U.S. News and World Report Puts Osteopathic Medical Colleges at Top of List of Primary Care Resident Producers

U.S. News and World Report has released this year’s best medical school rankings, and the nation’s 25 colleges of osteopathic medicine are well-represented among the 146 schools responding to the magazine’s survey. Eight out of the top ten (including all of the top five) medical schools listed in answer to the question ““Which schools turn out the most primary care residents?” are osteopathic medical schools. The five schools topping the list include Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The magazine ranks colleges in research and in primary care. Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine ranked 7^th in the Primary Care category; the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine ranked 29^th in this category.

The nation’s more than 55,000 practicing osteopathic physicians (DOs) are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine in all 50 states. They practice in all types of health care settings, including the military, and in all specialties, from pediatrics to geriatrics, and from sports medicine to trauma surgery.

The osteopathic medical profession has a proud heritage of producing primary care practitioners. Today, when there is declining interest among health care practitioners in entering primary care, the majority of osteopathic medical school graduates continue to choose careers in primary care. Osteopathic medicine also has a special focus on providing care in rural and urban underserved areas, allowing DOs to have a greater impact on the U.S. population’s health and well-being than their numbers would suggest.

Nearly one in five U.S. medical students (nearly 17,000) is training to be an osteopathic physician, a ratio that is expected to grow to one in four by 2019.

The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) was founded in 1898 to support and assist the nation's osteopathic medical schools, and to serve as a unifying voice for osteopathic medical education. AACOM’s mission is to promote excellence in osteopathic medical education, in research and in service, and to foster innovation and quality among osteopathic colleges to improve the health of the American public.

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