ATSU-KCOM alumnus Dr. Joseph Brooks delivers annual Tinning Founder’s Day Osteopathy Lecture
Posted: October 24, 2025
A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) alumnus Joseph E. Brooks, DO, MHA, FAOCPMR, FAAPMR, ’07, an experienced osteopathic physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) specialist dedicated to providing comprehensive care to patients, delivered the 2025 Fred C. Tinning, PhD, DOEd (hon.) ’14 Founder’s Day Osteopathy Lecture, titled “Osteopathic Tenets: Philosophical Roots and Modern Applications.”
Dr. Brooks has over 14 years of experience with a wide range of patient conditions, including complex rehabilitation needs requiring a hospital based team, as well as outpatient clinical experience in neurodiagnostic medicine, spine and joint pain management, spasticity management, osteopathic manipulative treatment, and orthobiologics.
Dr. Brooks completed a dual-degree program at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM), earning his doctor of osteopathic medicine and master of health administration degrees in 2007. Following his graduation, he completed a traditional osteopathic rotating internship in Bettendorf, Iowa. Subsequently, he completed his residency in PM&R at the University of Missouri and served as chief resident of research in his fourth year.
Upon completion of his postgraduate education, Dr. Brooks moved to the Quad Cities, Iowa, with his wife and four children. He worked at the local health system for 12 years, holding a variety of leadership positions, including medical director of spine and medical director of inpatient rehabilitation. In 2023, Dr. Brooks started a private outpatient practice, Vitality Physical Medicine, and in 2024, expanded his outpatient practice with Vitality Wellness Center. He currently practices inpatient rehabilitation at the Quad Cities Rehabilitation Institute.
With a love of lifelong learning, Dr. Brooks has earned many achievements and certifications. He is board certified in PM&R by the American Osteopathic Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He has achieved subspecialty certification in pain medicine by American Osteopathic Conjoint Pain Medicine Examination Committee of the American Osteopathic Association. Furthermore, he has earned certificates of proficiency in musculoskeletal ultrasound of the hip, knee, ankle, foot, shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand.
Dr. Brooks actively contributes to his field through mentorship and service to professional organizations at the local, state, and national level. In addition to having served as president of Scott County Medical Society, he currently serves as vice president of the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association and is president-elect of the American Osteopathic College of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AOCPMR). Furthermore, Dr. Brooks has chaired the AOCPMR national continuing medical education meetings and student meetings multiple times, organizing, lecturing, and educating hundreds of students, residents, and attending physicians interested in PM&R. He has served as a delegate in the House of Delegates for the American Osteopathic Association, participating in debates over the future of medicine. Dr. Brooks has also served on the board of the Quad City Osteopathic Foundation and as a past medical director of the Quad Cities Triathlon.
Dr. Brooks’ education, certifications, experience, and service to his profession have earned him the respected designations of fellow in the AOCPMR and fellow in the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
About the lecture series
In 2009, the late Fred C. Tinning, PhD, DOEd (hon.), ’14, and his late wife, Janet, established an endowment at ATSU-KCOM to support an annual Founder’s Day lecture on osteopathy. The Fred C. Tinning, PhD, DOEd (hon.), ’14, President Emeritus, Founder’s Day Osteopathy Lecture Endowment reflects their strong commitment to perpetuating osteopathic principles and practices.
The Tinning endowment provides a lasting source of income to sponsor lectures by nationally recognized experts on neuromusculoskeletal medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine. Presented to students, faculty, staff, and alumni as part of Founder’s Day activities, the osteopathy lecture was formerly known as the Scott Memorial Lecture, which had been sponsored and funded by the American Academy of Osteopathy and delivered at ATSU-KCOM. Today, this important tradition continues through the generosity of the Tinning endowment.
Dr. Tinning served as ATSU-KCOM’s eighth president from 1984-96. In recognition of his exceptional service to the University, ATSU’s Board of Trustees named the Tinning Education Center building on the Kirksville, Missouri, campus in his honor and, in 2014, awarded him the doctor of osteopathic education honorary degree. Dr. and Mrs. Tinning, longtime residents of Lansing, Michigan, passed away in 2019.