ACOFP: OUR CONTINUING HISTORY 105 Leadership He practiced as a trial lawyer in New Jersey for seven years before attending Bergen College from 1941 to 1943. There he would complete his premedical classwork. He then attended COPS, where he received his DO degree and practiced for 20 years in the Irvine area. During that time, Dr. Fiore was active in the California College of General Practice and became president of the American College of General Practitioners. He was awarded life membership in AOA, and shortly thereafter was awarded the same courtesy in ACOFP. Until the last revision of the ACOFP Constitution at the turn of this century, such members were granted a separate membership category of Founding Member. In 1962, Dr. Fiore accepted the so-called “little MD” degree, as many California DOs called it, along with many other founding members. When he accepted the MD degree, Dr. Fiore was meant to relinquish the DO degree but refused to do so. Dr. Fiore remained active in both the allopathic and osteopathic associations for almost 30 more years. Under California Proposition 22, the osteopathic licensing board would be allowed to remain functioning if 40 or more members remained active. Dr. Fiore was the driving force, encouraging physicians to maintain membership above the state regulated number. The osteopathic licensing board never officially dissolved, and when the resurgence to reorganize the DO profession occurred, reactivation became easier due to the efforts of Dr. Fiore and others like him. Dr. Fiore retired in 1992, and shared this footnote: “In 1980, all past presidents of the national ACOFP were called together during an AOA convention being held in California, and they presented us with a very valuable gold and diamond presidential ring, of which I am a proud owner.” He closed by saying, “I have always been proud of my osteopathic medical training.” (Dr. Fiore continued to sign his name John V. Fiore MD, DO, and JD.) The presidential ring Dr. Fiore referred to was the result of a conversation that Dr. Ethan Allen had with Dr. Burnett. He believed early on that something should be done at the time of the 1980 AOA convention in Los Angeles to recognize all the ACOFP past presidents. It was his hope that such a gesture would begin to heal some of the wounds created by the California Merger. The special presidential ring was the outcome of that suggestion and is presently a significant symbol of those who received it. 1957–1958 HERMAN H. SCHLOSSBERG, DO, “MD” Los Angeles, California Born: Jan. 6, 1910; Died: Nov. 10, 1985; Education: Occidental College, COPS; Graduated: 1940. In 1962, Dr. Schlossberg accepted the degree of medical doctor from the California College of Medicine, University of California at Irvine. He also served as president of the school’s alumni association from 1967 to 1968, and he was named its Alumni of the Year in 1970. It is not known if he relinquished his DO degree in accordance with California Proposition 22. Dr. Schlossberg practiced family medicine and volunteered his services to medical clinics in the Los Angeles area before and after his retirement in early 1985.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2NjI=