The Association for Academic Pathology (AAPath) joins an ever-growing list of specialty leadership groups who have come forward in support of equivalent COMLEX-USA and USMLE acceptance as part of a holistic residency selection process when considering applicants.
The AAPath recently released a statement to that effect, which reads in part:
“The AAPath, specifically endorsed by the Program Directors Section (PRODS) and AAPath Chairs Graduate Medical Education Committee, support the initiative towards osteopathic applicants neither being required nor strongly recommended to provide USMLE testing if they have COMLEX-USA scores. The AAPath recognizes that requiring or strongly recommending additional USMLE testing would put undue burden on osteopathic (DO) applicants…”
Read the full statement on the AAPath website.
“The NBOME appreciates the support of leadership organizations like the AAPath in this very important matter for DO students, the osteopathic medical profession, the specialty of Pathology, the entire house of medicine, and the patients we all have the privilege to serve,” said John R. Gimpel, DO, MEd, president and CEO of the NBOME.
“In the words of former public television icon Fred Rogers, ‘Look for the helpers’,” he continued. “AAPath has now stepped up to join the many other specialty leadership associations to issue guidance on inclusion for DO applicants in ACGME-accredited programs.”
The number of pathology spots filled by DOs in the National Residency Matching Program Main Match has nearly doubled since 2021. Pathology leaders are the latest group to show their support for a holistic review of DO residency applicants, and, when licensure exam results are used in that process, that COMLEX-USA should be used for DO applicants. These groups are family medicine, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, pediatrics, anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and internal medicine.
In addition, the Association of Program Directors in Surgery recently recommended to its program directors that general surgery programs consider COMLEX-USA or USMLE exams when engaging in holistic review of candidates, and that these programs be as transparent as possible with their policies and expectations about the use of these exams, which may include a statement on the acceptance and use of COMLEX-USA scores.