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Wikipedia Article – DRAFT 3	8/25/11

Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California

Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC) is a professional medical association which represents the more than 4,500 osteopathic physicians (DOs) practicing in California and 1,400 students enrolled in California osteopathic medical schools. The association was founded in 1960 and is a chartered divisional society of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA).

The mission of OPSC is "to advance the practice of osteopathic medicine as an independent, scientific and complete system of medicine for the restoration and preservation of good health, and to present programs of education and information that contribute to the effective, professional practice of osteopathic health care for the benefit of all members of the profession." [1]

To fulfill this mission, OPSC advocates before legislative and regulatory bodies and informs its membership about current laws, regulations and rules. The association also actively promotes the benefits of osteopathic medicine to the public and produces continuing medical education programs for its osteopathic physicians.

Osteopathic physicians hold a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree and are fully licensed to practice all aspects of medicine, including primary care specialties such as family medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery and internal medicine, and all other medical specialties and subspecialties such as psychiatry, ophthalmology, radiology and neurology. Like their MD counterparts, DOs complete four years of basic medical education, must pass comparable state licensing examinations (COMLEX and USMLE), and can choose to practice in a specialty area of medicine after completing a residency program. DOs practice in fully accredited and licensed heath care facilities such as hospitals, medical centers and skilled nursing facilities. [2] The DO philosophy encompasses a "whole person" approach to medicine and focuses on preventive health care. In addition, DOs receive additional training in the musculoskeletal system and are specially trained to perform Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT), a method in which they use their hands to diagnose and treat the patient. OMT is employed to relieve pain and discomfort and to assist the body's ability to heal itself. [3]

Contents: 1	OPSC Governance and Activities 2	History of Osteopathic Medicine in California 3	Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine in California 4	Notable California Osteopathic Physicians 5	External Links

OPSC Governance and Activities

OPSC is headquartered in Sacramento, California and is managed by Executive Director Kathleen Creason. The association is lead by an elected Board of Directors, including a President, Immediate Past President, President Elect, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, eight Directors, seven Emeritus Directors, a Resident Board Member, two Student Board Members, and two Ex-Officio Members. [4]

OPSC members may sit on a number of committees, including Administrative Oversight, Awards, Budget and Financial Review, Bylaws, Education, Ethics/Peer Review, Legislative, Membership, Nominations, Public Relations, Publications, Reimbursement, Resolutions, Student/Young Physicians, and Workers' Compensation.

There are nine regional affiliates of OPSC whose primary functions are to provide continuing medical education, networking opportunities, forums for discussion of local legislative and regulatory issues, and opportunities to develop future OPSC and osteopathic medical leadership. The regional affiliates are: Bay Area Osteopathic Medical Association; Central Coast Osteopathic Regional Society; Greater Sacramento Osteopathic Medical Association; Los Angeles County Osteopathic Medical Association; North Coast Osteopathic Medical Association; Riverside County Osteopathic Medical Association; Orange County Osteopathic Medical Association; San Bernardino County Osteopathic Medical Association; and San Diego Osteopathic Medical Association.

OPSC publishes a journal, California DO, three times a year, which provides clinical information, professional news and updates.

The association holds two conferences each year: an Annual Conventional and Exposition held in February and a fall conference, CME by the Bay, held in September.

History of Osteopathic Medicine in California

In 1900, the California Osteopathic Association (COA, originally called the Osteopathic Association of the State of California) was formed. By 1901, California osteopathic schools were granting DO degrees and, through the passage of AB 230, the California Board of Osteopathic Examiners was established, allowing DOs to practice osteopathy, though they were unable to dispense drugs or perform surgeries. The 1907 Medical Practice Act consolidated the regulation of all California health professionals under one licensing board. That act was then repealed and replaced by the Medical Practice Act of 1913, which established different licensing exams for unlimited physicians and surgeons and for drugless practitioners. After the state licensing board refused to allow osteopaths to sit for the unlimited physicians and surgeons license in 1919, the osteopathic profession successfully advocated for the passage of State Measure No. 20, the "Osteopathic Initiative Act" in 1922, which again established the California Board of Osteopathic Examiners as a separate licensing board, recognizing DOs as an equal and distinct medical profession, and allowing them to prescribe drugs and perform surgeries. [5] [6]

Despite these gains, many DOs were unable to practice alongside MDs as equals. For example, at the Los Angeles County Hospital, DOs were allowed to practice, but only in a building that was completely segregated from their MD counterparts. [5] Through the 1940s and 1950s, some DOs and MDs began to think the solution would be a merger of the allopathic and osteopathic professions. In the late '50s, the COA began discussions with the California Medical Association (CMA) to proceed with a formal merger. [5]

