Osteopathy began as an intended reform to medicine of the day in the 1870’s by Andrew Still MD, a Missouri doctor. In 1864, after witnessing the death of his children from meningitis and being impotent to help them, he began searching for an alternative approach to healthcare. 

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Still did extensive anatomic and physiologic study and developed a different model of treatment mediated principally by the musculoskeletal system, the importance of the blood supply in body function or dyfunction, as well as the concept of the body's inherent capacity to self-regulate and cure itself, termed osteopathy.

 

As a result of his clinical success, he was encouraged to teach others his methods and in 1892 opened the American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville Missouri. Success of his students lead to the rapid spawning of other schools.