Key Takeaways From This Year’s LEAD Conference and AAOE Educational Summit

LEAD Conference

On January 24-25, the NBOME attended the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Leadership, Education, Advocacy & Development (LEAD) conference, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The AOA LEAD conference delivers training to individuals throughout the osteopathic medical profession, with additional content delivered through focused tracks to provide advanced educational content. Amongst those representing the NBOME were John R. Gimpel, DO, MEd, Geraldine O’Shea, DO, and Sandra Waters, MEM, Vice President for Collaborative Assessments & Initiatives.

During LEAD, Drs. Gimpel and O’Shea, and Ms. Waters, interacted with members of the osteopathic medical community, including other affiliate organizations, COMs, program directors, licensing boards, specialty boards and colleges, as well as members of NBOME’s own National Faculty.

NBOME representatives actively participated in a variety of conference sessions focused on key topics ranging from physician wellness, the impact of big data, changes in AOA board certification, updates to accreditation/billing and reporting, and the involvement of NBOME National Faculty. They also met with AOA regulatory affairs and advocacy to talk through top federal and state issues involving medical degrees and scope of practice, as well as physician access and affordability.

Closing out the LEAD conference on Friday evening was Ron Burns, DO, AOA President-Elect, as well as Kate de Klerk, OMS IV, SOMA National President. At this session, student and young physician leaders spoke of the exciting AMA Resolution 955: Equality of COMLEX-USA and USMLE, and its importance to osteopathic distinction and professional identity formation for young DOs.

AAOE Educational Summit

Immediately following the LEAD conference, Drs. Gimpel and O’Shea, and Ms. Waters provided an NBOME and COMLEX-USA update to the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners. Input was solicited from the osteopathic medical licensing board community on a number of initiatives, and updates on the enhanced COMLEX-USA Level 3, residency program directors attestation, numeric and pass-fail scores for COMLEX-USA, and the AMA’s historic policy (AMA Resolution 955) supporting DO students, residents and osteopathic distinction by advocating for the equality for COMLEX-USA and USMLE.