Education, public health top student concerns at caucus

Medical education and public health emerged as hot topics at Wednesday’s National Osteopathic Student Caucus, where students with the Student Osteopathic Medical Association and the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents debate whether to support resolutions set to come before AOA House of Delegates, then present the results to the House as unified student opinion.

The students discussed resolutions covering the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment during medical school rotations, the proposal to unify the graduate medical education accreditation system, and medical training agreements between U.S. training institutions and non-U.S. medical schools, among other resolutions.

Gabrielle F. Rozenberg, OMS II, spoke in favor of prohibiting exclusive training agreements between non-U.S. medical schools and U.S. institutions that receive state and federal dollars.

“I currently cannot do my clinical rotations in my own borough where I am receiving my education because of non-AOA and non-LCME [Liaison Committee on Medical Education] medical schools who partake in deals that this resolution is trying to cut against,” said Rozenberg, who attends the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York City (TouroCOM). “So to speak for all of us who wish to continue our education in the location where we are actually learning and striving to contribute to our communities, I am speaking in favor of this resolution.”

The caucus voted to support the resolution.

A discussion on resolutions addressing the proposed agreement for a single, unified GME system gave way to talk on the nature of the negotiations themselves. Several students voiced concern about what they felt was a lack of transparency in the process and unclear timelines, while their peers stressed patience and trust in the profession’s leaders.

“It’s very frustrating not to have clear timelines, but it’s important that we remember to be patient,” said Christopher J. Thompson, OMS II, of the A.T. Still University-Kirksville (Mo.) College of Osteopathic Medicine. “Huge changes are about to take place, and we are picking apart small little details that are maybe not as relevant as we think they are.” (Today, the AOA and the American Association of Osteopathic Medical Colleges announced that they have been unable to reach an agreement with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education on a unified GME system.)

Finally, resolutions focusing on social issues and hot-button issues in public health, including those on social media and the dangers of energy drinks, took front and center at the caucus. Students voted to support a resolution calling for the AOA to stand with the American Red Cross, the American Medical Association and other organizations in asking the Food and Drug Administration to end its decades-old ban on the donation of blood by men who have sex with men.

Matthew S. Bryan, OMS II, of the Midwestern University/Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, believes the blood donation resolution was the most crucial of all the resolutions the students discussed.

“With HIV testing as good as it is now, it’s silly to deny anybody from donating blood,” he told The DO. “The AOA really needs to take a stance on this, and it’s important for our stance to line up with the AMA’s stance.”

The National Osteopathic Student Caucus is a great way for students to connect and be heard, says Cassandre Neotha Marseille, OMS II, of TouroCOM.

“Caucuses like this allow students to speak in a unified voice on behalf of all osteopathic medical students,” she told The DO. “So to me, it’s more than important that we have this every year, so we can bring forth issues that the leaders may not even be aware that we have.”