I am a DO, so I am trained to do it.
But, just like with any medical field, I learned it in medical school, but never felt comfortable with it or felt like I could do it successfully, therefore I never pursued it or attempted to perfect it.
Many of my colleagues are very successful with it and it is a very good adjunctive treatment modality for musculoskeletal issues.
Did you have any specific questions about it that I can answer?
Not really. I was just curious as to the what people's personal reflections were on the matter. I know that many practicing DO's, per the AOA, don't utilize OMT past medical school. At the same time, I know many patients that swear by it and the hospital I am at right now (Probably 70/30 MDs to DOs) has an OMT clinic and that it can be an effective modality to treat that phantom menace "chronic lower back" pain.
I just read "A Comparison of Osteopathic Spinal Manipulation with Standard Care for Patients with Low Back Pain" by Andersson et al in the New England Journal of Medicine and was interested in their findings (specifically that OMT can drastically reduce the need for physical therapy, which to me suggests that it could be a good augmentation for people who need PT. I also read the rebuttals and found their points interesting too.
As far as OMT is concerned, I think the jury is always going to be out. It's hard enough to quantify pain on the 10 point scale, which makes studies in pain management extremely hard, so I think it's always going to boil down to a patient's preference, just as some people are comfortable with chiropractry and others are not.
So no hidden bias or agenda, just curious.