Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

AT A GLANCE

Last Updates: July 2006

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Addressing Michigan’s Health Care Needs

      Since its inception in 1969, the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine has been dedicated to meeting the health care needs of the people of Michigan.  Two-thirds of our 3,487 alumni practice in Michigan, and more than 90 percent of the students in the entering classes are Michigan residents.

      More than half of all MSUCOM alumni practice primary care medicine – family practice, general internal medicine or general pediatrics.  MSUCOM’s commitment to caring for the medically underserved is evident in the work of its faculty, students and alumni. They are active in 79 of Michigan’s 83 counties, serving people in metropolitan, suburban and rural areas.

Michigan’s Family of D.O.s

      MSUCOM was born out of the contributions of D.O.s across the state of Michigan. The osteopathic profession’s commitment continues today with nearly 2,000 Michigan physicians holding faculty appointments, volunteering to teach third- and fourth-year students in their communities and local hospitals.  Thanks to this generous sharing of time from its clinical faculty, the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine can provide quality education at a lower cost per student than most other state medical schools.

Education

      Our primary mission is education, and with recent expansion of our entering class size to 205, we are working to address the anticipated physician shortage in the state and the nation.  First- and second-year students learn from a faculty filled with top-flight educators and in the heart of the one of the premier scientific and research institutions in the world.

Beyond the Classroom

      To provide high-quality pre- and postdoctoral osteopathic medical education, MSUCOM collaborates with 25 Michigan community hospitals through its Statewide Campus System.  It is a national model for innovative graduate medical education – actively developing faculty, standardizing curricula, monitoring program quality, and recruiting residents.  This year 1,125 physicians-in-training are enrolled in SCS programs, including 125 residents in family medicine, 118 in internal medicine, 93 in obstetrics and gynecological surgery, 91 in general surgery, 84 in orthopedic surgery and 148 in emergency medicine.

      MSUCOM has developed a six-month Primary Care Ambulatory Clerkship to teach medical students the clinical skills needed by primary care physicians in the 21st century.  This program has expanded to include community clinics throughout the state.

Continuing Medical Education

      MSUCOM provides continuing medical education classes and credit for all of Michigan’s osteopathic physicians and other health care providers.  During 2004-05 MSUCOM offered 64 CME programs providing a total of 1,230 hours of CME credits.  A total of 1,119 health providers attended these courses.

At Home in Mid-Michigan

      Community service is part of the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s mission.  The Department of Pediatrics is the largest single provider of pediatric care to poor children in the Lansing area.  MSUCOM faculty provide services at the Ingham County Health department and at clinics serving the homeless, persons with substance abuse problems and the indigent. The college provides medical services for the Michigan Special Olympics, maintains a special muscular dystrophy clinic, facilitates an immigration clinic, and conducts numerous health screenings and immunization clinics each year.

A Voice in the Community

      MSUCOM works closely with the Michigan Osteopathic Association in areas such as government relations, public relations and advocacy.  The college also has close ties to the Michigan Osteopathic College Foundation that is primarily support by Michigan D.O.s, and provides financial assistance for scholarships and other college programs.  The Michigan Osteopathic Medicine Advisory Board, appointed by the governor, actively advocates on behalf of the college in the areas of external relations, development, recruitment and research.

Alumni in action

       Wherever MSUCOM graduates live and work, their caring and commitment have made an impact on the communities they serve.  Among our alumni are medical schools deans, nationally recognized researchers, top-ranking military leaders, persons recognized for their work with the poor and medically underserved, sports physicians for collegiate and professional teams, and consultants involved in high-profile medical care.

From East Lansing to the World

      MSUCOM is involved with a wide variety of international health programs, including the Institute of International Health; malaria research and clinical care in Malawi; neurology and epilepsy care and research in Zambia; and the development of clinical clerkships abroad by the International health Project, a student organization.  In addition, a significant number of individual faculty, students and staff conduct medical missions abroad.

Excellence in Research

      Medical research is an essential function of MSUCOM. Our college received nearly $11 million last year in extramural funding for research on a wide spectrum of medical issues ranging from malaria to the causes of cancer.

      One of the top experts in the country researching genetic diseases and their treatments – alumnus Andrea Amalfitano – has returned to occupy the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Endowed Chair. Dr. Amalfitano’s studies include using the common cold virus to deliver missing genetic material into human cells.

       MSU’s D.O./Ph.D. Program has admitted seven students in the largest entering class ever. It was the first curriculum to educate physician scientists for the osteopathic profession when it was established in 1979.

       With more than $19 million in funding from all extramural sources received during their careers at MSU, Drs. Justin McCormick and Veronica Maher, directors of MSUCOM’s Carcinogenesis Laboratory, rank in the upper 5% of all investigators funded by the National Institutes of Health over the last 25-year period. Their work seeks to identify genes involved in cancer and the mechanisms by which those genes are mutated.

       To support the clinical and research work in cerebral malaria of Dr. Terrie Taylor, MSU will place the first MRI in Malawi.

       Dr. Gretchen Birbeck, one of the very few neurologists working in the country of Zambia, is studying the relationship between childhood malaria and epilepsy.  Her work involves not only the biological issues involved, but also epidemiology and psychosocial aspects of the disease.

       Dr. John Goudreau, a 1995 graduate of MSUCOM’s D.O./Ph.D. Program studies Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. The recipient of several NIH grants, his research focuses on Parkinson’s disease, including evaluation of potential genetic and environmental risk factors and developing effective neuroprotective and therapeutic drugs.

       Drs. Gregory Fink, James Galligan, Stephanie Watts and David Kreulen received a highly prestigious $9 million Program Project Grant from the National Institutes of Health for their groundbreaking work in the study of hypertension.

       Dr. Roger Haut is a highly successful investigator who studies the prevention and healing of injury to joints, and tests equipment such as shoes and helmets to determine their effectiveness in protecting athletes from such injury.

       Dr. Michael Boivin has received a $1 million grant from the Templeton Foundation to study the links that may exist among spirituality, religion and health in more than 200 women who are fighting breast cancer.