ACOFP: OUR CONTINUING HISTORY 11 THE FOUNDING AND EARLY YEARS Faced with little opposition from membership, the decision and planning continued more ardently behind the scenes to turn the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which was the legacy osteopathic college in California, into the California College of Medicine. At that time, both schools were housed on the campus of the Los Angeles County Hospital, with the osteopathic college in one wing and the University of California Medical Center in the other. Both schools were joined by a tunnel deep in the basement underneath the hospital, allowing student traffic between the two schools to occur without disrupting hospital operations. Both schools shared operations and clinical education within the Los Angeles County Hospital, although MD and DO classes remained separate. When the University of California College of Medicine was closed for a short period the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons ran the hospital. In July 1961, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) voted to fight amalgamation in California and several other states with similar plans in place to follow suit if the California movement was successful. The late George W. Northup, DO, FACOFP, renowned editor of the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, exposed the conspiracy for the destruction of the osteopathic medical profession. He put the question quite bluntly: “Will the osteopathic profession survive, or will it be destroyed?” The battle for the existence of the osteopathic medical profession had begun. Emotions were evident during the AOA House of Delegates meeting that same year. The House confronted the California representatives regarding their concerns in Kansas City, Missouri, at the historic Muehlebach Hotel (now a wing of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown hotel), once visited by many presidents from Theodore Roosevelt up to Ronald Reagan, lending an Frank E. MacCracken, DO, author of the Osteopathic Oath, and ACOFP’s first Physician of the Year, had been an ardent opponent of amalgamation with the MDs. Unfortunately, Dr. Marsh was successful in convincing him of the amalgamation with the MDs. George W. Northup, DO, FACOFP Photo courtesy AOA Photo courtesy Americasroof at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons. Muehlebach Hotel
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