ACOFP President

By Ronnie B. Martin, DO, FACOFP dist.

April 15, 2008

Report from the AACOM/AODME Meeting in St. Louis
On April 3, medical educators from across the profession spent a great deal of time examining the differences in learning styles, expectations and educational needs found in the students of the millennium generation, the Gen-Xers as well as the Boomers who are teaching them at our schools. The gap in expectations and utilization of technology in teaching and learning was noted in several presentations.

The differences are tremendous and must be understood and incorporated by all our educators to efficiently and effectively promote training at both the pre-doctoral and GME levels. In addition, the profile of the student and physician must be understood to accurately predict the work force needs of the future.

These differences are integral to changes ACOFP’s Committee on Evaluation and Education are proposing for the standards and structure of osteopathic family medicine resident programs in an attempt to make them more attractive to students and more effective at turning out quality osteopathic family physicians that can meet the needs of the patients they will serve. Change is hard, but easier than failure.

The COM’s linkage and responsibility to providing osteopathic education during clinical years and developing OGME was discussed at length as well. It was reported that 97 percent of the increased numbers of graduates from the COM’s since 1997 have entered allopathic GME programs. This is reflective of the need to develop more osteopathic programs for our students if we are to maintain our uniqueness as a distinctive discipline of medicine - a fact that the ACOFP supports.

ACOFP’s Fit for Life
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a website called Eat Smart. Play Hard. Healthy Lifestyle! The site is designed for parents and caregivers to provide information to help people eat better, be more physically active and be a role model for kids. The site contains information and resources to: get started, make smart choices, prepare quick, easy, and healthy meals that taste good and provide tips on how to increase physical activity in life.

Looking for that Perfect Fit?
Visit ACOFP’s interactive, online job board. ACOFP CareerCenter is your resource for making online employment connections in the fields of osteopathic medicine. To find a job or fill a position, visit ACOFP CareerCenter today.  

Back to Campus
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine-Georgia Campus ACOFP Student Chapter President Amanda Fischer, OMS I, spoke at Georgia Southern University’s Association of Pre-Health Professionals meeting on April 1, 2008, about GA-PCOM and Osteopathy, as well as the Family Medicine focus and the future of the profession.

Here is one more example of our students' committment to the osteopathic profession and family medicine. Pre-Soma organizations, with links to or sponsored by our COMs, are becoming more common on university and college campuses and help to deliver information about the profession and our colleges to interested students who may not otherwise have access to factual information.

Make your opinions known! Send an email to me and ACOFP. Share your thoughts, make comments, and tell us what you have been doing in regards to osteopathic family medicine.

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