New Challenges and Opportunities The executive council began by conducting research into what other specialty colleges in the osteopathic profession did to honor their members that served with distinction. Academic ranks, such as senior fellow, honored fellow, and advanced fellow, were all suggested. However, given this rank would be sought by fellows who distinguished themselves with extra effort, the title of distinguished fellow was eventually unanimously chosen. The next issue it had to determine was how that title should be displayed in relation to the FACOFP designation. Some osteopathic specialty colleges added a D following the designation, but FACOFPD gave the impression the title related to a rank in a police union. Hyphenating the D, as in FACOFP-D, begged the question of whether there were A, B, and C levels as well, so that was also rejected. Finally, it would be the osteopathic obstetricians that would settle this issue. They decided to add a lowercase, italicized abbreviation of the rank following the fellow rank to signify a distinguished fellow (FACOFP dist.). The executive council unanimously agreed that this solution would work. The addition was neither long nor obtrusive and could be easily interpreted as signifying a distinguished rank. When spoken, moderators could refer to these fellows by announcing their credentials as, “John Smith, DO, FACOFP distinguished.” The council then turned its attention to establishing the criteria for the Distinguished Fellow Award and designing the accompanying pin. The goal was to create requirements that reflected the years of service and the level of dedication worthy of this honor, while remaining consistent with the standards for the fellow designation. It was determined that candidates must fulfill two core categories following their induction as a fellow. Additionally, they needed to meet requirements in four out of five new categories: financial contributions, fellow sponsorship, academic service, national ACOFP service, and state or local service. Furthermore, candidates were required to have attended at least 20 ACOFP Annual Conventions or AOA Annual Conventions since their fellow induction. These requirements were viewed by some as a shift from the more stringent fellow requirements. The executive council would be responsible for reviewing and recommending candidates for approval. The awards would be presented during the Conclave of Fellows ceremony, where each recipient would receive a gold cord and a crystal award. The creation of the distinguished fellow pin was one of the most memorable activities of the executive council. Initially, the idea was to have several pins denoting the years as a fellow: a twoyear pin with an emerald, a four-year pin with a ruby, and a six-year pin with a diamond. However, a member of the council from South Bend, Indiana, Donald ACOFP: OUR CONTINUING HISTORY 69 Thomas N. Told, DO, FACOFP dist. (right), presents the Distinguished Fellow Award to Donald E. Kotoske, DO, FACOFP dist. (left), who was part of the inaugural class in 2004.
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