D.O.s rising
Posted: August 26, 2010
Growing number of students choose osteopathic medical schools
According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) graduated 3,845 physicians this spring, a number that has grown steadily over the past decade. The graduates, who are preparing to enter residency programs across the country, will help mitigate the nation’s physician workforce shortage as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PL 111-148) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (PL 111-152) are implemented. Provisions in these acts are expected to allow coverage for a projected 32 million uninsured Americans.
• The number of COM applicants has risen from 8,396 in 2000 to more than 13,380 this year.
• During the past 10 years, total enrollment at the nation’s COMs has grown from 10,388 students to more than 18,000.
• Twenty percent of new U.S. medical students are training to be D.O.s.
• There are currently 26 COMs offering instruction at 34 locations in 25 states; by 2015, COMs will graduate more than 5,300 osteopathic physicians.
• Forty percent of those who matched in the 2010 American Osteopathic Association (AOA) residency match will enter osteopathic primary care (internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics) programs.
• Of the 1,444 D.O. students participating in the 2010 Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) match, 55 percent will enter primary care programs. In contrast, 34 percent of U.S. M.D. students matched into primary care training.