The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) is a private, non-profit, American osteopathic medical school with a main campus in the neighborhood of Central Harlem in New York City, New York and an additional campus located in Middletown, New York, 60 miles from New York City in the Hudson Valley. TouroCOM is a division of Touro College and University System.
The college's inaugural class graduated in 2011. It was the first medical school to open in New York State in nearly 30 years and is the first osteopathic medical school with a special emphasis on training minority doctors. TouroCOM currently has a student body of about 962 students.
TouroCOM has a stated goal of particularly identifying and recruiting students willing to make a commitment to practice in underserved communities, such as Harlem. The neighborhood has been designated by the federal government as underserved by medical professionals. Community service events such as free health counseling, screenings, and flu shots are offered to local residents by students and faculty several times a year.
History
TouroCOM - A Most Unusual Journey - Clark Johnsen, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine opened in 2007 in Harlem, New York. It was the first medical school to open in New York State in nearly 30 years and is the first osteopathic medical school with a special emphasis on training minority doctors. The college's inaugural class graduated in 2011. TouroCOM is a division of Touro College.
Academics
TouroCOM offers two degree-granting programs, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (MS).
The DO program curriculum follows the traditional division of medical education in the United States. The first two preclinical years include basic science courses such as anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology as well as courses to establish a foundation in osteopathic manipulative techniques. The latter two years revolve around the clinical clerkships where students train in hospitals and facilities around the New York metropolitan area. TouroCOM is the first medical school to administer all testing online. Lectures are pre-recorded and class time is dedicated to stimulating critical thinking approaches and solving challenges through "clicker sessions."
The MS program offers a "Masters to DO" pathway which allows students to attend science courses alongside DO students. A provisional acceptance into the medical school is given at the end of the first year if certain requirements including GPA, MCAT score and other achievements are met.
Campuses
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is located at 230 West 125th Street, diagonally across from the historic Apollo Theater in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood. The facility provides approximately 75,000 square feet (7,000Â m2) devoted to medical education. The school contains amphitheater-style lecture halls, classrooms, offices, support facilities, clinical skills training facilities, and laboratories. The virtual library includes more than 50,000 books and 1,000 journals, 26,000 electronic journals, virtual resources, more than 80 computer workstations, multimedia areas, and reading spaces. The Campus is located two blocks east of the A,B, and D train and one block west of the 2 and 3 train.
In August 2014, a larger campus opened in Middletown, New York. The inaugural class consisted of 135 students, slated to graduate in 2018. The campus has since accepted their second year class, expected to graduate in 2019, as well as a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (MS) program.
In 2009, students from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine worked with DKMS Americas (along with assistance from the Harlem community and the Apollo Theater) to arrange a Bone Marrow Registration Drive that resulted in about 200 new bone marrow registrants. The drive was inspired by the need to find a bone marrow donor match for Jasmina Anema, a six-year-old African American girl fighting leukemia, who died in 2010.
Admissions
Applicants apply through the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS). For the Class of 2020, TouroCOM received 6574 applications for 292 first year positions split between the Harlem and Middletown campuses. No early decision program is offered.
Students
TouroCOM currently has a student body of about 962 students. Over 200 underrepresented minority students have matriculated since the school's inception in 2011. In 2015, the NAACP recognized the Harlem campus's efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine through the MedAchieve afterschool mentoring program, the Mentoring in Medicine program that brings local high school students into TouroCOM's anatomy labs, and the Fund for Underrepresented minority students.
Clinical Rotation Sites
Core rotation sites for third and fourth year medical students include:
- Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
- Nyack Hospital
- Rockland Psychiatric Center
- Stony Brook Southampton Hospital
- St. Joseph's New Island Hospital
- Staten Island University Hospital
- Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center
- Orange Regional Medical Center
- St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital
Residency Match
TouroCOM students match into both AOA and ACGME residency programs.
Accreditation
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and received the status of initial award of accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. (COCA).
Notable faculty
- Conrad Fischer, MD
- Jeffrey Gardere
- David Paterson
- Jay Sexter
Notable Alumi
- Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, DO
See also
- Touro College
- Osteopathic medicine in the United States
References
External links
- Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine