Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine

The Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, often referred to as simply VCOM, is a private, non-profit osteopathic medical school located in Blacksburg, Virginia. The college is located in the Corporate Research Center of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The school is one of 25 colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States, and one of four located in the Appalachian Region. On June 2nd, 2007, VCOM graduated its first class of 139 students.^[1]

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History and Mission

The school was founded in 2002. The mission of the school is to help alleviate the critical shortage of physicians in Appalachia. The school places primary recruiting on students from a rural Appalachian background, particularly the rural sections of central and southwestern Virginia and North Carolina. While students are fully prepared to specialize in any division of medicine, the primary focus of the college is the training of primary care physicians to serve a rural population.^[2]

Curriculum and Academics

The school uses a system of "blocks" as opposed to semesters. Each block concerns a specific organ system, incorporating anatomy, physiology, microbiology, pharmacology, pathology, and OMM courses in relation to that system. The first 2 years consist of 12 blocks.^[3] The school also offers a course in addiction medicine^[4], and offers missionary medicine rotations. India, East and West Africa, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador are frequent areas where VCOM students learn.

Admissions

The MCAT does not weigh as heavily in admissions decision making as does GPA and entrance interviews. Demonstration of a history of compassion, empathy, dedication, patient care, orientation to a rural or primary care medicine, and research is also considered in the admissions process.^[5]

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