WesternU Associate Professor and NMM/OMM Chair Michael A. Seffinger, DO, FAAFP Named President-Elect of the American Academy of Osteopathy

POMONA, CA--(Marketwire - April 01, 2010) -

Dr. Seffinger, who is also Chair of the Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (NMM/OMM) Department in the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP), will become AAO President in March 2011.

Dr. Seffinger has been a member of AAO for 25 years, beginning when he was still an osteopathic medical student. AAO is a component society within the American Osteopathic Association dedicated to teaching, researching and advancing the philosophy, science and art of osteopathic principles and practices with a focus on osteopathic manipulative medicine, Dr. Seffinger said.

"Within the membership of the Academy, I have found mentors who have inspired and helped me develop my career as osteopathic educator, researcher and leader," he said. "I have held leadership positions within the Academy for the past 10 years. It is indeed an honor that my mentors, peers and those whom I have mentored within the Academy have shown their appreciation, confidence and trust in my leadership abilities to elect me as the 75th President of the American Academy of Osteopathy in 2011."

Dr. Seffinger is a 1988 graduate of Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed an osteopathic internship at Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, Calif. in 1989 and a residency in Family Medicine at University of California at Irvine in 1991. He is board certified in Osteopathic Family Medicine and OMT (1999, 2008) and Neuromusculoskeletal and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (1999, 2009). He also has a certificate of competency from the Cranial Academy.

He serves the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) as Vice-chair of the Bureau of Osteopathic Clinical Education and Research, is an associate editor and author for the AOA's standard textbook, "Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine," serves on the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association (JAOA) Advisory Board, writes a quarterly column, The Somatic Connection, for the JAOA and was managing editor of the California DO Journal of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California from 2004-2008.

Dr. Seffinger serves the AAO on its Board of Trustees (BOT) (2004-Present) and Board of Governors (2001-2010). He is past chair of the Louisa Burns Osteopathic Research Committee, and is now BOT liaison to the Louisa Burns Osteopathic Research, Informational Technologies, and Publications Committees. He was inducted into the AOA Mentor's Hall of Fame in 2007. Dr. Seffinger has demonstrated a strong and productive commitment to the Academy and its mission and has considerable leadership experience.

"As an author, researcher, educator and most importantly a practicing clinician, Dr. Seffinger exemplifies the best characteristics of Western University's commitment to leadership in the world of osteopathic education," said COMP Dean Clinton Adams, DO.