Following the Council of Academic Family Medicine’s statement in support of parity between DO and MD candidates and for the COMLEX-USA credential, the American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training (AADPRT) has issued its own supporting statement. It reads, in part:
“Historically, many DO graduates have been advised of a need to take both Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examinations (COMLEX-USA) and United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) when applying to psychiatry residencies. Taking two sets of examinations should be unnecessary. Passing COMLEX-USA examinations is required for graduation with the DO degree from Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and for licensure in numerous jurisdictions. We encourage all psychiatry residency programs to clearly state their policy regarding the acceptability of COMLEX-USA and USMLE scores and recommend that programs accept COMLEX-USA when considering DO applicants to their training programs.”
“This endorsement from the field of psychiatry further underscores the body-mind-spirit connection that is so unique to osteopathic education and training,” said John R. Gimpel, president and CEO of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME). “Osteopathic students should welcome this support from leaders in psychiatry, and know that they need not be deterred from pursuing post-graduate training in this field. We hope that this momentum of support continues in other specialty leadership groups.”
“This is clearly the right thing to do [by osteopathic medical students],” said Randon S. Welton, MD, president of the AADPRT. “I am delighted to have AADPRT support osteopathic graduates in this way.”
To read the statement in its entirety, visit AADPRT.org.
The NBOME continues to engage in advocacy and education efforts with the UME and GME communities to increase awareness and acceptance of osteopathic applicants and their qualifications. We support holistic applicant review and to the extent that licensure examinations are a part of that review, COMLEX-USA is the appropriate exam to evaluate DO applicants.
If you are aware of any residency programs that appear to dismiss COMLEX scores as part of the application process, please visit our Advocacy and Education page to fill out our Advocacy form.