THE QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC PEDIATRICIANS
Winter 2016 Issue
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President's Message
It's Time!
By Carl Backes, DO, FACOP, FAAP
ACOP President
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Carl Backes, DO, FACOP, FAAP |
As we begin interviews for pediatric residencies, I am overwhelmed by the quality of students from each and every one of our osteopathic colleges.
What is even more important for me, and should be important for every osteopathic pediatrician in this country, is that the students now ask about the “osteopathic track” in our residencies! We are fortunate at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus in that we have achieved that status and now IT’S TIME for all pediatric residency programs to obtain the “osteopathic track”! Our applicants from all osteopathic schools ask, or are already aware, that we have completed that requirement. They want to do osteopathic research, use osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) in their care of children and have a program like ours – an osteopathic-only resident clinic where residents practice OMM on patients, where they have an osteopathic mentor doing research and educating residents in the clinic, where the program provides a cranial course, an osteopathic journal club and where they can publish the benefits of osteopathic pediatric care.
IT’S TIME to join the osteopathic students and their desire to be osteopathic physicians, and be able to practice with the knowledge they are taught by our osteopathic colleges. IT’S TIME to join the ACOP as we fight for this cause! To date, nearly 700 of 1200 AOA-accredited training programs have applied for, or are in the process of completing their applications.
So What Else is Happening in the ACOP?
- We had a tremendous conference at OMED 2016 in Anaheim. The ACOP Pediatric Track provided outstanding topics and speakers. Many thanks to our program committee and chairs.
- We have an excellent program planned for our 2017 Spring Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. We have asked AOA President Boyd Buser, DO to give the Watson Memorial Lecture. The program will feature many excellent speakers, including a special vaccine/immunization panel led by Gary S. Marshall, MD. Join us for another program for all pediatricians (DO or MD), all pediatric residents, all osteopathic students, and welcomed support from our osteopathic hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, nutritional companies, especially Abbott and Mead Johnson and pediatric suppliers of our practices.
- The ACGME RC Pediatric Committee continues to review osteopathic as well as all training programs. I continue to encourage all of our existing dual program and osteopathic-only programs to complete their applications for the SAS plan. We must have positions for our osteopathic students.
- Each year we nominate an osteopathic pediatric resident for the American Osteopathic Foundation (AOF) Outstanding Resident of the Year in Pediatric Medicine. The ACOP is proud to be part of this annual outstanding event. Click here for more information on the 2016 recipient.
- The ACOP has successfully completed the transfer of the Resident In-Service Exam from the American Osteopathic Board of Pediatrics (AOBP) to the ACOP. We especially thank Dr. Mark Gabay and NBOME for their assistance in completing this process.
So, now is the time when all DO pediatricians should join the ACOP in promoting the “osteopathic track”, enjoy our education programs and most of all, champion the goal for all osteopathic student interviewing for pediatric residencies to have the freedom to practice OMM that they were taught, and be a part of OMM research and our future. Remember DO students are one out of every five medical students in this country and we are growing!
It has been a privilege to represent the ACOP as its President and I continue to represent all DO pediatricians as the ACGME RC Pediatric member and the AAP Engagement and Training focused on Breastfeeding Project Advising Committee.
Thank you again!
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ACOP 2017 Spring Conference
April 6-9, 2017
Hyatt Regency Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky