Osteopathic students have multiple chances for a match, and other letters

Regarding the article “Medical grads, seniors learn where they're going in record Match Day”, while appreciating the coverage of this important day in the lives of future physicians, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine must take this opportunity to correct an often misconstrued statistic concerning the match rate of osteopathic (DO) physicians.

Osteopathic physicians have more than one opportunity to match and have historically achieved 99% GME placement rates, when all GME placement opportunities have concluded at the end of a yearly cycle. In addition to the national program to which the article refers, osteopathic physicians have opportunities in the American Osteopathic Association match.

With 25% of freshman medical students now being osteopathic students, it is important to accurately reflect the stellar placement record of osteopathic students.

Lisa Cole

Vice president of communications and marketingAmerican Association of Colleges of Osteopathic MedicineChevy Chase, Md.

Regarding the recent “Vital Signs” blog post “Are Republicans, Chief Justice Roberts sweating King doomsday scenario?”, one cannot help but note the irony of a single political party having passed the Affordable Care Act into law without a single vote from the opposition party, then observers proceeding to suggest a “blatantly partisan” action should the U.S. Supreme Court decide not to legislate from the bench in order to fix the mess the Democrats have created.

Steve Slaughter

Chicago