ACOFP: OUR CONTINUING HISTORY 103 Leadership 1950–1953 WESLEY BARRETT JR., DO Los Angeles, California Born: March 5, 1882; Died: Jan. 7, 1953; Education: College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (COPS, in Los Angeles); Graduated: 1935. Little is known about Dr. Wesley Barrett Jr. He was an older osteopathic family physician in Los Angeles in the early 1950s and owned Seminole Hot Springs in Cornell, California. His death preceded the passage of California Proposition 22, so he never had the opportunity to accept or reject the MD degree like many of the other founders that followed him. Some speculate that his age and experience in practice may have been one of the main reasons the younger founders chose him to be the first president of the newly organized American College of General Practitioners in Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery (ACGPOMS). 1953–1954 BRUCE S. COLLINS, DO, “MD” Irvine, California Born: Oct. 14, 1905; Education: COPS; Graduated: 1928 (Non-AOA Member). Dr. Collins was also a faculty member at COPS. According to Dr. T. Robert Sharp, the second and fifth presidents of ACOFP were responsible for the idea of founding ACOFP. Dr. Collins and Dr. John V. Fiore were friends and associates in the Los Angeles area and worked in conjunction with the osteopathic college in Irvine. The two worked out their vision for ACOFP and included these ideas in the original articles of incorporation. One of the major reasons for forming ACOFP was the limitation of privileges general practitioners were experiencing in hospitals. General practitioners were not maintaining a specialist image in training or practice and were systematically being scrutinized in the credentialing process in hospitals, as well as in organized medicine. Also, osteopathic GPs were not compensated as well as specialists by insurance companies, facilitating a need to form a path for Osteopathic General Practice to become recognized as a medical specialty. Much credit should be given to their fortitude as the founders of this new and challenging association, for there would be events later in their careers that would cause them to leave the osteopathic profession and join the allopathic profession. However, they never forgot they were osteopathic family physicians first. The organization that Drs. Collins and Fiore envisioned was strong and one that would grow and flourish over time. Even though external forces would tear them away, ACOFP owes much to their vision and skill in creating such a resilient entity. ACOFP PAST PRESIDENTS
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