The importance of osteopathic physician scientist training programs
-
Steven J. Doyle
To the editor,
An Editorial by Dr. Elizabeth Beverly [1] published in the April 2021 issue of Journal of Osteopathic Medicine described potential shortcomings in the research infrastructure of osteopathic medical schools. As a means of encouraging the development of a strong osteopathic medical research culture, Dr. Beverly highlighted deficiencies such as a lack of federal funding and reduced publications among matched doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) senior students [1]. Another important concept built into the development of any medical research culture is the training of physician scientists.
Physician scientist programs, postgraduate programs for DO and medical doctor (MD) or DO/PhD and MD/PhD students, not only allow participants the opportunity to combine biomedical research training with clinical medicine; they also provide the training framework for future principal investigators and leaders in academic medicine. Institutions with physician scientist programs offer rich research capability and support for students over a broad range of specialty interests. Not surprisingly, the development and maintenance of these programs requires significant fiscal support grants, participation from experienced principal investigators, and advanced facilities for laboratories and instruments.
Historically, osteopathic medical schools have faced difficulty in acquiring funding, as shown in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) RePORT (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools) database [2]. From 2010 to 2020, osteopathic medical schools received an average of 0.07% of all NIH funded grants, compared with 37.37% for allopathic schools [2]. In 2020 alone, allopathic schools were awarded funding at a rate 385 times greater than osteopathic medical schools ($16.2 billion vs. $42.2 million) [2]. While part of this difference is due to the smaller number of osteopathic medical schools, many osteopathic medical programs are also still developing their research capabilities, as noted in Dr. Beverly’s Editorial [1]. This means that only limited resources are available to recruit qualified research faculty or develop facilities that allow for adequate growth. This discrepancy further evidenced by the fact that 5,830 MD/PhD students are training at more than 90 MD/PhD programs in 2020–2021 [3], compared with only seven DO/PhD programs training an unknown but expectedly lower number of DO/PhD students [4]. As institutions advance and a gradual shift takes place in the current osteopathic medical research culture, some of these limitations could be overcome.
The further development of osteopathic physician scientist training programs is just one way that the osteopathic medical community can work toward building the research culture called for by Dr. Beverly [1]. If the funding hurdle is crossed, schools could provide osteopathic students with adequate resources to pursue research during their medical training. I concur with Dr. Beverly [1] that the current status of osteopathic research should not be disheartening, but rather a “catalyst for transformation” [1].
Research funding: None reported.
Author contributions: The author has accepted responsibility for the content of this letter and approved its submission.
Competing interests: None reported.
References
1. Beverly, EA. Building an osteopathic research culture. J Osteopath Med 2021;121:333–5. https://doi.org/10.1515/jom-2021-0055.Search in Google Scholar PubMed
2. US Department of Health & Human Services. NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT). Available from: https://reporter.nih.gov/ [Accessed 25 Mar 2021].Search in Google Scholar
3. AAMC. 2020 FACTS: enrollment, graduates, and MD-PhD data. Available from: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/students-residents/interactive-data/2020-facts-enrollment-graduates-and-md-phd-data [Accessed 25 Mar 2021].Search in Google Scholar
4. AACOM. Choose DO explorer. Available from: https://choosedo.org/explorer/ [Accessed 25 Mar 2021].Search in Google Scholar
© 2021 Steven J. Doyle, published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- The impact of COVID-19 on womxn in science and osteopathic medicine
- Cardiopulmonary Medicine
- Original Article
- Development of atrial fibrillation following trauma increases short term risk of cardiovascular events
- Innovations
- Case Report
- Scrambler therapy for incident pain in bone metastases
- Medical Education
- Original Article
- Efficacy of implementing intermittent STOP THE BLEED® reviews on long term retention of hemorrhage control skills of first year medical students
- Musculoskeletal Medicine and Pain
- Original Article
- An analysis of Google Trends following athletic injuries by high profile NBA players during the 2019 NBA finals
- Musculoskeletal Medicine and Pain
- Case Report
- The enigmatic fascia: eosinophilic fasciitis
- Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (OMT)
- Original Article
- Effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment and bio-electromagnetic energy regulation therapy on lower back pain
- Review Article
- A mixed treatment comparison of selected osteopathic techniques used to treat acute nonspecific low back pain: a proof of concept and plan for further research
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Original Article
- United States internet searches for “infertility” following COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
- Pediatrics
- Effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment on pulmonary function testing in children with asthma
- Clinical Image
- Polyarticular, ulcerated tophaceous gout
- Letter to the Editor
- The importance of osteopathic physician scientist training programs
- AOA Communications
- Official Call: 2021 Annual Business Meeting of the American Osteopathic Association
- Proposed Amendments to the AOA Constitution
- Proposed Amendments to the AOA Bylaws
