pediatric and postpartum patient at SBH and OMT has become an integral part of their routine care. SBH has also opened a wellness center, where we have a clinic session dedicated to the Osteopathic care of women and children.

Our didactic curriculum is broad in scope and collaborative in nature–we meet daily for lectures on anatomy, physiology, mechanics, and osteopathic philosophy. We have a bi-monthly journal club and residents are encouraged to develop research projects on the use of OMT. We have weekly faculty led hands-on labs. There are also educational bedside rounds with the surgical and medical services and teaching rounds with the emergency medicine department.

The goal of the SBH ONMM Residency Program is to train well-rounded osteopathic physicians, to provide care to the community, and to develop leaders and teachers within the specialty of ONMM.

Continuity Clinic
Residents spend four to five half days per week in continuity clinics. Patients of all ages are seen for a variety of conditions. Resident responsibilities include initial evaluation and treatment of patients, documentation using electronic medical records, CPT coding, patient education, and referral to appropriate specialists. Direct supervision is provided by the five faculty members, each of whom offers a unique perspective and approach to patient care. Faculty members have no other clinical or administrative responsibilities when supervising clinic and see every patient with the resident. While this level of direct guidance and supervision is provided by the faculty, residents are also given the autonomy to develop and implement their own treatment plan, with increasing responsibility given over time.

Wellness Center
We are excited to have opened one of our clinic sessions in the new SBH wellness center.  The wellness center is a unique initiative for our underserved population, and includes a gym, a rooftop garden with a classroom to teach our patients how to prepare healthy foods and healthy meal plans, and houses SBH’s women’s and children’s outpatient services.  Our wellness center is dedicated to antepartum, postpartum, pediatric, and neonatal Osteopathic care.

Inpatient Service
Consults are performed based on request from the primary care team. These patients are followed through their hospital course. Types of patients seen in hospital include:

  • General Medical service
  • Intensive Care Unit
  • General Surgical service
  • Trauma
  • Orthopedics
  • Obstetrics
  • Neonates
  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
  • Pediatrics

The residents prepare the consult and evaluate the patient, after which the patient is presented to an attending, who reviews the case, discusses the osteopathic considerations and treatment plan, evaluates the patient, and performs the initial treatment with the resident.

Didactics are integrated as part of the daily schedule and include presentations in anatomy, physiology, and mechanics of the body, research studies related to osteopathy, osteopathic philosophy, and discussions covering a variety of osteopathic texts. Most presentations within the department are led by residents and supervised by faculty. There are also weekly faculty led OMT labs. Program director, Hugh Ettlinger, DO, FAAO, provides a valuable perspective rich in osteopathic tradition as he presents teachings from his mentor, Anne Wales, DO, a student of William Sutherland, DO.

Scholarly Activity is incorporated into the curriculum, as each resident is required to prepare multiple patient case studies, which are presented and reviewed by other residents and attendings, with the goal of these write-ups to prepare the resident to understand and present important clinical findings from an osteopathic perspective to the medical community and community at large.  The residents will submit their cases yearly to National, Regional, and Hospital specific poster competitions.  The residents also participate in yearly quality improvement projects relating to OMT.  We also support and encourage research.  The residents receive a yearly training in research fundamentals from the NYIT research department, and can participate in a research project in lieu of one of their case presentations

Teaching is also emphasized in this program, with the goal of preparing the resident to become effective teachers in a variety of settings. Residents have the opportunity to table train first- or second-year medical students in the OMT lab at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, important for those seeking academic careers or who want to spend time teaching in schools. Residents also prepare PowerPoint presentations and give lectures in the didactic portion of the program, which are reviewed by attendings to help them build this skill. They also work one-on-one with visiting medical students and residents, both in clinic and on the hospital floors, which prepares them for teaching students in a clinical practice. Residents receive one-on-one time with attendings with ample opportunity for hands-over-hands and collaborative treatment experiences.

NYITCOM has an agreement with our program to have our residents rotate through their medical school.  Residents will spend 1 day per week at NTIT for 6 months in each of their ONMM 2 and 3 years.  During this time, residents have the opportunity to learn to teach OMM lab with the first and 2nd year students, as well as spend one half day in the school’s out-patient center.  NYIT has a very different patient population and a variety of different attending physicians to work with, broadening their clinical experience.  NYIT also has an anatomy dissection lab residents can utilize if they choose, and offer didactics for the residents while they’re there.