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) was opposed to a merger, as were a number of California DOs. In 1960, AOA revoked COA's charter and the next year chartered the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC). OPSC was formed by a group of 35 DOs who were opposed to the merger and was lead by Richard E. Eby, DO. [5]

In 1961, COA and CMA concluded their merger. COA became the 41st Medical Society, part of the CMA. California voters passed Proposition 22, which prohibited the California Board of Osteopathic Examiners from granting any new DO licenses. The initiative stipulated that when the number of DOs recertifying annually decreased to less than 40, the board would cease to exist. DOs could change their degrees to MDs, and with the exception of 400 DOs who kept their degrees, the 2,250 DOs in California at the time opted to become MDs. [6]

Between 1962 and 1974, OPSC, supported by the efforts of Ethan Allen, DO and others worked to challenge the merger. Several legislative bills to negate Proposition 22 and allow reciprocity licensure of out-of-state DOs were introduced but were defeated. In 1968, D'Amico et al. v. Board of Medical Examiners was filed by a group of out-of-state DOs and commissioned military medical officers claiming that Proposition 22 infringed upon their civil rights and restricted the trade of the osteopathic practice. After six years and several rounds of appeals, on March 19, 1974, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the provisions of Proposition 22 regarding the merger and the inability of the BOE to issue licenses were unconstitutional, effectively restoring the osteopathic medical profession in California. By the end of that year, the California Board of Osteopathic Examiners had granted 664 new osteopathic medicine licenses. [5]

OPSC has since sponsored more than 25 pieces of legislation recognizing and protecting California osteopathic physicians, including a state law that makes it illegal to professionally or medically discriminate against DOs. [14] The association has also fought against more than 250 measures which would have seriously affected osteopathic practice in California. [7]

As reflected in legislation, the term “osteopath” is no longer routinely used in reference to DOs licensed in the United States. Instead, “osteopathic physician” is the preferred terminology, as it more appropriately reflects the training and licensure of DOs.

One of the latest legislative fights occurred in 2009, when California merged the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine into the Osteopathic Medical Board of California through AB X4 20, an "urgency" budget bill legislation that was passed with no hearings and no opportunity for input from the osteopathic profession. [8] The next year, OPSC was successful at sponsoring and passing legislation, SB 1050, to restore the autonomy of the osteopathic profession and remove naturopathic doctors from oversight from the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. [9]

Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine in California

The Pacific Sanitarium and School of Osteopathic Medicine (PSO) was founded by Aubrey C. Moore, DO and B.W. Scheurer, MD in 1896 in Anaheim as the first osteopathic college in California. Two years later, it was followed by the San Francisco College of Osteopathy. That same year, PSO granted the first DO degrees in California. After PSO declared bankruptcy in 1904, the Pacific College of Osteopathy (PCO) was established. In 1914, PCO merged with The Los Angeles College of Osteopathy to form The College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (COP&S). [5]

As a result of the COA and CMA merger in 1961, COP&S, the only remaining osteopathic medical school in California at the time, was converted to an allopathic medical school, the California College of Medicine (CCM), granting only MD degrees. In 1967, CCM became the School of Medicine at University of California, Irvine. [10]

In 1978, the first California osteopathic medical school since the MD-DO merger opened in Pomona. The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP), headed by Philip Pumerantz, PhD received full accreditation and graduated its first class in 1982. In 1996, COMP became Western University of Health Sciences. [11] In 1997, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine became the second osteopathic medical school in California, operating in the San Francisco Bay Area. [12]

Notable California Osteopathic Physicians

Public Service

Donald Krpan, DO has served as Executive Officer of the Osteopathic Medical Board of California since 2006. Dr. Krpan is a past president of the American Osteopathic Association and OPSC, and is a former provost of Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) and former Dean of WesternU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP).

Armed Services

Clinton Adams, DO retired from the United States Navy in 2011 with the rank of Rear Admiral. Dr. Adams is currently Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) and Dean of WesternU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP).

James M. Lally, DO, MMM, entered the United States Army in 1972 and medically retired in 1991 as Chief Warrant Officer-3. Dr. Lally is President and Chief Medical Officer of Chino Valley Medical Center, team physician and President of USA Shooting Team, and a member of the International Olympic Medical Committee.

