Skip to content

Graduate Program in
Principles-Based Osteopathy

CAO Instructor giving advice to students practicing in the student training lab at the CAO
Students at the CAO are taught in both clinic and classroom environments by experts in osteopathy

Kickstart Your Career in Osteopathy

The Canadian Academy of Osteopathy offers a comprehensive four-year osteopathic education program. The program is rooted in a classical and principles-based understanding of osteopathic thinking, assessment, and treatment. As a student, you’ll be provided with a combination of classroom training in theory, history, anatomy and physiology – alongside supervised clinical training. You’ll feel fully supported throughout your education, with access to lifelong career support after graduating. 

Students that choose the CAO are driven to receive the highest standards of osteopathy education in Canada, and, upon graduation, are confident and fully prepared to enter the field in their preferred osteopathic care environment. As a student, you’ll get:

  • An admissions process that gets you prepared for your first year
  • An osteopathic education that aims to meet or exceed international standards
  • Small class sizes that allow for more individualized attention between students and instructors
  • Expert instruction from professionals actively working as Osteopathic Manual Practitioners
  • Supervised, practical hands-on training in our student clinics
  • A modified full-time schedule that allows you to continue to work while in the program. It also allows flexibility for those commuting from out-of-province
  • A community-centered school environment with athletics, annual events, and more
  • Upon graduation, a Diploma–recognized by osteopathic partners across Canada and worldwide

With a growing demand for high level Osteopathic Manual Practitioners trained with principles-based knowledge, your osteopathy school diploma will open the door to many work opportunities. Graduates enjoy the benefits of establishing their own clinical private practice and are eligible to practice across Canada.

With the CAO you can rest assured that you’re receiving relevant, comprehensive, and practical osteopathy training to become a Osteopathic Manual Practitioner in Canada.

A Simple, Flexible Schedule Format

You’ll receive training in a flexible attendance format, so you can balance work & home life with school. Whether you’d like to start in the Fall or Spring, you receive both clinical and theoretical training in our state of the art classrooms, on-campus clinics, and osteopathy laboratories.

Students attend in person once a month for intensive hands-on training and online lecture days are condensed together for easy scheduling. Visit our youtube channel for details on this flexible attendance format!

Exceeding Clinical Practice Standards

Students at the CAO are required to complete supervised clinical training and practice prior to graduation. This takes place in the CAO’s dedicated clinical environments – our under-year clinic as well as upper-year clinic–that are insured and supervised by professional Osteopathic Manual Practitioners.

Whether you’re working with fellow students in our practice clinic or treating real-life patients in the CAO’s free public clinic, you’ll get the first-hand experience you need to practice safe, effective, and ethical osteopathy in your career.

Graduate-level Principles-Based Osteopathy

At the Canadian Academy of Osteopathy, we teach it all, and more! You’ll receive training that aims to meets or exceed international standards of education – with over 4200+ hours of clinical, hands-on practice, and instruction from experts in the field.

The CAO believes osteopathy must be taught as a profession in and of itself, rather than as an ‘add-on’ to other modalities. This is why our graduates are better equipped with a true understanding of osteopathic principles, with the clinical competency to deliver safe and effective treatment to their patients. You’ll gain expertise in a variety of areas, such as clinical anatomy & physiology, osteopathic history & theory, principles in practice, and much more!

Our curriculum focuses on three core areas:

  • Principles & Practice: Students learn to apply these principles & theory on the treatment tables in our Classroom Labs and Student Clinics led by our extensive faculty.
  • Osteopathic Theory & History: Centralizing the writings of A.T. Stills and his early students complete literature reviews, discuss their understanding, and debate the applications of these theories in practice.
  • Health Sciences: The CAO comprehensively covers clinical anatomy and physiology, moving away from the traditional allopathic model and toward a fully integrated osteopathic model that examines the body as a whole dynamic body of function.

On top of this, the CAO goes beyond training in techniques and teaches students the founding principles of osteopathy. These principles are the “laws” that govern the ‘who, what, where, when, and why’ behind osteopathic assessment and treatment. At the CAO, you’ll learn how to see the body through an osteopathic lens. You will learn how to assess and treat osteopathically. You will learn how to integrate techniques together into a cohesive treatment. You won’t have to memorize techniques from a recipe-style book. By the time you graduate, you will have the ability to generate custom techniques as you treat the individual patient.

Is A Rewarding Career in Osteopathy Right For You? Get More Info…

If you’re interested in learning more about a career in osteopathy and exploring whether the Canadian Academy of Osteopathy is right for you, fill out the form to receive more information.

For immediate questions, please call 1-866-320-9898

The CAO provides graduates of its program with a post-graduate diploma. Completion of the program does not result in being conferred a degree designation.

Get Program Details!