Maintaining osteopathic distinctiveness is a priority of the AOA.
2 During the past several decades, allopathic medical education, especially in family medicine, has incorporated patient-centered, holistic curricula.
5 Some experts contend that the remaining clear distinct differences between osteopathic and allopathic training are the use of OMT and the enhanced focus on musculoskeletal diagnostic skills achieved through osteopathic training.
5,11,15 Osteopathic residents are less likely to use OMT when they are trained in allopathic institutions without DO mentors.
14 Graduating medical students and residents in allopathic settings report a lack of confidence in managing musculoskeletal complaints and desire more instruction in manual techniques.
16 Promoting osteopathic curricula in hospitals employing and training DOs can be beneficial to both osteopathic and allopathic physicians.
16 Allopathic physicians (ie, MDs) develop more favorable attitudes toward OMT and the osteopathic profession in a mixed-staff setting and learn to recognize OMT as a viable treatment option.
16 However, additional research is warranted to determine the attractiveness of osteopathic candidates to allopathic program directors, and likewise the importance of OMT, to practicing DOs. This research can direct the profession's leadership in decision making as the single GME accreditation system is implemented.
In addition to maintaining osteopathically focused residency programs and creating workshops to allow MDs to become competent in OMT, development of new osteopathic curricular tracks in current ACGME-accredited residency programs is 1 potential area of focus for the AOA. These tracks would focus on allowing osteopathic graduates to hone their OMT skills during residency training, and the track could be extended to allopathic graduates who have completed an outside OMT training certification process. Incorporating osteopathic curricula into institutions that train osteopathic medical students and residents alongside allopathic graduates will allow students much needed access to continued osteopathic mentors and training.
12, 16 Osteopathic residents need opportunities to maintain their osteopathic identity and hone their OMT skills.
16 The 114 current dually accredited family medicine residency programs
6 testify to the fact that strong osteopathic graduates are attractive to allopathic family medicine residency programs. Providing inexpensive, easily implemented osteopathic curricula could be a viable solution for allopathic programs hoping to attract the best osteopathic residents.
In the current system, the administrative tasks and certification requirements in a dually accredited program were often duplicated,
13 resulting in unnecessary time, effort, and cost to maintain accreditation requirements. However, under the new single GME accreditation system, there will be no additional application fees for GME programs with osteopathic tracks (R.A. Cain, DO, e-mail communication, March 2015). Although it is possible that additional costs may occur in creating an osteopathic-focused learning environment under the requirements of osteopathic recognition, to combat the potential financial barrier to programs seeking osteopathic focus, there is no intention for the requirements to cause increased costs (Cain). Effective osteopathic curricula or tracks will continue to foster osteopathic distinctiveness while enhancing learning opportunities for osteopathic graduates and qualified allopathic graduates without the financial challenges currently faced by dually accredited programs.