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FAIR Act Reintroduced to Support an Equitable Path to Residency for DOs

Published April 07, 2025

By AACOM Government Relations

Advocacy Federal Policy Graduate Medical Education OME Advocate

AACOM applauds U.S. Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Sam Graves (R-MO), Carol Miller (R-WV) and Don Davis (D-NC) for reintroducing the Fair Access In Residency (FAIR) Act, H.R. 2314, to promote transparency and fairness in the residency selection process. H.R. 2314 is supported by more than 70 national and state healthcare organizations.

As our nation grapples with a worsening physician shortage, we must eliminate unnecessary barriers that prevent highly qualified osteopathic medical students from accessing residency opportunities. The FAIR Act provides a commonsense solution to longstanding inequities in the residency selection process—without federalizing medical education, imposing quotas or regulating the makeup of residency programs. We are deeply grateful to Representatives Harshbarger, Pingree, Graves, Miller and Davis for their leadership in advancing a fairer, more transparent system.

-AACOM President and CEO Robert A. Cain, DO

I represent a very rural part of Tennessee that’s already facing physician shortages. There’s no reason to continue practices that keep qualified doctors from serving the communities that need them most. That’s why I’m proud to lead the reintroduction of this legislation. Congress must ensure our taxpayer-funded residency programs are tapping into the full pipeline of talent — both DOs and MDs — without discrimination. The FAIR Act promotes transparency and fairness in GME, with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of trained physicians ready to care for our communities.

-Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN)

Doctors of osteopathic medicine play a critical role in our health care system, particularly in Maine's rural and underserved communities. Sadly, osteopathic medical students are being held back by outdated biases and systemic barriers that have no place in modern medicine. Our bipartisan FAIR Act takes an important step toward ensuring transparency and accountability in residency programs, so that all qualified students—regardless of their degree—have a fair shot at continuing their training. I’m proud that Maine is home to so many dedicated DO students, and I’ll keep doing all I can to remove unnecessary hurdles that stand between them and the communities that need their care.

-Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)

It is imperative that there is full transparency for all federally funded graduate medical education to provide an accurate record of who is getting selected for residency programs. The Fair Access in Residency (FAIR) Act will improve reporting requirements and ensure that osteopathic medical students are treated fairly when applying for residency slots. The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine enrolls more than 800 students, and this legislation will make certain they are treated fairly when applying to residency programs.

-Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV)

Discrimination against DO applicants remains a persistent problem in residency placement. The National Resident Matching Program reports that 29 percent of residency program directors never or seldom interview DO candidates, and 73 percent of those who do interview DOs require them to take the MD licensing exam, despite the COMLEX-USA being the required exam for osteopathic students. These practices create unnecessary challenges for DO students, adding emotional and financial strain that complicates their path to residency.

The FAIR Act enhances transparency in Medicare-funded graduate medical education programs by requiring that programs submit annual reports on the number of DO and MD applicants they receive and accept and affirm that DO applications and COMLEX-USA exam scores are accepted for consideration.

Learn more and urge Congress to cosponsor and pass the FAIR Act, H.R. 2314!


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