Selective Rotations are offered per ACGME guidelines.  Residents will gain experience and knowledge in Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Neurology/Pain management, Rheumatology, and Radiology over the course of their 3 years of training.

Elective time is offered to residents as an opportunity to gain further training in other medical specialties they have interest in. It is also a chance to gain further experience in manual medicine by rotating with specialists across the country. As noted below, three two-week elective slots are allotted in each of the 2nd and 3rd years.

Other Learning Opportunities include supporting residents to attend the annual AAO Convocation during their 2nd and 3rd years, as well as being able to attend a 40-hour basic cranial course at least once during their training.  Residents may request additional time to attend other courses during their 2nd and 3rd years.

An Overview of the Schedule

Post-Graduate Year 1 (Internship)
1 month Inpatient Medicine
1 month Intensive Care Unit
1 month Surgery
1 month Trauma Surgery
1 month Emergency Medicine
1 month Pediatrics
1 month Family Medicine (outpatient)
1 month Ob/Gyn
2 months Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
1 month Rheumatology
1 month Neurology
1 month of Vacation
½ day per week Continuity clinic


Post-Graduate Year 2

3 two-week Electives
11 two-week Blocks on Inpatient Medical and Surgical ONMM consult service
10 two-week Blocks in Newborn nursery, Postpartum unit, and Inpatient pediatric ONMM service
1 month (100 hours longitudinally) Orthopedics
1 month (100 hours longitudinally) Sports Medicine
1 month of Vacation
4 ½ days per week Continuity clinic


Post-Graduate Year 3

3 two-week Electives
11 two-week Blocks on Inpatient Medical and Surgical consult service
10 two-week blocks in Newborn nursery, Postpartum unit, and Inpatient Pediatric ONMM service
1 month (100 hours longitudinally) Radiology
1 month of Vacation
4 ½ days per week Continuity clinic

The program evaluates applications through the ERAS process beginning in late August of each cycle through mid-December.

There are no additional coursework requirements. We strongly recommend interested applicants to complete a 2-4 week rotation with us.

To start the program, you must graduate from an accredited osteopathic medical school and successfully complete the first two parts of your licensing exams. We strongly recommend completion of COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2 prior to match.

We can now accept applications from graduates form Allopathic training programs (MD).  Applicants must demonstrate training in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, through rotations and/or coursework.  We strongly recommend completion of Step 1 and 2 prior to match, and an audition rotation.

All conditions of employment including compensation and benefits are negotiated with the Committee of Interns and Resident SEIU; which represents all interns, residents and fellows.

  • Vacation: 20 days
  • Sick days: 1 day per month in the first year and twelve per year thereafter
  • Educational Stipend: Annual educational stipend of $650, conditional on CIR membership
  • Personal days: up to 4 per year
  • Salary: Commensurate with post-graduate year as stipulated in the CIR Collective Bargaining. Current salaries (for year beginning 7/2022)
    • PGY 1 $67,309.44
    • PGY 2 $71,202.02
    • PGY 3 $75,872.87
  • Insurance: Medical, dental and vision

In addition, residents in the Department of ONMM will receive $1500 toward registration, room and board, and travel for the Annual American of Osteopathy Convocation, if s/he presents a poster. We have also been able to secure outside financial support to take a basic cranial course with the Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation or with the Osteopathic Cranial Academy, and we strive to do this every year

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Medical Students

Greetings! Welcome to the Department of ONMM at SBH Health System.

Our goal for visiting students is to provide an experience that will allow you to feel more comfortable evaluating and treating patients using an osteopathic framework. Although the residency program is designed to train specialists, the student rotation offers a broad osteopathic experience that will prove useful regardless of the medical specialty you choose to enter.

Through a rotation at SBH, you will learn to perform an osteopathic structural exam, a useful tool in diagnostic medicine. With practice, it can be easily performed in any inpatient or outpatient setting. There will be many opportunities to appreciate the role of somatic dysfunction in the pathophysiology of a broad variety of disease processes. You will also participate in the design and implementation of an osteopathic treatment plan to support the patient as they recover from their illness. The degree and level at which you participate in the treatment will depend on the skills and experience you have, your comfort level, and the comfort level of the department.

As a visiting student or resident, you will be included as part of the team. You will be assigned a different resident to work with every week and will assist in seeing patients both in the clinic and on the hospital floors. You will participate in weekly didactics and labs, present on an assigned topic to the team, and will receive feedback directly from residents as well as attending physicians.

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