RVUCOM Expands into Southern Utah with Second Location
RVUCOM-SU will be situated in front of an Ivins landmark, The Big Red Mountain
Just after the new year, RVUCOM received exciting news: the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) had granted accreditation for a second RVUCOM location. With this news, it became official: RVUCOM is expanding into Utah. This new location, officially called Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine Southern Utah (or RVUCOM-SU), will be located in Ivins, near the southern border of the state. Much like Parker, Colorado, Ivins is a small town (about 7,000 residents) on the verge of major growth. Also similar to the main campus, this new location will be a twenty-minute drive from a much larger city—St. George, which has a population of approximately 150,000 residents, as well as a lively arts and entertainment scene. This location was chosen for several reasons: Utah ranks among the fastest growing states in the country, while St. George is the fifth fastest growing metropolitan area. However, the state also ranks among the last in the country for primary care physicians (with 58.4 physicians per 100,000 people; the national average is 79.4:100,000). Frequently, students tend to establish their medical practices in the same area where they received their education and training. As RVUCOM-SU Campus Dean, David Park, DO, FAAFP, FACOFP, says "There are nearly 400 applicants from Utah that apply to COMs; these applicants have a very high acceptance rate of 43%. We are thrilled to give these future student doctors the opportunity to receive a medical education in their home state and hope they will practice medicine in the state, as well."
Photo courtesy of DoStGeorge.com
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But how does the city of Ivins feel about the development of a medical school in their small community? "[It is] being received amazingly well by the community," said Dr. Park. "We are so grateful for the warm welcomes. The RVUCOMSU campus will make a positive impact in many aspects: new jobs and hundreds of new residents will drive up the local
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