The federal government shutdown is exerting significant financial strain on the nation’s 44 osteopathic medical schools as the impasse approaches its fourth week, MedPage reported Oct. 17.
The budget-driven shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is the third-longest federal shutdown so far. For the eighth time, Congress has failed to pass a spending bill.
The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine said the shutdown acutely affects osteopathic schools, which are often in rural areas and operating on slim margins.
David Bergman, the association’s senior vice president of government relations and health affairs, told MedPage that each day that passes exacerbates several issues for osteopathic programs and physicians.
“The development of a residency program needs a level of certainty, and when you can’t provide that level of certainty — compounded by the shutdown — it’s very hard to plan for opening these programs, which are costly and operate on thin margins,” Mr. Bergman told MedPage.
More than half of these schools are in health professional shortage areas, according to the report. They also depend on federal programs to fund education, training and research.
In addition to supporting two bills — one to expand clinical training in rural areas and another to increase transparency in Medicare-funded graduate medical education programs — the association is calling on Congress to end the shutdown.
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