Osteopathic physicians are significantly underrepresented on federal boards that determine research funding and healthcare policy, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine told Becker's Aug. 15.
Of the National Institute of Health's 3,233 study section reviewers in 2022, 493 were allopathic physicians and none were osteopathic physicians. In addition, only one DO sat among the 462 National Advisory Council members, compared to 213 MDs in 2022. This year, two DOs sit on councils.
DOs' underrepresentation on federal boards is causing osteopathic medical schools to miss out on important research funding, according to AACOM. In an analysis shared with Becker's, the association found osteopathic medical schools only get 0.1% ($55.6 million) of all active NIH grant funding. In contrast, allopathic medical schools receive 41% of funding, or $22.91 billion of the NIH's $55.4 billion research budget.
At present, NIH's website lists 99 active research projects in schools of osteopathic medicine, compared to 37,723 for allopathic medical schools.
"Osteopathic medical schools currently educate a quarter of all U.S. medical students, and that will grow to one third of all students by 2030," AACOM told Becker's. "Severely limiting the research opportunities for these students and schools will only weaken our nation's healthcare network and hinder our ability to respond to future medical challenges. In addition, whether intentionally or not, this disparity in representation on federal boards and commissions continues to perpetuate a bias against osteopathic doctors [that] has been proven to be unwarranted and uninformed. We need every perspective possible at the table when charting the course of our nation's healthcare policy and research."