The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

with a main campus in the neighborhood of Central

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and an additional campus in Middletown,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It is a division of

Touro College and University System Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac ...

. 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 Osteopathy () is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. Practitioners of osteopathy are referred to as osteopaths. Osteopathic manipulation is the core set of techniques i ...

medical school with a special emphasis on training minority doctors. TouroCOM currently has a student body of about 1080 students. TouroCOM has a stated goal of particularly identifying and recruiting students willing to make a commitment to practice in underserved communities such as

and Middletown. 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

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. The Middletown campus graduated their first class in 2018. TouroCOM is a division of

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac ...

. Touro College has medical programs in other states including California and Nevada.

Academics

TouroCOM offers two degree-granting programs, a

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licens ...

(DO) and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Interdisciplinary Studies (MS). The DO program curriculum follows the traditional division of

medical education in the United States Medical education in the United States includes educational activities involved in the education and training of physicians in the country, with the overall process going from entry-level training efforts through to the continuing education ...

. The first two preclinical years include basic science courses such as

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

, and

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

as well as courses to establish a foundation in osteopathic manipulative techniques. The latter two years revolve around the

clinical clerkships Clinical clerkships encompass a period of medical education in which students – medical, nursing, dental, or otherwise – practice medicine under the supervision of a health practitioner. Medical clerkships In medical education, a clerksh ...

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

Campuses

The Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Harlem Campus is located at 230 West 125th Street, diagonally across from the historic

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...

in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood. The facility provides approximately 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 that occupies 110,000 square feet of space in the Horton complex opened in Middletown, New York. The inaugural class consisted of 135 students, and graduated in 2018. The campus has since started a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (MS) program. TouroCOM launched MedAchieve Scholars in 2012, a program that encourages students from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In 2009, students from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine worked with DKMS Americas (along with assistance from the

community and the

) to arrange a

Bone Marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...

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 Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, who died in 2010. 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 Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...

. The school is located next to Benefis where students will do clinical rotations. The school will have up to 125 students each year.

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 between the Harlem and Middletown campuses. No early decision program is offered.

Students

TouroCOM currently has a student body of about 1080 students. Over 200 underrepresented minority students have matriculated since the school's inception in 2007. 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:
Cornerstone Family Health Care
*

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center Good Samaritan University Hospital (formerly Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center) is a 537-bed non-profit teaching hospital located in West Islip, New York. The hospital contains 100 nursing home beds as well as operates an adult and pediatric ...

Harlem Cardiology of Madison Avenue

Hemant Patel, MD, PC
*

Institute for Family Health The Institute for Family Health is a not-for-profit health organization. Founded in 1983, the Institute is one of the largest community health centers in New York State. It serves over 85,000 patients annually at 31 locations in the Bronx, Manha ...

Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center is a 303-bed full-service community teaching hospital with an estimated 2,100 full-time employees, located in the neighborhood of East Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. The hospital is made up of a c ...

Middletown Medical Group

Nyack Hospital

Oneida Health

Orange Regional Medical Center

Putnam Hospital Center
*

Rockland Psychiatric Center The Rockland Psychiatric Center, originally Rockland State Hospital, in Orangeburg, New York is a psychiatric facility for adults operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health. It offers in-patient and transitional treatment for adults, as ...

Southampton Hospital Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, centrally located in the Village of Southampton, New York, is a 125-bed hospital accredited by the Joint Commission. A location of Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is a New York State-desig ...

St. Joseph's - New Island Hospital

St. Joseph's Health

St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital
* Staten Island University Hospital *

Vassar Brothers Medical Center Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) (formerly Vassar Brothers Hospital) is a 350-bed not-for-profit hospital overlooking the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, New York. It is part of the Nuvance Health healthcare network and is the major medical cen ...

Residency Match

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.

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 The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) is the representative member organization for the more than 176,000 osteopathic medical doctors (D.O.s) and osteopathic medical students in the United States. The AOA is headquartered in Chicago, Illinoi ...

Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation The American Osteopathic Association's (AOA) Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) accredits medical schools granting the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree in the United States. The US Department of Education lists the Co ...

. (COCA).

Notable faculty

* Conrad Fischer, MD *

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

Jay Sexter Jay Sexter is an American educator who is known for having been the president of Mercy College and for his work in developing and expanding the scope of the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine of which he is the retired provost, CEO and vice pr ...

* Jeff Gardere

References

External links

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Touro College Of Osteopathic Medicine Universities and colleges in New York City Osteopathic medical schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 2007 Universities and colleges in Manhattan 2007 establishments in New York City Touro University System Schools of medicine in New York City