Doctor Of Osteopathic Medicine: A Growing Share Of The Physician Workforce

Conclusion The doctor of osteopathic medicine workforce is growing rapidly with no signs of decreases in the quality of students accepted or their success in matching into a residency training program, which has been steadily rising. Given the doctor of osteopathic medicine workforce’s higher likelihood of practicing in rural communities and of pursuing careers in primary care, doctors of osteopathic medicine are on track to play an increasingly important role in ensuring access to care nationwide, including for our most vulnerable populations. Note 1 Since some residencies are jointly accredited by both the ACGME and the AOA, it is difficult to determine the number of residents that are AOA-accredited only. Using 2015 data, the authors worked backwards to estimate the number of doctors of osteopathic medicine entering residency by estimating 98 percent of doctor of osteopathic medicine graduates (5,472 x 0.98) entered residency training, subtracting out the number known to enter ACGME (3,347) to thereby estimate the number entering AOA residency programs (2,016), and adding that to the number of ACGME residents entering the pipeline (28,456) to get the total number of residents entering the ACGME and the AOA pipeline (30,472). Authors’ Note Ms. Erikson previously received limited financial support from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine to review and compile data on the osteopathic workforce.
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Health Professionals Population Health doctors of osteopathic medicine osteopaths physician supply Source Type: blogs