The late Sen Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D, NY) was fond of saying, “We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not to our own facts.”
1 I would add that we are not entitled to our own professional language choices, either.
To be a profession, a group should share a body of knowledge and skills.
2 Although professionals are granted considerable autonomy in practice and the privilege of self-regulation, certain boundaries must be respected. It is my opinion that we need to maintain a consistent standard of language in describing osteopathic medicine and that the
Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology3 defines that standard.
The American Osteopathic Association's
Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine4 textbook includes the following statement related to osteopathic medical terminology:
The terminology preferences of
JAOA—-The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association differ from the
Glossary3 in certain cases, based on AOA policy (Michael Fitzgerald, BA, personal communication, May 11, 2010). Although I am not arguing that either the
JAOA or the
Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology3 is right or wrong, I am arguing that we need to use a common language to describe what we do as osteopathic physicians.
In the early days of the osteopathic medical profession, each school of osteopathy developed its own language to describe the manual medicine taught at the school. The resulting inconsistencies made developing state licensing examinations, national board examinations, and objective standards difficult by allowing for a bias that benefited individuals based on the schools they attended rather than on the merits of those being tested.
In 1969, ECOP was established to standardize osteopathic medical terminology and osteopathic principles and practice. Twelve years elapsed before ECOP reached agreement and the first edition of its
Glossary was published in the
JAOA's April 1981 issue.
5
Currently, the criteria
6 for including terms in the glossary are as follows:
Osteopathic physicians from different specialties often speak different professional languages—even if they all use English as their vernacular language. Yet standardization of professional terminology facilitates discussions among different specialists.
7 Furthermore, the increasing importance of clear communication within interdisciplinary healthcare teams means that we must be consistent with our language.
The JAOA often determines the issues discussed within the osteopathic medical profession, and the language used in the JAOA will be repeated, quoted, and cited. If the JAOA decides to use its own language—separate from that taught in osteopathic medical schools—unnecessary confusion will cloud professional discussions.
Discussions, as well as scientific research, cannot be accurate or productive without a standard vocabulary. People can easily talk past each other or use the same words to talk about very different things. The work of the JAOA is too important for it to occur outside of the academic work of osteopathic medical schools.
A system is in place for considering changes to the
Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology—including openness to input and lively discussion (
http://www.aacom.org/people/councils/Documents/Glossary_Guidelines.pdf). I respectfully request that the
JAOA work with ECOP to maintain standardization in the language used within the osteopathic medical profession.