California College of Medicine

Before it became part of the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the UCI College of Medicine went through several incarnations as a school of osteopathy. Osteopathy splintered from mainstream (or allopathic) medicine in the mid-nineteenth century in a climate of poor, commercially driven medical education and the proliferation of dangerous and ineffective medical practices such as blood-letting and the prescription of calomel and emetics. The first osteopaths were opposed to the use of any drugs for their patients; pharmacology was introduced into osteopathic practice in the early twentieth century. Andrew Still, the M.D. who founded osteopathy, "discovered" the Osteopathic Principle, which states that all disease can be attributed to lesions in the spine, and thus may be alleviated by manipulation of the vertebrae (this is why osteopathy is often confused with chiropractics, although chiropractors do not have the same medical training that osteopaths have, and are only qualified to treat skeletal complaints). Dr. Still began training osteopaths at his American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892. The Pacific School of Osteopathy and Infirmary (PSO) -- the second osteopathic school -- was established in Anaheim in 1896 by Aubrey C. Moore, D.O., who had studied under Dr. Still, and an M.D., B.W. Scheurer (for a short time, PSO awarded both the D.O. and the M.D.). For the first four years, PSO awarded the Diplomate of Osteopathy, D.O. In 1900 California legally recognized the profession, and PSO began awarding the Doctor of Osteopathy, D.O.The Pacific School of Osteopathy moved to Los Angeles in 1897, to South Pasadena in 1903, then back to Los Angeles in 1904 into quarters on the corner of Mission and Daly. The school changed its name to the Pacific College of Osteopathy (PCO) in 1904.In 1905 Harry Forbes, D.O. and several other former members of the faculty of the S.S. Still College of Osteopathy, Des Moines established the Los Angeles College of Osteopathy (LACO). Because LACO offered both a two-year course and a three-year course, the state Board of Medical Examiners did not recognize the degrees LACO was granting. Additionally, the American Osteopathic Association would not accept LACO as a member because there was already an osteopathic school in Los Angeles, PCO. Despite these difficulties, which also included a suit brought against LACO by PCO and a suit against the California Board of Medical Examiners brought by LACO, LACO persisted until 1914 when it merged with PCO to form the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (COPS). There was one other osteopathic school in California during this time. The California College of Osteopathy was founded in San Francisco in 1898. This school merged with the American School of Osteopathy in 1912.COPS was the most enduring of California's osteopathic schools. It garnered several concessions from the medical profession over the years that enabled it to adequately train osteopaths who were then able to go on to productive careers in California and elsewhere. For example, in 1915 COPS formed an agreement with the Los Angeles County General Hospital (LACGH) to train interns there. COPS brought suit against the Medical Examiners in 1919 after they discontinued recognizing COPS as a qualified educator. During the trial, the burden was on the Medical Examiners to prove that education at COPS was sub-standard compared to education at California schools granting the M.D. degree. In 1921, while the suit was still being argued, the internship program sponsored by the LACGH was discontinued. However, the courts ruled in favor of COPS in June of 1921 (Decision by the Court of Appeal of California, 53 Cal. App. 138; 199 P. 1093; 1921 Cal. App. LEXIS 354). The decision enabled an initiative to be passed in 1922 providing for a separate California Board of Osteopathic Examiners. This eliminated the former problem of M.D.s on the Board of Medical Examiners making all the decisions about the suitability of particular osteopaths to practice their profession. That same year LACGH reinstated the residency training program for COPS.The California Osteopathic Association (COA), affiliated with the AOA, was incorporated in 1900 as the osteopathic professional organization in California. The administration of COA and the faculty of COPS overlapped a great deal.The California osteopathic tradition led by COPS and COA ended in 1961 by consensus among these two groups and the California Medical Association (CMA) when the two California medical professions merged and D.O.s were no longer awarded in the state of California. The merger was led by Forest Grunigen, D.O., who had begun talks with the CMA in the mid-1940s. In 1962 all COPS graduates were offered an M.D. degree in exchange for their D.O. degree and a $65 fee, with no additional qualifying examination. The new degrees were problematic for some, the M.D.s were not accepted for licensure out-of-state, and few academic or hospital appointments were given to the former D.O.s, but many went on to have successful careers. The AOA was vehemently opposed to the merger, and many osteopaths in California agreed. A splinter group, naming themselves the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC), was formed in 1960 from the 500 osteopaths in California who decided against exchanging their D.O.s for M.D.s. In 1974 OPSC succeeded in convincing the California Supreme Court to rescind their decision that had formalized the merger. The problems encountered by Californians dissuaded osteopaths in other states from attempting mergers of their own, and the California experiment was a unique phenomenon. In 1967 after much debate, the UC-CCM was assigned to UCI, and the college, its faculty, and its administration moved to Irvine.

From the description of California College of Medicine records, 1860-1998, 1896-1967 (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 566037316

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