AOA House Votes to Support New GME Accreditation SystemDelegates representing the nation’s more than 104,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students voted Saturday (July 19) to support a decision by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Board of Trustees to pursue a new, single accreditation system for graduate medical education (GME). Members of the Ohio Delegation unanimously supported the decision after the OOA House of Delegates passed a resolution, April 26, affirming its confidence in AOA leadership and the AOA Board decision to move forward with a single accreditation system. Ohio's osteopathic postdoctoral training consortium is developing a plan to apply for Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recognition as soon as possible. "The Ohio Osteopathic Association, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and Centers for Osteopathic Reserach and Education (CORE) are working together to define our state's role under the new unified accreditation system," wrote OOA President Paul T. Scheatzle, DO, in a letter sent to AOA Past President Norman E. Vinn, DO, May 21. "We believe that the CORE, which was the first accredited Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution (OPTI) in the nation can be a model for the osteopathic profession. "With more than 600 postdoctoral trainees, seven affiliated colleges of osteopathic medicine, eleven participating teaching hospitals and 16 affiliated teaching facilities, Ohio can help shape the new accreditation process to maintain osteopathic integrity, and identify obstacles and opportunities along the way," Scheatzle wrote. "We know that many challenges lie ahead, but by working together, we are confident the profession will emerge stronger than ever in a new era of collaboration."
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