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greatly respected us, who would take up our
cause and help us.”
Dr. Levin’s astute assessment centers
on the creation of osteopathic hospitals
in South Florida, specifically Osteopathic
General Hospital in North Miami Beach. “In
Miami—and in Florida in general—a signifi-
cant attitude shift occurred when Osteopathic
General Hospital opened in 1960 because it
truly was a first-class hospital with residents,”
he explained. “It was a full-service hospital
that people really wanted to go to because
of the top-quality service it rendered and the
type of care that was given. As a result, a
number of local allopathic hospitals slowly
began granting us practice rights in their hos-
pitals. Frankly, I wasn’t thrilled using those
hospitals, but it really was good for enhancing
the osteopathic profession’s prestige.”
In Dr. Melnick’s estimation, myriad—and
often unrelated—elements played a pivotal
role in augmenting the osteopathic profes-
sion’s esteem over the years. “The refusal
to appoint D.O.s as medical officers in the
armed services in World War II created a
doctor shortage,” he said “This resulted
in thousands of civilians going to D.O.s.,
where many of them found satisfaction and
continued with their D.O.s, even spreading
their satisfaction to other family members and
friends. Additionally, the subsequent recogni-
tion of D.O.s for military service appointments
basically started osteopathic medicine down
the path toward recognition and acceptance.”
Analogous to Dr. Levin’s comments, Dr.
Melnick credits the rise in the number of
larger and more sophisticated osteopathic
hospitals that proliferated in the 1960s for
boosting the profession’s standing in the
medical community. Nevertheless, he is also
quick to assert that greater acceptance of
the D.O. profession has led to the demise of
many osteopathic hospitals in recent years.
Prognosticating the
Profession’s Future
The osteopathic profession has cer-
tainly come a long way in terms of growth,
recognition, and acceptance, which are
facts exemplified by the increasing number
of osteopathic medical colleges springing
up throughout the United States. However,
several unanswered questions remain. For
example, does the continued expansion of
the profession bode well for its future—or
does it threaten to create an inevitable, and
homogenous, merging of the allopathic and
osteopathic vocations?
“Today, we find that the number of
osteopathic medical colleges being created
continues to increase at a faster rate than al-
lopathic schools,” said Dr. Neer, who serves
as professor and associate dean of alumni
affairs. “As the percentage of D.O.s relatively
increases when compared to the total pool
of physicians in the country, the profession
cannot help but benefit. The important thing
is that we must diligently police ourselves and
deliberately maintain a high level of educa-
tion from every entity that wears the name
osteopathic in its title.”
According to Dr. Levin, who retired from
active practice in 1993, there are both posi-
tives and pitfalls on the profession’s horizon.
“In my opinion, the proliferation of schools has
helped the profession; there is no question
about that,” he admitted. “On the flip side,
we’ve lost almost every osteopathic hospital
we had, so we really don’t have any osteo-
pathic training anymore, which means we are
relying on allopathic hospitals to provide train-
ing to our students and graduates. We have
been talking about amalgamation for about 50
years, and I think it’s eventually going to hap-
pen. However, if this does occur, it means we
will lose our identity as well as our birthright,
but I think we’ll have very little to say about
it because it will be decided by the American
Osteopathic Association, the American Medi-
cal Association, and the U.S. government.”
Dr. Melnick, who has personally witnessed
the profession’s evolution over the past 70
years, said predicting the future is a peril-
ous undertaking, although he gladly shared
his thoughts on the topic. “When I went into
practice, I never would have dreamed we
would reach today’s present acceptance and
recognition,” he admitted. “I see several pos-
sibilities for the osteopathic medical profes-
sion. First, the growth of osteopathic colleges
will certainly continue and perhaps reach
double the present number. With 50 or more
such schools, the allopathic profession and
the osteopathic profession might put aside
their guns and bullets and try to live peace-
fully together, giving the public an impression
of professional cooperation—and live
happily
ever after
. However, this will not completely
eliminate professional bias and sniping.
“Another possibility is that at some point,
the allopathic profession may realize the
competition is gaining on it and do what any
prominent business does in a similar situ-
ation—buy out the competition and merge
as occurred in California years ago,” he
added. “The buyout could involve granting all
osteopathic physicians M.D. degrees without
payment, as California did, to guarantee
them continued operation of their schools
with guaranteed official recognition and
credentialing, thus creating a unified healing
profession. This may sound and look good,
but it will completely destroy the osteopathic
profession and put all former D.O.s under the
direct thumb of allopathic medicine.”
The final scenario, concluded Dr. Melnick,
is that the D.O. and M.D. professions “will
continue essentially the same as they are
now—with overt acceptance but partially hid-
den discrimination and hostility.”
Whatever happens in the future, one fact
is irrevocably evident: Without the unwavering
efforts of osteopathic pioneers such as Drs.
Bill Levin, Arnold Melnick, and Howard Neer,
the profession would not be the vigorous, suc-
cessful, and ever-evolving entity it is today.
Dr. Levin
preparing
for
surgery.
33
COM Outlook . Summer 2012