About the Board

The AZ Board of Osteopathic Examiners licenses and regulates over 6,000 doctors of osteopathic medicine (D.O.). In addition, the Board regulates approximately 800 osteopathic interns and residents receiving post-graduate training in Arizona hospitals and clinics.

The mission of the Board is to protect the public by setting educational and training standards for licensure, and by reviewing complaints made against osteopathic physicians, interns, and residents to ensure that their conduct meets the standards of the profession, as defined in law (A.R.S. § 32-1854).

The Board is made up of five osteopathic doctors and two members of the public who do not have financial ties to the osteopathic profession. The Governor appoints each member to a five-year term. Each member may serve a second consecutive five-year term, if re-appointed. The Board elects its officers each January.

The Board meets eight times a year, and by telephone conference call or virtually if needed between meetings. The Board hires an Executive Director who is responsible for administering the agency according to State law.

The Board was initially created in 1941. Current statutory authority is found in A.R.S.§§32-1800 through 32-1871. Administrative rules are found at A.A.C. §§R4-22-101 et seq. 

Regulation of the practice of osteopathy was established by Laws 1941, Chapter 33. The measure required a license to practice osteopathy, created a three-member State Board of Osteopathic Examiners, and prescribed the powers and duties of the Board. The Governor appointed Board members for a term of six years. In 1949, the Board was renamed the State Osteopathic Board of Registration and Examination in Medicine and Surgery. In 1970, the name was changed to the Board of Osteopathic Examiners in Medicine and Surgery. For more information on the history of the Board, we encourage you to review the Arizona Memory Project provided by the Arizona State Library and Archives found here.