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.[8] The college's inaugural class graduated in 2011.[7] The Middletown campus graduated their first class in 2018.[13] TouroCOM is a division of Touro College.[6] Touro College has medical programs in other states including California and Nevada.[14]

TouroCOM offers two degree-granting programs, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO)[15] and a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (MS).[16]

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.[17] The latter two years revolve around the clinical clerkships where students train in hospitals and facilities around the New York metropolitan area.[18] 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."[19]

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.[20]

Approximately 60 percent of Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine students work in primary care following graduation.[21]

The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Harlem Campus 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 (7,000 m²) devoted to medical education.[22] 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.[22] The Campus is located two blocks east of the A, B, and D train and one block west of the 2 and 3 train.[23]

In August 2014, a larger campus that occupies 110,000 square feet of space in the Horton complex opened in Middletown, New York.[24] The inaugural class consisted of 135 students, and graduated in 2018.[25][13][26] The campus has since started a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (MS) program.[27] TouroCOM launched MedAchieve Scholars in 2012, a program that encourages students from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30][31]

In 2021, Touro College & University System and Benefis Health System planned to break ground on a new Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine campus in Great Falls, Montana.[21] The school is located next to Benefis where students will do clinical rotations.[14] The school will have up to 125 students each year.[14]

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 between the Harlem and Middletown campuses.[9][32] No early decision program is offered.[33]

TouroCOM currently has a student body of about 1080 students.[34] Over 200 underrepresented minority students have matriculated since the school's inception in 2007.[35] 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.[36]

Core rotation sites for third and fourth year medical students include:[37]

• Cornerstone Family Health Care
• Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center
• Harlem Cardiology of Madison Avenue
• Hemant Patel, MD, PC
• Institute for Family Health
• Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
• Middletown Medical Group
• Nyack Hospital
• Oneida Health
• Orange Regional Medical Center
• Putnam Hospital Center
• Rockland Psychiatric Center
• Southampton Hospital
• St. Joseph's - New Island Hospital
• St. Joseph's Health
• St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital
• Staten Island University Hospital
• Vassar Brothers Medical Center

Upon completion of their medical education, students apply to residency or internship programs throughout the country through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP), AOA Match, Military Match, or other matching programs.[38]

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education[39] and received the status of initial award of accreditation from the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. (COCA).[7][40]

• Conrad Fischer, MD[41][42]
• David Paterson[43][44]
• Jay Sexter
• Jeff Gardere[45]

• Touro College
• Osteopathic medicine in the United States

• Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine