Despite an initial lack of acceptance by mainstream medicine, and amidst projections of a serious oversupply of physicians, the osteopathic profession continues to grow, successfully competing for shrinking health care resources and attracting the attention of insurers and those in managed care. However, a recent telephone survey of 800 health maintenance organization beneficiaries suggested that the public is not yet familiar with osteopathic medicine. The history, philosophy, and current status of the osteopathic profession are presented, along with theories of the physiologic basis of and supporting evidence for palpatory diagnosis and manipulative therapy.