Five Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Graduate Their Inaugural Classes

Celebrating a Historic Milestone: Congratulations to CHSU-COM, VCOM-Louisiana, LECOM Elmira, OSU-COM Cherokee Nation and SHSU-COM’s first class of graduates!

While every graduating class of osteopathic medical students deserves to be celebrated, the Class of 2024, which entered medical school amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has extra reasons to cheer. Overcoming the unprecedented challenges of 2020-2021 while navigating their first years of medical school marks a significant achievement and demonstrates the strength and determination that will serve these new doctors well throughout their careers as physicians.

Just as students entering medical school for the first time during a pandemic faced extra challenges, the five colleges of osteopathic medicine welcoming their first classes in that stressful and taxing environment also deserve recognition and praise:

• California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM)
• Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Louisiana Campus (VCOM-Louisiana)
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – Elmira (LECOM Elmira)
• Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation (OSU-COM Cherokee Nation)
• Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (SHSU-COM)

California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM)

Not only did CHSU-COM graduate its inaugural class this year, it also achieved a 100 percent residency match rate and a seven-year accreditation by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), a significant marker of success for future classes. Thirty-four percent of CHSU-COM’s 66 graduates will be staying local in California’s Central Valley for residency training, and 65 percent will be entering primary care specialties. Learn more about CHSU-COM’s graduation ceremony and hear inspiring stories from new graduates.

Spotlight:

“I was homeless at one point in my life and a mother at the same time. Being able to become a voice for a population that I was once a part of is something really special. Emergency medicine has more contact with that population than any other specialty and I find it a very powerful and full circle moment,” said Megan Fedeli, DO, who will be completing her Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Michigan Health in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Louisiana Campus (VCOM-Louisiana)

Osteopathic medicine has been around since the late 1800s but is still relatively new to Louisiana. In the early 2000s, Louisiana was the 50th state to recognize DOs. VCOM-Louisiana, Louisiana’s only osteopathic medical school, recruits students who come from rural and medically underserved communities where physicians are most needed. More than a third of VCOM-Louisiana’s students are from Louisiana, and nearly a quarter of VCOM graduates across its four campuses are practicing within 75 miles of where they grew up. Learn more about VCOM-Louisiana’s graduation and its 139 graduates

Spotlight:

“There is only ever one first graduating class … Each one of you will provide over 5,000 patient care visits in the next year. As a class, you the VCOM-Louisiana Class of 2024 will provide nearly 700,000 patient care visits over the next year—over two million by the time you finish residency and 25 million over your practice lifetime. That is the impact of this wonderful first class,” said Deborah West, EdD, VCOM provost.

 

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – Elmira (LECOM Elmira)

LECOM Elmira’s inaugural graduating class celebrated not only their successful completion of medical school, but also a 100 percent placement rate into residency training. Twenty percent of the school’s new DOs will remain in the local New York Southern Tier region for residency, with more than half of the new graduates staying for residency training in the state. Fifty-six percent of LECOM Elmira’s Class of 2024 will be going into primary care.

Spotlight:

“I’m very happy I went this route … In this path, I think it’s provided me with a lot of life experiences, as well as several opportunities, not only through medical school but through the military,” said Morgan Goodell, DO, who was accepted into a Navy Scholarship program during her first year at LECOM Elmira. She will be starting her career with the Navy this summer, doing her residency in San Diego, California.

 

Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation (OSU-COM Cherokee Nation)

OSU-COM Cherokee Nation, the country’s only tribal medical school, graduated nine Indigenous physicians in the Class of 2024, representing 20 percent of the campus’s 46 graduates. Part of OSU-COM Cherokee Nation’s mission is to increase the numbers of both Indigenous doctors and doctors who practice in rural and underserved areas. With only 0.3 percent of U.S. doctors identifying as Indigenous, these nine new graduates and the 15 additional Indigenous doctors graduating from OSU’s main campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma, signify a much-needed start to a long-term plan to increase Indigenous representation in medicine. Learn more about how OSU-COM is advancing Indigenous and rural health.

Spotlight:

“To show people, as a Native American, you can be in medicine. It’s not unattainable … [and to hear a Choctaw patient say] … ‘Thank you for representing us’ … I just wanted to cry,” said Caitlin Cosby, DO, who will be starting a family medicine residency in rural Durant, OK, on Choctaw lands.

 

Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (SHSU-COM)

Amid celebrating its inaugural graduating Class of 2024, SHSU-COM is also celebrating receiving COCA Accreditation with Exceptional Outcomes, the highest level of achievement, which confers 10 years of academic approval. This is a distinction no other newly created osteopathic medical school has ever achieved. One hundred percent of SHSU-COM’s 69 graduates also placed into residency programs, with 62 percent of the class remaining in Texas for residency and 58 percent pursuing primary care. Learn more about SHSU-COM’s milestone accreditation and inaugural graduating class.

Spotlight:

“SHSU’s mission in establishing a medical school was to help fill the healthcare gap in rural areas of Texas. Many of our students will begin serving the Texas healthcare industry during their residencies,” said Thomas J. Mohr, DO, dean of SHSU-COM.

 

AACOM congratulates these new graduates and all 2024 DO graduates across the country. This year marks the greatest number of graduates ever, with more than 8,270 graduating in 2024.

About AACOM:

Founded in 1898, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) is the leading voice for the education and training of physicians who practice osteopathic medicine in settings across the medical spectrum—from primary care to the full range of medical specialties. We support our member colleges of osteopathic medicine in their efforts to attract and train individuals who are fueled by a desire to make a difference in our healthcare system by treating the whole person and building a future emphasizing health and wellness for all people. Today, more than 35,000 future physicians—25 percent of all U.S. medical students—are being educated at one of our 41 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine, encompassing 66 teaching locations in 35 states. To learn more about AACOM, please visit our website.

Contacts:

Joseph Shapiro
Director of Media Relations
(240) 938-0746
jshapiro@aacom.org

Christine DeCarlo
Senior Manager of Media and Public Affairs
(202) 603-1026
cdecarlo@aacom.org