Osteopathic Medicine

The AMA recommends that AMA-approved internship and residency programs be opened to qualified graduates of schools of osteopathy; that American boards for medical specialties accept for examination for certification those osteopaths who have completed AMA-approved internships and residency programs and have met the other regular requirements applicable to all board candidates; that accredited hospitals accept qualified osteopaths for appointment to the medical staffs of hospitals; and that determination of qualification be made at the level of the medical staff of a hospital, or the review committees and boards having appropriate jurisdiction.

The aforementioned recommendations have opened the way for wider acceptance of DOs into the mainstream of medical training and practice. Twenty-four specialty boards have agreed to examine for certification osteopathic graduates who have completed AMA-approved internships and residency programs. Among the 24 are the American Boards of Pathology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Preventive Medicine, Radiology, Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Orthopedic Surgery, Psychiatry, and Neurology.

The application of the AMA proposals is indicated by the fact that in a recent year about 300 hospitals had appointed some 2,000 osteopathic physicians to their attending staff as house officers. These appointments were spread over 25 states with the largest number in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, Michigan, and Washington. These figures will probably rise steadily during the next few years.