Professional Education

About Our Continuing Medical Education Program

Requirements

Like all doctors, osteopathic physicians are required to complete a specified number of continuing medical education courses each year to keep their license to practice medicine. Because more than 60% of D.O.s are in general practice, there is a lot to keep abreast of, so the requirements are high.

The Arizona Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery, which licenses D.O.s, requires that each doctor complete 20 hours of American Osteopathic Association approved 1-A credit each year for relicensure to practice medicine. Category 1-A is the most involved and requires mastering the latest techniques and advances in clinical medicine. The American Osteopathic Association, in addition, requires completion of 50 credit hours each year to retain membership in the Association.

Meeting the Requirements

Midwestern University, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine provides some continuing medical education for doctors but its primary focus is medical students, interns and residents. So, in Arizona many of the physicians' educational needs are filled by the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association in Phoenix. To aid in that effort, the Foundation co-sponsors some of their visiting lecturers each year at their annual convention.

But in southern Arizona there is no immediate way to make available to all osteopathic physicians broad gauge comprehensive medical education resources from throughout the country or from the leading colleges on a consistent basis. That is a gap filled by the Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foundation.

The Foundation Program

The Foundation sponsors programs which have included nationally and internationally respected clinicians in the leading areas of their fields. These scholars and researchers visit from major osteopathic and allopathic medical centers such as Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri, Michigan State University, The University of Arizona College of Medicine and The University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Forth Worth, Texas. Continuing education is a cornerstone of the Foundation's mission. The Foundation has been accredited by the AOA since 1989.

The Foundation's continuing medical education curriculum is developed using three principle sources of input. The first is the Foundation's Professional Medical Education Committee, made up of Foundation board members and local D.O.s practicing in Tucson. The Committee ensures that current and future CME events meet the quality and content requirements of local D.O.s.

Second, a CME Needs Survey is conducted of osteopathic physicians on a tri-annual basis in order to gather information on the community it serves. This survey, last conducted in 1994, is performed in cooperation with the University of Arizona's Health Sciences Center and includes in-depth questions on the format, relevance and convenience of the Foundation's continuing medical education courses.

Finally, CME evaluation forms are made available to each physician at the end of each continuing medical education course. These evaluations provide important feedback that aids the education committee in evaluating the quality of each topic and speaker.

The Curriculum

The Foundation's aim is to create a mix of programs which will significantly increase the level of excellence of the profession. In doing so it also strives to provide medical education that is relevant to what doctors need to know, education that meets their needs and those of their patients.

The Foundation presently offers six continuing medical education programs held at regular intervals throughout the year. In addition, the Foundation sponsors the Annual Southwestern Conference on Medicine. A sample of past programs offered by the Foundation include: Addictive Diseases, Diagnosis and Management of Rheumatologic Disorders in the Elderly, Strain and Counterstrain, Dermatology for Primary Care Physicians, Allergies, Asthma and COPD Management, Ophthalmology for Primary Care Physicians, Advanced Percussion Vibration, Urology for Primary Care Physicians and Sports Medicine.