700 • JAOA • Vol 101 • No 12 • December 2001 Guest editorial
Osteopathic medical education continues to make sig-nificant
positive contributions to the number and
quality of physicians in the United States. As the practice
environment changes, as the biomedical knowledge base
continues to grow exponentially, and as information tech-nology
begins to assume greater prominence in all aspects
of healthcare, osteopathic medical education is responding.
The effectiveness of the response to the opportunities that
these changes present is facilitated and enhanced by the col-laborations
that are occurring throughout the profession.
The osteopathic postdoctoral training institutions
(OPTIs) created a formal collaboration between the colleges
of osteopathic medicine and the hospitals. This collabo-ration
is providing the partnering that is increasingly nec-essary,
as educational resources decrease, to assure and
enhance the quality of our pre- and postdoctoral clinical
training programs. Technology networks are providing
efficient and cost-effective linkages between and among clin-ical
sites and the colleges to support the educational col-laborations
that are emerging.
The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
(AACOM) are discussing collaborative strategies to sup-port
the networking capabilities of our system of education.
AOA President James E. Zini, DO, has established telecom-munication
for the purpose of education as a priority of his
administration. AACOM has established the Council for
Information Technology, with representatives from each of
the nineteen colleges of osteopathic medicine. The pur-pose
of the Council is to provide a forum for the exchange
of ideas and discussion of matters pertaining to the inte-gration
of information technology in all colleges of osteo-pathic
medicine and their OPTI partners; to plan, develop,
and disseminate information designed to enhance the inte-gration
of information technology; and to collaborate in
obtaining resources to network the medical education and
research efforts related to information technology.
In this second part of the JAOA’s annual focus on
osteopathic medical education, you will see examples of
new initiatives integrating technology as an academic
instrument and as a required skill for the future practitioner.
Each example addresses the unique culture and challenges
present in individual academic institutions. All of the exam-ples
incorporate multiple components of the osteopathic
educational continuum, to produce a collaborative, seam-less
efficiency in connectivity and delivery of information
and curriculum.
Barbara Ross-Lee, DO
Chair, Board of Governors
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Guest editorial
Osteopathic medical education in 2001—Part 2
