Indiana University of Pennsylvania can open the state’s first school of osteopathic medicine at a public university, a venture to train and graduate professionals to improve rural health and develop the economy of Pennsylvania. increase.
A resolution authorizing state-owned universities, which are part of the state’s higher education system, to explore the potential for school development will be submitted to the IUP’s board of directors for consideration later Thursday.
Officials say the initiative will help address a significant shortage of primary care doctors nationwide, especially in rural areas, with qualified medical students outstripping medical school vacancies across the United States. I am paying attention to that.
They note that 57% of osteopathic physicians practice primary care medicine and 1 in 5 work in rural areas.
IUP Governing Board Chair Samuel Smith was in a meeting on Thursday prior to the public session and was not available immediately. Officials at the university also did not immediately comment.
Establishing a school involves a lengthy approval process for accreditation and a substantial flow of external funding beyond what is currently available to the IUP. State system leaders and campus officials could revisit the idea during an investigation, the resolution said.
It also points out various potential benefits.
Currently, Pennsylvania only has schools of osteopathic medicine on private campuses, including one under construction at Duquesne University. Officials at the Catholic University have said they hope to enroll their first students in August 2023, and Duquesne’s Ken his president Gormley also points to a shortage of family doctors.
“There are no schools or colleges of osteopathic medicine at public universities in Pennsylvania,” the IUP resolution states. “Osteopathic medicine at IUP provides an affordable pathway for pre-medical students from across the Pennsylvania higher education system. They have the potential to stay and practice professionally in Pennsylvania.”
“IUP is one of only 93 public universities in the United States with a high research activity designation (and) strong existing science and health programs, and 30% of students are in STEM-H (Science, Technology and Engineering). , Mathematics), and Health Sciences) majors.
It also said the IUP has a “strong and growing partnership with the Indiana Regional Medical Center, a strong, independent regional hospital.”
Officials said the idea was consistent with the mission of the State System, as enshrined in Act 188, which created state universities from a collection of state universities in 1983.
Officials in the national system, including Prime Minister Daniel Greenstein, have cited the need to develop new, in-demand programs in fields that will benefit the Commonwealth, and, in turn, the need for universities, including the IUP, to increase enrollment for more than a decade. It may help reverse the decline.
The ten state-run universities now have a total of 84,556 enrollments, down about 29% from their peak in 2010 when there were nearly 120,000 students. As in other regional systems, declining high school graduations, rapidly changing higher education markets and costs are accelerating this trend, especially in the Northeast and Midwest.
In addition to the IUP, the 10 state-run universities include Penn West College in Western Pennsylvania and Slippery Rock, Cheney, Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania, East Stroudsburg, Kattstown, Millersville, Shippensburg and West Chester.
Bill Schackner is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. He can reach Bill by email at [email protected] or on his Twitter. .
