The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) is the representative member organization for the more than 176,000 osteopathic medical doctors (D.O.s) and osteopathic medical students in the United States. The AOA is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and is involved in post-graduate training for osteopathic physicians. Beginning in 2015, it began accrediting post-graduate education as a committee within the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, creating a unified accreditation system for all DOs and MDs in the United States. The organization promotes public health, encourages academic scientific research, serves as the primary certifying body for D.O.s overseeing 18 certifying boards, and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools through its Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. As of October 2015, the AOA no longer owns the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP), which accredited hospitals and other health care facilities. The AOA has held yearly conventions since its founding in 1897. The AOA also manages DOCARE International, a non-profit charitable organization. The AOA also publishes The DO, an online publication, and The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, a peer reviewed medical journal. History The association was founded as the American Association for the Advancement of Osteopathy on April 19, 1897, in Kirksville, Missouri, by students of the American School of Osteopathy specifically Andrew Taylor Still. It was renamed the American Osteopathic Association in 1901. In September 1901, the AOA began to publish a scientific journal entitled the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Subscriptions were offered to AOA members, and at the time, membership fees were $5 annually. The journal was published bimonthly for the first year, then monthly thereafter. In 1903, the AOA conducted the first accreditation survey of osteopathic medical schools. Three years later, the American Medical Association conducted its first accreditation survey of US MD-granting medical schools. In April 1927, the AOA began publishing The Forum of Osteopathy, a monthly magazine that covered news relating to osteopathic medicine, the AOA, and related groups. In September 1960, the magazine was renamed The DO. In the early 1900s, the AOA, citing concerns about safety and efficacy, was opposed to the introduction of pharmacology into the curriculum of osteopathic medicine. However, in 1929 the AOA board of trustees voted to allow the teaching of pharmacology in D.O. schools. By 1938, the AOA began requiring that osteopathic medical students have at least 1 year of undergraduate college coursework, and by 1940, the AOA required