More osteopathic physicians matched to family medicine than any other medical specialty in the recently completed American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Intern/Resident Registration Program, which matches graduating osteopathic physicians with residency programs nationwide.
"Every year, we take pride in seeing that the majority of osteopathic medical students match into primary care specialties," said Clinton Adams, D.O., a family physician and chair of the AOA Council on Postdoctoral Training, in the press release.
"Now, in the shadow of the (Patient Protection and) Affordable Care Act, more than ever, our country needs primary care physicians to lead health care teams designed to educate patients about healthy lifestyles in order to help prevent disease and to work as partners with that team to develop the best treatment plan when illness does strike."
Also included in the AOA Match numbers were another 968 residency positions that were filled in nonprimary care areas, such as orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology and emergency medicine.
Perry Pugno, M.D., M.P.H., AAFP vice president for education, told AAFP News that the osteopathic Match results were yet another example of how the much-publicized U.S. primary care physician shortage was affecting the career choices of graduating medical students.
"A 10 percent increase in the number of osteopathic students selecting family medicine is indeed gratifying and bodes well for another increase in the number of allopathic students selecting family medicine when the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) takes place next month," said Pugno.
Although there remains a large unmet need when it comes to the availability of primary care services in the United States, knowing that 25 percent of 2,064 D.O. graduates selected a career in family medicine feels good, said Pugno. "It is definitely a trend shift in the right direction."
The AOA press release pointed out that the number of students training in osteopathic medicine is on the rise. U.S. osteopathic medical schools have increased their class sizes to keep up with demand, and in the fall of 2013, three new osteopathic medical schools opened their doors to students.
The AAFP has been tracking the unprecedented growth of osteopathic medicine. In the AAFP's analysis of the 2013 NRMP Match(www.stfm.org) in the October issue of Family Medicine, authors pointed out that the number of D.O.-granting medical schools grew from 19 schools in 2002 to 37 schools -- including branch campuses and satellite programs -- in 2013.
In the same report, authors noted that osteopathic medical school first-year enrollment nearly doubled between 2002 (2,968) and 2012 (5,627), and predicted enrollment could reach 6,699 by 2017.
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