Nov. 29, 2012
AOA president addresses SOMA on residency curriculum changes
American Osteopathic Association President Ray Stowers, D.O., the former associate dean of rural health at the OSU Center for Health Sciences, gave a presentation on changes to the residency program curriculum to the Student Osteopathic Medicine Association on Wednesday in Dunlap Auditorium.
Stowers told the students that the AOA had entered into an agreement with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Association of College of Osteopathic Medicine to pursue a single, unified accreditation system for graduate medical education programs in the U.S. beginning in July 2015. The three organizations are currently working out the details to make the transition happen.
Currently, the ACGME accredits more than 9,000 programs with about 116,000 resident physicians (both M.D. and D.O.) and the AOA accredits more than 1,000 programs osteopathic programs with about 6,900 resident physicians (all D.O.s).
The transition to a united system will allow residents in or entering current AOA accredited residency programs to be eligible for ACGME accredited residency and fellowship programs.
Stowers said the transition to a single accreditation system would give osteopathic physicians a strong voice in determining the standards for residency training programs and would help increase the number of residency positions available for students.
