Osteopathic education in the walls of the SPbMAPS – the leader of postgraduate education for doctors – began in 2000 with the foundation of the Training and Research Centre of Osteopathic Medicine. Teachers were both Russian osteopaths who have received appropriate training in Europe and foreign colleagues. In 2004 the first osteopaths graduated, and the school changed its name to The Institute of Osteopathic Medicine of the Saint-Petetrsburg Medical Academy of Postgraduate Studies. The first diplomas in the Institute of Osteopathic Medicine presented Viola Frymann. Educational priority in the institute became a graduate training of doctors of osteopathy (3,5 years, 3000 hours) in accordance with international standards. In 2009 the full time osteopathic training for physicians started in Russia for the first time.
In 2006 the decision to establish the Institute of Osteopathy was adopted at the Medical Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. Training at the Institute was provided through the part-time (seminar) program and was monitored by the Academic Council.
In the same year a scientific laboratory with participation of physiologists, osteopaths, physicists and engineers was created in the Institute of Osteopathy of the Medical Faculty of St. Petersburg State University. The laboratory has concentrated its research interest on the verification of the efficacy of osteopathic treatment, as well as on such a fundamental area as the study of the endogenous rhythms of the human body.
In 2008, St. Petersburg State University and St. Petersburg Medical Academy of Postgraduate Srudies have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of osteopathy with a view to further development of public education and intercollegiate cooperation. This allowed us to create a strong teaching team, composed of more than 20 talented osteopathy teachers, known both in Russia and abroad. Among them candidates and doctors of science, authors of numerous osteopathic scientific publications and books.
In 2011 SPbMAPS and Mechnikov’s St. Petersburg State Medical Academy united. As a result Mechnikov’s North-Western State Medical University (NWSMU n. a. I. I. Mechnikov) appeared, and the school was called Institute of Osteopathy of St.-Petersburg State University and Mechnikov’s North-Western State Medical University. Nowadays the training is provided in St-Petersburg, Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Kazan and Perm. The postgraduate themed seminars are organized regularly. Clinical practice is held in the hospitals and on ambulatory basis. At the end of the studies students get the diplomas of Mechnikov’s North-Western State Medical University or St. Petersburg State University. The program forms high-level professionals who stand a good chance to make a successful osteopathic career in private and state clinics.
The Institute has been issuing the Russian Osteopathic Journal since 2007 on a quarterly basis. It is the only research and practice osteopathic edition in Russia. The journal covers scientific achievements in the field of osteopathy, as well as the most important events and activities for the professional community. The journal comes out twice a year (two issues at a time, 4 issues a year).
From 2012 to 2014 a number of regulatory acts determining the further development of osteopathy within the Russian official healthcare system were adopted. In December 2012, according to the order of the Ministry of Health the job title “osteopath” was introduced in the list of job titles of medical and pharmaceutical employees.
In September 2013 osteopathy was officially recognized as a medical specialty in Russia. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation included osteopathy in the list of specialties of higher medical education. In October 2013 the Ministry of Health signed an order of including the initial and subsequent osteopathic consultations in the list of medical services. These events signify the beginning of the new stage in the history of osteopathic medicine, called «the stage of state regulation” by Dmitry Mokhov. In 2013 at the initiative of the Institute’s direction the Osteopathic Coordination Council was created. The most reputed representatives of osteopathic community became members of the Council. The aim of the Council is the regulation of professional activity in new circumstances –after the governmental recognition of osteopathy.
In May 2014 the director of the Institute of Osteopathy of SPbSU and NWSMU n. a. I. I. Mechnikov Dmitry Mokhov became the chief non-staff specialist in osteopathy of the Ministry of Health. In October 2014 the specialized Osteopathic Commission was created in the Ministry of Health. The members of the Comission were approved by the deputy minister of health I. N. Kagramanyan. Leading specialists in osteopathy and manual therapy from different entities of the Russian Federation became members of the Comission.
In January 2014 the decision to create the osteopathic department in the Mechnikov’s North-Western State Medical University was adopted. According to the rector’s order, the director of the Institute of Osteopathy Dmitry Mokhov PhD became head of the department. The teaching staff is formed by the lecturers of the Institute. The letter of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation recommends the osteopathic department of the NWSMU n. a. I. I. Mechnikov as a methodological basis for training osteopaths and osteopathy teachers.
Since 2002 at SPbMAPS, and since 2007 at SPbSU, the International Symposium “Osteopathy Open” has been organized on a regular basis. Every year this event attracts more and more osteopaths, doctors of various specialties and foreign colleagues. In addition, the Institute participated in the work of international organizations, including the WHO.
The Institute of Osteopathic Medicine of SPbMAPS and the Institute of Osteopathy of the Medical Faculty of SPbSU signed cooperation agreements with top osteopathic schools of France and Israel: IdHEO (Nantes), INSO AIX (Aix-en-Provence) and the College of Osteopathy and Naturopathy ICON (Jerusalem). The Institute also collaborates with many leading osteopathic schools of Europe, America and Canada. It is also a member of the Osteopathic International Alliance (OIA).
International Congress “Osteopathy Open 2015: current problems of osteopathy” became an important event in the history of St. Petersburg Institute of Osteopathy. It was the first scientific event for Russian osteopaths held under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Health. Representatives of the Ministry of Public Health, of Russian and international professional communities and more than 500 doctors from Russia and 13 countries of the world took part in the Congress.
In 2015, St. Petersburg Institute of Osteopathy joined the memorandum on the formation of the Board of directors of educational institutions providing osteopathic education. The board of directors was formed within the Russian Osteopathic Association in order to develop common standards for osteopathic training.
On March 11th, 2016, the Minister of Public Health Veronika Skvortsova signed an order No. 157 "On the Federal Methodological Center in Osteopathy." In accordance with the order, the center works on the improvement of osteopathic education at the premises of the Department of Osteopathy of the North-Western State Medical University n. a. I. I. Mechnikov, which is the first department of osteopathy in Russia, opened in September 2014.