George Melissa R, Timmons Charles F, Johnson Kristen, Barak Stephanie, Berg Mary P, Bryant Bronwyn, Childs John M, Karp Julie Katz, Knollmann-Ritschel Barbara E C, Lofgreen Amanda, McCarthy Thomas, Prieto Victor G, Procop Gary W, Sandersfeld Tyler, White Kristie L, McCloskey Cindy B
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Penn State Health Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA.
Department of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Acad Pathol. 2024 Feb 26;11(1):100107. doi: 10.1016/j.acpath.2024.100107. eCollection 2024 Jan-Mar.
The number of graduating allopathic (MD) medical students matching into pathology has declined in recent years, while the number of osteopathic (DO) medical students has increased modestly, given the rapid expansion of osteopathic medical schools. Nonscholarly publications and materials on the internet often perpetuate negative perceptions of osteopathic physicians. Anecdotally, perspectives exist that some pathology residency programs are not DO-friendly; however, the reasons and how widespread an effect this might be are unclear. Our survey queried pathology chairs and residency program directors about their perceptions of osteopathic applicants and their knowledge of osteopathic medical school/training in general. This study utilized two similar, parallel surveys of pathology chairs and residency program directors with general questions structured around the perceptions and knowledge of both allopathic and osteopathic physicians, their medical training, and the consideration of osteopathic applicants to pathology residency. Pathology residency leaders acknowledge some negative perceptions of osteopathic physicians in the medical profession, the news, and social media. They also have some knowledge and perception gaps regarding osteopathic training and applicants, although experience with training osteopathic physicians as residents has been equivalent to that with allopathic physicians, and consideration appears to be fairly equal for osteopathic applicants. Even though negative perceptions of osteopathic physicians persist in news and social media, our surveys demonstrate that the leadership of pathology residency programs does not hold the same degree of bias and that DOs perform well in allopathic pathology residency programs without evidence of inferior outcomes.
近年来，匹配到病理学专业的全科医学（MD）毕业生数量有所下降，而随着 osteopathic 医学院校的迅速扩张，osteopathic（DO）医学专业的毕业生数量略有增加。互联网上的非学术出版物和资料常常使人们对 osteopathic 医生产生负面看法。据传闻，有人认为一些病理学住院医师培训项目对 DO 学生不友好；然而，其原因以及这种影响的普遍程度尚不清楚。我们的调查询问了病理学系主任和住院医师培训项目主任对 osteopathic 申请者的看法以及他们对 osteopathic 医学院校/培训的总体了解。本研究对病理学系主任和住院医师培训项目主任进行了两项相似的平行调查，问题围绕对全科医学和 osteopathic 医生的看法和了解、他们的医学培训以及对 osteopathic 申请者进入病理学住院医师培训的考虑等方面展开。病理学住院医师培训项目的负责人承认，在医学行业、新闻和社交媒体中存在对 osteopathic 医生的一些负面看法。他们在 osteopathic 培训和申请者方面也存在一些知识和认知差距，尽管将 osteopathic 医生作为住院医师培训的经验与全科医学医生相当，并且对 osteopathic 申请者的考虑似乎也较为公平。尽管在新闻和社交媒体中对 osteopathic 医生的负面看法仍然存在，但我们的调查表明，病理学住院医师培训项目的领导层并没有同样程度的偏见，并且 DO 在全科医学病理学住院医师培训项目中表现良好，没有证据表明其结果较差。
