LOMA - Legislative Updates

Osteopathic Medicine Achieves Parity in Louisiana

(New Orleans, LA) –The osteopathic profession achieved its most critical victory in Louisiana when a rule change by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (LSBME) established parity between the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA) and the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), and between the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) certifying boards and the boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).

Finally reaching this definitive victory in Louisiana in 2005 was the result of several years of hard work on the part of the AOA and leaders of the osteopathic medical profession in Louisiana.

The June 20, 2005 ruling, granting parity between the AOA certifying boards and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) boards, by the Louisiana State Board Medical Examiners (LSBME) was the most recent success in a string of osteopathic victories.

“We spent years and years educating the Louisiana medical board about osteopathic medicine,” explained Nancy Bellemare, D.O., president of the Louisiana Osteopathic Medical Association (LOMA) between 1997 and 2005.

The AOA and LOMA had worked with the LSBME for several years toward a ruling on May 30, 2001, that amended the Louisiana Medical Practice Act to include both DO's with MD's in the state’s definition of medical physicians. In June 2001, the LSBME revised its licensure rules to recognize the AOA’s COMLEX-USA and earlier NBOME qualifying exams.

However, the LSBME ruling was not a complete triumph for the osteopathic profession because DO's who passed COMLEX-USA were were still required to be certified by an ABMS board, until the June 2005 action.

The rule changes now allow osteopathic physicians in any specialty to present the board proof of passing the COMLEX-USA as the first step toward obtaining full and unrestricted licensure in Louisiana. They no longer need to be ABMS board-certified in order for the COMLEX-USA to be recognized. In addition, as long as they have completed at least one year of post-graduate clinical training in either an AOA program or an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) program within the past 10 years, DO's who are licensed in other states will be granted reciprocity in Louisiana.

“The achievement of licensing parity for DO's in Louisiana will facilitate growth of the osteopathic profession and increase the availability of quality primary care physicians in underserved and rural areas of the state,” adds Ed Williams, Ph.D., Executive Director of LOMA.