Abstract
CONTEXTWill increased exposure to osteopathic medicine improve allopathic resident and attending physicians’ support of implementing an osteopathic curriculum in graduate medical education? The overall goal of this quality improvement project was to examine the familiarity and interest of allopathically-trained residents and attendings with osteopathic medicine before, and after, a brief educational workshop.METHODSSetting: Mercy Health Saint Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. Participants included a sample of 27 Family Medicine (FM) residents and attendings who had been trained in allopathic medical schools. First, a one-hour lecture on “Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine” was given. The lecture included a PowerPoint presentation followed by a 15-minute hands-on demonstration of osteopathic diagnosis and treatment. A pre and post-workshop survey modified from another larger study was administered to all attendees. Primary selected outcomes included percentage of allopathic resident participation in attendance and pre-post-workshop response differences.RESULTSOf the 31 allopathic residents in this community-based FM program, 23 (74.2%) were present for the lecture and completed both a pre and post-workshop survey. A total of 24 (78%) of participants had never attended a previous lecture on osteopathic medicine. Respondents’ overall attitude regarding the implementation of an osteopathic curriculum was generally positive after the workshop. Of the 27 participants (23 residents and four attendings) surveyed before the lecture, 23 (85.2%) were initially interested in learning how to perform osteopathic manual treatment (OMT), this increasing to 25 (92.6%) after the workshop. The Mercy Health FM resident respondents were initially first supportive of osteopathic medicine at 59.3%, improving to 77.8% after completing the workshop.CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest that many allopathically trained physicians may lack exposure to osteopathic medicine principles. In this allopathic-oriented residency sample setting, a relatively brief workshop increased attendees’ interest in osteopathic medicine. Results suggest that initial and refresher exposure to osteopathic medicine content and OMT practices during residency curricula can be used to elicit support from allopathically-trained resident physicians.
Highlights
By 2020, the merger of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) will fully integrate the accreditation of both allopathic and osteopathic residency programs
It is considered increasingly important that at least some osteopathic medicine content is integrated into more graduate medical education (GME) curricula.[4,5]
In 2015, Busey et al successfully implemented an osteopathic curriculum in a military allopathic residency, the effects on allopathic (MD) colleagues was unknown since only doctors of osteopathy (DO) physicians were surveyed.[4]
Summary
By 2020, the merger of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) will fully integrate the accreditation of both allopathic and osteopathic residency programs. An all-time high of 3,590 doctors of osteopathy (DO) applied in the 2017 allopathic (MD) residency matching program.[1]. 17.85% of applicants who matched to PGY-1 Family Medicine (FM) positions were DO.[2] The expectation is that the number of DO residents training in MD-oriented residencies will continue to increase with the merger.[3,4] It is considered increasingly important that at least some osteopathic medicine content is integrated into more graduate medical education (GME) curricula.[4,5]. 165 (71.1%) of surveyed MD were still interested in learning more about osteopathic medicine.[5]
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have