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The University of North Texas Health Science Center is about to propose the creation of a smaller M.D. school on campus to satisfy what school leaders call community demand.
This demand stems from hospitals that want an allopathic medical school because they do not want to be viewed as osteopathic entities. They want to partner with a medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and host residency programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Additionally, some philanthropic donors will give only to an M.D. school. Too, a misperception exists that osteopathic physicians do not specialize or subspecialize.These justifications are discriminatory and prejudicial toward the osteopathic community and an existing state-sponsored medical school, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. The college has been an exemplary model in its contributions to the care of Texas residents. It has been ranked among the top 50 medical schools for primary-care medicine since 2002 by U.S. News & World Report, and Hispanic Business Magazine placed it in the top 20 medical schools for Hispanics in 2005 and 2007. Furthermore, its students are as qualified as any allopathic medical student. The admitting class of 2013 has an average Medical College Admission Test score and grade-point average of 29.2 and 3.63, respectively. These numbers place the students equal to or better than 32 allopathic schools in the nation. Also, they have earned the highest scores on Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination Steps 1 and 2 in the past four years and ranked in the second quartile on the U.S. Medical Licensure Examination.Despite a limited number of clinical training sites, graduates have secured residencies in competitive specialties and at prestigious institutions. More than 50 graduates from the Class of 2009 were selected in competitive specialties such as emergency medicine; general surgery; radiology; anesthesiology; neurology; obstetrics/gynecology; orthopedics; ear, nose and throat; and ophthalmology.The discrimination against osteopaths, who represent only 7 percent of physicians, is baseless. The osteopathic profession has been the fastest-growing medical profession in the past three decades. Currently, 20 percent of U.S. medical students are enrolled in an osteopathic medical school. The exponential growth is thanks to the integration of D.O.s’ holistic approach to healthcare into mainstream medicine. More than 60 percent of osteopathic graduates are being trained in ACGME residency programs. Furthermore, D.O.s have assumed prominent roles in the medical profession. Recently, Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry was named president and chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, and Dr. Irvin E. Zeitler Jr. is president of the Texas Medical Board.The health science center has tried to integrate fully into the local medical community by having a majority of M.D.s serving on the faculty and chairing the departments of orthopedics and pediatrics. Yet more than 1,000 D.O.s are serving Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals without any discrimination. The residency programs have appreciated the performance of the osteopathic college’s graduates.
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