Osteopathic Medical Education: Answering the Call

Abstract

O ver the past 2 decades, there has been a growing body of literature detailing disparities in health and health care, especially in rural areas. As population health care needs increase, the health care workforce shortage continues to be a focal point of discussion among stakeholders in policy, education, and residency training. In addition, the need for increased diversity of health care teams provides another area of concern. Osteopathic medical schools and osteopathic educators have been tasked to explore innovative approaches to increase student body diversity and address interest in rural and underserved areas. This educational discussion has targeted a continued need for increased diversity in rural medicine and an increase in the number of primary care providers to address health disparities. The discussion has also expanded the concept of collaborative practice from interprofessional education in the classroom setting to include students at all levels in the clinical learning environment.

Religion/Spirituality Curriculum in US Osteopathic Medical Schools: A Survey

“…The required contact hours for the curriculum were minimal, with institutions responding they had 3 and 5 instruction hours, respectively. In a prior study of religion/spirituality curricula in US osteopathic medical schools (n = 12), researchers found that institutions had a range of 2 to 20 instruction hours per academic year, with five institutions having at least 10 hours of instruction per academic year 13 . Although our study only returned results from two institutions with a religion/spirituality in medicine curriculum, the total contact hours at these schools, in comparison to previous findings, was significantly less.…”

“…A literature review was completed by the researchers before drafting the survey, which found only two previous manuscripts describing surveys conducted in US medical schools related to the presence of spirituality and religion in the curriculum. 13,14 These two prior studies were consulted for drafting the final version of the survey used for this study. The survey drafts were face validated by subject matter experts in the field of religion/spirituality and medical school curriculum development.…”

“…In late 2020 and early 2021, the research team developed a draft survey for the study. A literature review was completed by the researchers before drafting the survey, which found only two previous manuscripts describing surveys conducted in US medical schools related to the presence of spirituality and religion in the curriculum 13,14 . These two prior studies were consulted for drafting the final version of the survey used for this study.…”

“…A recent systematic review of education on spirituality during medical school and residency found that a wide variety of approaches were used in those schools and programs that had religion/spirituality curricula 12 . Only two prior surveys could be found in the extant literature on this curriculum within US medical schools, and both surveys are now dated by more than a decade 13,14 . In a study published in 2008, McClain and colleagues conducted an Internet-based survey to try to “determine the prevalence of spirituality-in-medicine instruction at colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States.” 13 At the time, approximately 55% of osteopathic medical schools had some form of spirituality-in-medicine curriculum, with instruction spanning from 2 to 20 hours.…”

“…Only two prior surveys could be found in the extant literature on this curriculum within US medical schools, and both surveys are now dated by more than a decade 13,14 . In a study published in 2008, McClain and colleagues conducted an Internet-based survey to try to “determine the prevalence of spirituality-in-medicine instruction at colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States.” 13 At the time, approximately 55% of osteopathic medical schools had some form of spirituality-in-medicine curriculum, with instruction spanning from 2 to 20 hours. (It is important to note that in the United States, graduates of osteopathic medical schools receive the degree Doctor of Osteopathy, which grants them the same medical privileges as graduates of allopathic medical schools, which confer the degree of Doctor of Medicine.)…”