As more rural Americans gain access to health insurance under federal health reform, those with a brand new insurance card are seeking out doctors, only to find that many small towns are facing doctor shortages and existing doctors are overloaded with patients and unable to take on new ones. That could soon change for patients seeking osteopathic care, a profession that has steadily grown. Many osteopathic programs are popping up in rural areas, such as Pikeville University in Eastern Kentucky.
"Colleges of osteopathic medicine—there are now 42, including branch
campuses—are seldom attached to teaching hospitals," Michael Ollove reports for Stateline. "Most send their
students to community medical centers for training. The schools tend to
be located in areas that are medically underserved, and they encourage
their graduates to work in such areas. In the past, that has meant building osteopathic medical programs in
rural areas, like Appalachia and the Great Plains. But recently, they
have also located in underserved urban and suburban areas as well. (Stateline graphic)
"Osteopathic doctors are in every state, and colleges of osteopathic
medicine have sprouted up in all regions, some in collaboration with
public universities," Ollove writes. "According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, more than 20 percent of medical students now train in osteopathic medicine."
That wasn't always the case. The profession has grown from 13,022 osteopathic practitioners in the U.S. in 1970 to more than 82,000 today, compared to 790,000 medical doctors, Ollove writes. "Most Americans are probably unaware that two tracks of medical training
exist, both of them producing fully licensed physicians. Although
osteopathic medical graduates can and do go on to all the medical
specialties when they become residents, osteopathic medical colleges
discourage early specialization and emphasize general medicine."
Clif Knight, an M.D., and vice president for education at the
American Academy of Family Physicians, "said that while some allopathic
medical schools are strong in family medicine, others are not, perhaps
to the point of not even having departments of family medicine," Ollove writes. Knight told him,
“Osteopathic medicine has a much more consistent focus on primary
care" and gives students
early exposure to patients to emphasize the importance of forging strong
relationships with them. (Read more)
A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Osteopathic care a rapidly growing profession, especially in small towns and at rural colleges
Labels:
doctor shortages,
doctors,
health insurance,
health reform,
higher education,
medical education,
Obamacare,
Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act,
rural-urban disparities
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