Search
Member Login

Fellow Information & Requirements

Please click for Fellow Application

General Policy for Fellow Application

  1. Applicants must be a member in good standing of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) both at the time of application and when the title is conferred.
  2. Applicants must be a member in good standing of the American Osteopathic College of Occupational and Preventive Medicine (AOCOPM) for at least three (3) years.
  3. Applicants must have been engaged in the full-time (or equivalent) practice of Occupational/Environmental Medicine, Aerospace Medicine, or Public Health/General Preventive Medicine for at least five (5) years.
  4. Applicants must be board certified by the AOA or ABPM. 
  5. Any and all costs in establishing eligibility are the responsibility of the applicant.
  6. A current CV must be submitted with the completed application.
  7.  A personal interview with one or more AOCOPM Board or Faculty/Fellow Committee members may be required.
  8. The AOCOPM Board of Trustees may, at its discretion, waive the usual requirements under extraordinary circumstances and confer the title of Fellow or Honorary Fellow upon recommendation of the Fellow/Faculty Committee.
  9. Being found eligible does not infer or guarantee that the title will be conferred, since Fellow status is a designation granted by the AOCOPM Board of Trustees.
  10. Should the AOCOPM Board of Trustees deem one or more College members worthy of the title of Fellow, a Conclave of Fellows will be convened and the award conferred in a ceremony, typically held during the Midyear Conference. Honorees must be present and appropriately attired in cap and gown.
  11. Once conferred, the Fellow designation can be removed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the AOCOPM Board of Trustees if just cause is found to warrant such severe action.

Determining Fellow Eligibility:

  1. The minimum point requirement must be achieved within the ten-year period preceding date of formal application.
  2. Point totals required
    1. If board certified by the AOBPM: Applicant must have accumulated a total of at least one hundred (100) points during the ten years prior to application.    
    2. If board certified by another AOA Board: Applicant must have accumulated a total of at least one hundred fifty (150) points during the ten years prior to application and possess either an AOBPM CAQ or an MPH degree.   
    3. If ABPM board certified: Applicant must have accumulated a total of at least one hundred twenty-five (125) points during the ten years prior to application. 
  3. It is the applicant’s responsibility to notify the College and provide proof of participation in activities for which points are claimed. Claims for AOCOPM or AOA activities, however, usually will require only the statement of the applicant, if the dates involved can be verified by appropriate record review.
  4. Claims for points involving the applicant’s participation in the activities of other organizations (non-AOCOPM and non-AOA) in the various specialties represented by the AOCOPM must be verified in writing by an authorized representative of each organization.
  5. When points are claimed for articles published in scientific and/or professional journals, reprints must be submitted. A copy of the printed program will constitute proof of a presentation at a medical meeting or suitable documentation, e.g. letter from the organization.
  6. Claims for all points must be approved by the Fellow/Faculty Committee and the AOCOPM Board of Trustees.
  7. The applicant will be duly notified in the event claimed points are disallowed, if those lost points result in the point total falling below the qualifying level.
  8.  An applicant’s record of points should not be submitted, nor will it be accepted, until the appropriate minimum point total required for Fellow eligibility has been accumulated. 

Fellow Point System:

1. AOCOPM/AOA Activities

    a. AOCOPM Service (10 points mandatory; no limit)

        i. AOCOPM Officer, Trustee, Committee Chairman; Member of AOBPM (10 points per term)
        ii. AOCOPM Residency Inspection Team Member (10 points each tour)
        iii. Member of AOCOPM Standing/Ad Hoc Committee (10 points mandatory; no limit)

   b. Active participation in an AOCOPM sponsored Program (10 points mandatory; no limit)

        i. Program Chairman (20 points)
        ii. Service as Program On-Site Coordinator (20 points)
        iii. Presenter of Lecture or Paper (10 points)
        iv. Registration and attendance at AOCOPM Annual Educational Conference, currently held in conjunction with OMED (7.5 points per program; 40 points mandatory)
v.  Registration and attendance at AOCOPM Midyear Educational Conference (7.5 points per program; 40 points mandatory)

 2. Non-AOCOPM Activities
    a. Presenter of Paper, Lecture or Program in the Specialty Field at a local, state, national or international meeting (7.5 point each; no limit)
    b. Points for other activities will be considered and assigned by the AOCOPM Board of Trustees upon recommendation of the Fellow/Faculty Committee on an individual case basis, but such activities must be directly related to Preventive Medicine or one of its components.