Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) is committed to training physicians to practice in underserved communities and to increasing underrepresented minorities in medicine. Clinical education is provided through affiliated teaching hospitals and medical centers that provide a wide range of clinical exposure. Our students and faculty provide health screenings and patient education in the community and mentor high school and college students to prepare them for the health professions.

TouroCOM opened its flagship campus in Harlem in 2007 with a socially aware program that embraces both the technological and medical standards of the new millennium. A second campus was opened in Middletown, New York, in 2014, which also promotes the practice of medicine in underserved areas, including in rural communities.

Together, the campuses have graduated 1,884 physicians who serve in residencies at academic medical centers in all specialty fields. TouroCOM also hosts a distinctive one-year M.S. program that grants degree candidates provisional acceptance into the DO program based on academic achievement.

Students, faculty and staff with strong local connections work together to support public service, research and provide clinical services in their communities to improve health outcomes, and cultivate a wide variety and diversity among clinical affiliates.

HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION TOP PRIORITY

TouroCOM strives to enhance the student experience through innovative delivery of medical education and strong relationships with clinical partners and local communities that provide meaningful educational opportunities.

Students’ educational experiences are comprehensive and delivered with state-of-the-art technology, including the “flipped classroom”—pioneered by TouroCOM in 2010. During the pandemic, TouroCOM parlayed COVID-19 restrictions into creative opportunities that were welcomed. Critical osteopathic manipulative medicine skills were still taught on campus, while applied clinical education

continued largely uninterrupted, as students were trained in internal medicine, family medicine, surgery and emergency medicine in outpatient settings. Options and flexibility allowed everyone to be engaged and successful.

SERVING LOCALLY WHILE ADDRESSING NATIONAL NEEDS

TouroCOM students and faculty are continually exploring opportunities to expand community service options and strengthen community ties. The variety of options range from helping local, underserved populations in Harlem and Middletown to similar populations nationally and globally, providing students with engagement and upholding TouroCOM’s mission. Programs offered include helping the homeless, medical missions and running a free clinic.

Applications to medical schools are up following the pandemic, and acceptance is competitive. TouroCOM received over 8,000 applications last year for 270 spots. At the same time, an estimated shortage of up to 124,000 doctors is anticipated by 2034, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges’ June 2021 report. These numbers include an expected shortfall of up to 48,000 primary care physicians (family medicine, general pediatrics, geriatric medicine), fields most DOs choose for practice. TouroCOM addresses these needs, sending its graduates to top residencies nationwide year after year.

“With the national emphasis on primary and preventive care, as well as healthcare disparities, we seek to improve the approach from caring for the ill to maintaining health, and making care more widely available to all,” says TouroCOM Executive Dean Dr. Kenneth Steier.

TOUROCOM IN HARLEM Established in the heart of Harlem on 125th Street, across from the historic Apollo Theater, TouroCOM Harlem has become an integral part of the community. Health screenings and patient education are provided in the community, and high school and college students are mentored to instill an interest in math and science and prepare them for the health professions. The DO students run an award-winning STEM afterschool program for

Erawadi Singh, DO

Psychiatry Resident, University of Virginia Medical Center

Erawadi Singh grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with her devoted parents and grandmother. She wanted to become a doctor, but seeing the world came first.

Among other endeavors, Singh tutored Tibetan monks and spun tunes as a DJ. Then she was hit by a car in the Caribbean and returned to New Jersey to recuperate and recalibrate. “Despite what happened, I intentionally did everything I wanted to do to stay balanced,” she says. “I didn’t want a life where I looked back.”

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown was her next stop. She chose the school for its “humanity and genuineness,” and graduated with honors in 2019, after being named Student Doctor of the Year. ”It was the first place where students didn’t speak in terms of “I”, says Singh, who founded the Middletown URM UWorld Scholarship, which pays for a student to access a year of online help for medical boards. “Everything was couched in a sense of cohort, a community of kindness. Professors were invested in the whole person, and a compassionate environment makes a better doctor.”

Today, Singh is a psychiatry resident at the University of Virginia Medical Center, and the first psychiatry resident to become Housestaff president of all 900 residents and fellows. Her heroes are her grandmother, who died from Alzheimer’s, and in whose honor she will pursue a geriatric psychiatry fellowship, and her family’s doctor who served the community. “Dr. Sharma saw everyone, regardless of their ability to pay,” she says. “I’m grateful to have such altruistic role models and thankful for Touro, for both a solid education and taking a chance on me.”

Harlem high school students from low-income families. Fifteen percent of TouroCOM Harlem’s class of 2020 was comprised of underrepresented minorities, a figure significantly higher than the national average of eight percent for osteopathic schools.

TOUROCOM MIDDLETOWN IMPROVES HUDSON VALLEY HEALTHCARE

TouroCOM Middletown is housed in a former hospital building transformed into a 21st century, tech-centric medical school. The campus features one of the nation’s first virtual holographic training centers. TouroCOM’s expansion to Middletown has improved the region’s healthcare system, providing new education and career pathways for residents and driving economic growth throughout the area. Under Dr. Steier’s direction, Middletown has garnered recognition in the Hudson Valley community and received numerous prestigious awards.

As TouroCOM enjoys its second decade in Harlem and Middletown welcomes its eighth class, the school continues to meet its mission through growth across several domains: enhanced student experiences, delivery of highquality education, expansion of the clinical environment, strengthening of community ties and conducting and publishing research.