ACOFP: OUR CONTINUING HISTORY 37 Onward and, Eventually, Upward Dr. Mary Burnett recalls that the first resident to complete the program was from Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Norman Jankowski reported that his first resident at Brentwood was James B. Donahue, DO, who completed the program in 1974 and went on to practice in Freeport, Maine. Of further interest, Dr. Howard Hunt had his first resident in Chicago in 1976–1977, and Dr. Paul Herr had his first resident in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1975–1976. There were many misconceptions about the role that family practice would play in the world of specialists. Dr. Herr recalls attending a Program Directors meeting at the O’Hare Hyatt Regency Hotel in about 1974 and again in 1976. One speaker at the 1976 meeting was a DO specialist who made the following statement: “It takes approximately 10 years for a reasonable, normal human to become comfortable with the kinds of decisions needed in the care of other humans. The time spent in residency has the effect of bringing the person within three years of completing this 10-year span (medical school = 4 years + 1 year internship + 2 year residency = 7 years; 10 years – 7 years = 3 years).” Interactive and informative training was shared at these and other ACOFP meetings during that time. No history of the evolution of osteopathic general practice residencies would be complete without mentioning Joseph Namey, DO, FACOFP, and John Burnett, DO, FACOFP. Drs. Namey and Burnett were among the first general practitioners to be certified. They had a clear vision of the course that ACOFP should follow and remained dedicated to making sure family practice remained equal in stature with other allopathic and osteopathic specialties. It took strong leadership and a focused vision to forge a path through the traditional bias of the day. Like so many times throughout ACOFP’s history, the right leaders came at the
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