Students Build Little Free Libraries, Organize Clinics in Peru, Honduras and Rural West Texas and Take Ice Plunges

CHSU-COM Students Build Book Exchange Libraries for Underserved Communities

The fifth cohort of California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM) students, the Class of 2028, participated in a community service project on their final day of Orientation Week. The project included building Little Free Libraries to donate to local elementary schools in underserved communities. Watch the news coverage from GVWire.

Emergency Medicine Club Volunteers First Aid at ‘Pledge for the Plunge’

Photo (left to right): Mitchell Cushman, OMS II; Mary Smith Pendleton, OMS II; Maddie Gurke, OMS II; Landon Hatch, OMS II; Richard Macdonald, MD; and Cora Piper, OMS III.

Members of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM)'s Emergency Medicine Club, alongside club advisor Richard Macdonald, MD, sponsored the first aid tent at the first "Pledge for the Plunge" fundraising event, hosted by the St. Luke's Children's Cancer Institute.

The event raised thousands of dollars for pediatric cancer research and was a world record attempt for the largest ice plunge in downtown Boise, Idaho.

PCOM Georgia Holds ‘Opportunities Academy’ to Inspire Local High School Students

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia Campus (PCOM Georgia) recently hosted its annual Opportunities Academy, a week-long enrichment program designed to inspire high school students from traditionally underrepresented groups who are interested in studying healthcare and medicine.

The week consisted of more than 60 students sitting in on different presentations and engaging in hands-on activities covering osteopathic manipulative medicine, pathology, microbiology, blood typing, anatomy and physiology. Read more about the academy and hear from a student who attended.

ROME Medical Mission Trips Become Interprofessional Teams

The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth - Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNTHSC-TCOM)’s Office of Rural Medical Education recently collaborated with physical therapy students and faculty from HSC’s School of Health Professions to participate in the annual summer medical mission trip.

The trip was led by Maria Crompton, DO, director of medical education of the Rural Osteopathic Medical Education of Texas (ROME), with organizational and logistical assistance from the Texas Rural Health Association and Medical Mission Trip and UNTSHC-TCOM student coordinators Joshua Roberts and Jordyn Ricks. Read more about the teams’ clinics throughout Texas.

VCOM Virginia and Carolinas Unite for Medical Outreach in Honduras

Photo: A VCOM-Virginia medical student provides care in a make-shift clinic in Santa Rosa de Copán, Honduras.

In mid-July, a group of students, faculty and staff from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Virginia and Carolinas’ Campuses (VCOM Virginia and VCOM Carolinas) joined other volunteers for a week-long medical outreach trip to Santa Rosa, Honduras. Over the course of the week, the team served approximately 504 patients, including 174 pediatric and 330 adult/elderly patients and filled more than 1,100 prescriptions.

In addition to these working trips, students had an opportunity to participate in an elective that included an interactive video conference seminar with medical students in other countries. Learning to address healthcare needs in the face of poverty, adverse environmental conditions and political complexity prepares future physicians to address the community health needs of rural and underserved areas where they will eventually practice. View more photos on VCOM-Virginia’s Facebook.

WVSOM Students Included in The Health Plan’s Medical Scholarship Program

West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) President James W. Nemitz, PhD, and Jeff Knight, president and CEO of The Health Plan, announced WVSOM’s inclusion in The Health Plan Scholarship program. Since 2009, The Health Plan Scholarship program has provided more than $3 million in scholarships to more than 50 medical and nursing students who intend to stay and practice in West Virginia. Read more about the scholarship’s impact on WVSOM’s students.

Tackling Global Health on Summer Mission to Peru

In June, two professors of clinical medicine and ten Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine – Harlem Campus (TouroCOM Harlem) students, including members of the school’s International Medicine Club, ventured to Peru on a medical mission.

Rising second-year TouroCOM Harlem students and two professors, Janet Grotticelli, DO, MBA, and Grace Vasconez-Pereira, DO, MD, gathered to embark on a week-long global health volunteer trip to Peru with the New Zealand-based International Volunteer HQ Limited and Peru’s Maximo Nivel Institute, a study abroad organization. Together, we would provide medical services outside the city of Cusco, Peru. Read more about the student’s transformative experience in Peru.

VCOM-Louisiana Faculty and Students Attend National Conferences

Photo: Ray L. Morrison, DO, and speaker of the AOA House of Delegates, holds his gavel at the podium as VCOM-Louisiana faculty and students gather for a photo at the American Osteopathic Association's 104th House of Delegates conference.

This July, several Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Louisiana Campus (VCOM-Louisiana) faculty and students attended the National Student Osteopathic Medical Association's Summer Leadership Conference and the American Osteopathic Association's 104th House of Delegates conference in Chicago. This year’s events were particularly meaningful as the profession celebrates 150 years of osteopathic medicine. View more photos on VCOM-Louisiana’s Facebook.