William Ryan, DO was one of the first osteopathic physicians commissioned in the United States Navy (1967). Dr. Ryan was the first DO hired by Kaiser Permanente of Southern California, and the first DO to be accepted as a partner in Kaiser Permanente Medical Group. [5]

Humanitarian

Steven Kamajian, DO founded the Westminster Free Clinic in the Conejo Valley of Southern California in 1994. Having provided medical care to more than 15,000 uninsured patients since its inception, the clinic involves volunteer students who wish to enter careers in the medical field. Natalie Nevins, DO opened a clinic in Tawang, India in 2007, making annual expeditions to see patients who would otherwise have no access to medical care. Dr. Nevins is the Director of Medical Education at Downey Regional Medical Center for the Family Medicine Residency Program and the Program Director of the NMM/OMM Residency Program. Dr. Nevins also served in the United States Air Force.

Entertainment Industry

Jon Fong, DO served as a medical advisor for the TV show Trauma in 2009 and 2010, and as a technical advisor for the long running TV series ER between 1999 and 2009. Dr. Fong is an Emergency Medicine physician in Bellflower, California.

Politics

Stephen P. Teale, DO was a California State Senator, representing Senate districts 26 and 3 from 1953 to 1968. Dr. Teale was supportive of the merger between the California Osteopathic Association and the California Medical Association.

Osteopathic History

Ethan Allen, DO, FACOFP was the founding Chair of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP). Dr. Allen served three terms as president of OPSC and was very instrumental in the organization's efforts to overturn the merger.

Richard Eby, DO was elected founding President of OPSC in 1960.

Michael Seffinger, DO co-authored two books on the history of osteopathic medicine in California, The Merger: M.D.s and D.O.s in California and Resurgence: The Rebirth of Osteopathic Medicine in California. [5] [13]

Unique Models of Care

Norman Vinn, DO developed a house-call program in Orange County, California, serving the needs of frail home-bound elderly and end-of-life patients in their homes. [5] Dr. Vinn is a member of the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees and a Past President of OPSC.

Directors

William Henning, DO is Chief Medical Officer of Inland Empire Health Plan. Dr. Henning will serve as OPSC’s President from 2012-2013.

Glen Thomazin, DO is Medical Director of Inland Empire Health Plan.

Bernyce Peplowski, DO is Medical Director for State Compensation Insurance Fund.

John Talarico, DO is the Immunization Branch Chief of the California Department of Public Health.

External Links

American Osteopathic Association - http://www.osteopathic.org/

American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine - http://www.aacom.org/

Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California – http://www.opsc.org

Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine - http://www.tu.edu/departments.php?id=43

Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - http://www.westernu.edu/university-history

References

1. 	Mission Statement. Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California. Retrieved 2010-12-4. http://www.opsc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1.

2. 	Dennis L. Kasper, Eugene Braunwald, Anthony S. Fauci, Stephen L. Hauser, Dan L. Longo, J. Larry Jameson, and Kurt J. Isselbacher, Eds. Chapter 10. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 16th Ed. 2005. McGraw Hill.

3. 	Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment. American Osteopathic Association. Retrieved 2011-3-24. http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/treatment/Pages/default.aspx.

4. 	Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California Bylaws.

5.	Reinsch, Sibylle; Michael Seffinger and Jerome Tobis. The Merger: M.D.s and D.O.s in California. 2009. ISBN 978-1-4363-5438-7

6. 	Crum, JF. The Saga of osteopathy in California. West J Med 122:87-90, Jan 1975. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1130289/pdf/westjmed00293-0115.pdf

7. 	"The History of Osteopathic Medicine and OPSC." California DO. Summer 2010.

8. 	"Merger of the Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine into the Osteopathic Medical Board of California." Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California. Retrieved 2011-3-24. http://www.opsc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=49

9. 	Riley, Tom. "Lesson of the 2009-2010 Legislative Session for California DOs: When You're Given Lemons, Add Sugar." California DO. Fall 2010.

10. 	UC Irvine School of Medicine Historical Timeline. School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine. Retrieved 2010-12-5. http://www.som.uci.edu/historicalTimeline.html

11. 	History of WesternU. Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. Retrieved 2011-01-11. http://www.westernu.edu/university-history.

12. 	Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Retrieved 2011-3-24. http://www.tu.edu/departments.php?id=43

13.	Seffinger, Michael A., Sibylle Reinsch, Julia Melvin-McCann and Olivia Solis. Resurgence: The Rebirth of Osteopathic Medicine in California. 2011. ISBN 0-9776737-4-X

14.	California Business & Professions Code §2453. Retrieved 8-25-11. http://leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=31475825840+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve.