Record Number of Osteopathic Medical Education Advocates Meet with Congress on AACOM Advocacy Day

More than 400 deans, faculty members, physicians, residents and students call for fairness for DOs

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Bethesda, MD) – Today a record number of advocates from the osteopathic medical education (OME) community are taking part in the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM)’s annual Advocacy Day. More than 400 osteopathic leaders, students, faculty members, residents and physicians are participating in the event, and more than 200 meetings are scheduled with U.S. Senators and Representatives, a 32 percent increase over last year. Participants heard directly from AACOM leadership and Members of Congress and were briefed by congressional staff and government relations professionals on the congressional landscape, effective advocacy tools and AACOM’s federal policy priorities.

“There is no more powerful or effective voice when it comes to speaking to Members of Congress than their own constituents,” said AACOM President and CEO Robert A. Cain, DO. “I am very proud of our osteopathic medical education community and the record number of people who are speaking out to advance the policy priorities so crucial to DOs, students and patients. With an 83 percent increase in participation in this year’s event, I am confident that our efforts will contribute to the growing momentum that’s leading us toward a brighter, fairer future for DOs and patients everywhere.”

This year’s event aims to build on last year’s success, when the Fair Access In Residency (FAIR) Act (H.R. 751) was introduced as a direct result of Advocacy Day meetings. Now, more than 70 national and state organizations support the FAIR Act to ensure that DO students have a fair path to residency. The priority asks being discussed in today’s congressional meetings and through grassroots advocacy include:  

• Promoting DO Graduate Medical Education Parity Through the FAIR Act
  • Federally funded graduate medical education programs frequently exclude or impose burdensome requirements on DOs. These practices exacerbate the physician shortage by limiting the availability of licensed DOs. The Fair Act is needed to ensure DOs can participate in all Medicare-funded residency programs and the nation is leveraging the entire physician workforce.

     

• Funding Community-Based Clinical Rotations
  • Medical students rely on clinical training opportunities to learn how to care for patients. Even though 80 percent of physician training is done in academic hospitals, 80 percent of patient care is delivered in community-based settings. Expanding community-based clinical rotations will give students the practical, real-world experience they need to care for patients as DOs.

During her congressional update, U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME), an original cosponsor of the FAIR Act, shared advice on what the OME community can do to help pass the legislation.

“The statistics about the role that DO physicians play in primary care are so impressive,” said Rep. Pingree. “There’s lots of Members of Congress in rural areas, and rural hospitals have enormous physician shortages, with a huge shortage of primary care. Understanding that DO physicians are underrepresented in graduate medical education, yet are disproportionately more likely to go into primary care in rural areas makes you ask, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’ It’s a little too obvious we’re not doing enough to train the people we absolutely need to fix the problem. Helping increase awareness of that will help a lot of my colleagues who are dealing with this issue understand that we could do something about this.”

About AACOM:

Founded in 1898, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) is the leading voice for the education and training of physicians who practice osteopathic medicine in settings across the medical spectrum—from primary care to the full range of medical specialties. We support our member colleges of osteopathic medicine in their efforts to attract and train individuals who are fueled by a desire to make a difference in our healthcare system by treating the whole person and building a future emphasizing health and wellness for all people. Today, more than 35,000 future physicians—25 percent of all U.S. medical students—are being educated at one of our 41 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine, encompassing 66 teaching locations in 35 states. To learn more about AACOM, please visit our website.

Contacts:

Joseph Shapiro
Director of Media Relations
(240) 938-0746
jshapiro@aacom.org

Christine DeCarlo
Senior Manager of Media and Public Affairs
(202) 603-1026
cdecarlo@aacom.org