Promoting the understanding of prerequisites, training, career opportunities, and practice philosophy of Osteopathic physicians amongst students in the Southeastern U.S.

Suwanee, GA

Introduction: Osteopathic medicine is one of the most rapidly growing healthcare professions. Over the past five years, there has been a comprehensive increase in the number of Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) physicians by 30%, constituting more than 11% of U.S. physicians. Over the past decade, the number of DO students expanded by 77%, representing more than 25% of U.S. medical students today. While future projections predict a continued exponential increase of DO physicians, the understanding of Osteopathic medicine within the general public remains inconsistent among various age ranges and U.S. geographic regions, and few studies have been conducted to investigate these parameters. Among this effort includes the Osteopathic Survey of HealthCare in America (OSTEOSURV) 2010, which used randomized telephone surveys to trend awareness, perceptions, utilization, and patient satisfaction of DO physicians. While this study provided information reflective of American adults over the age of eighteen, it lacked data representative of young adults in their twenties-thirties– the most common age group of the pre-health and pre-medical student community. Another research study highlighted the need for patient education of Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) in New York but excluded assessment of other U.S. states. Our study focuses on evaluating and promoting the understanding of the Osteopathic profession in pre-health, pre-medical or allopathic medical students in Southeastern U.S. universities, and the related impact on their future involvement in or with the Osteopathic profession.

Methods: This quality improvement study targeted pre-health and allopathic medical students in the Southeast U.S. attending pre-health career fairs and medical interest group meetings virtually or in-person at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia (PCOM Georgia) and the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) between July 2023 and February 2024. Exclusion factors include <18 years>old, DO student or physician, or non-student faculty/staff members. A 20-minute educational session was presented by one or more of the researchers via PowerPoint. Through a QR-linked Google form, participants were requested to rate their pre-lecture and post-lecture knowledge assessing four outcome variables, including participant knowledge of osteopathic 1. school prerequisites, 2. training, 3. career opportunities, and 4. practice philosophy. A 5-point Likert scale with 1 indicating “no understanding” and 5 reflecting “excellent understanding” was used to evaluate pre- and post- understanding of the outcome variables for DO and MD professions. Pre-lecture shadowing experience and post-lecture career interest were assessed with multiple-select options including DO, MD, or other healthcare professions. Finally, open-ended answers were requested to obtain demographic information and general feedback for the presentation. Presentation and survey participation was voluntary without compensation. A paired t-test analysis will be conducted to evaluate the outcome variables.

Results: TBD

Discussion: TBD