NSU’s College of Health Care Sciences and
NSU-COM’s Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)
Program have structured a curriculum that
provides students with an opportunity to
receive concurrent degrees. The
Master
of Medical Science (M.M.S.) in Physician
Assistant Studies and Master of Public Health
degree
is symbiotic with the missions of both
schools. Program graduates will be prepared
to use a totally holistic approach to health
care that will address preventive medicine,
share a common mission to provide access to
those in need of basic health care, serve as
leaders in the transformation of the health
care system, and meet the needs of rural and
underserved populations.
Cecilia Rokusek, Ed.D., RD
, professor of
family medicine, public health, disaster and
emergency preparedness, and assistant dean
for education, planning, and research, joined
Kelley Davis, Ph.D.
, associate professor
of microbiology in the College of Medical
Sciences and a trainer for the Institute for
Disaster and Emergency Preparedness, at
a symposium organized by the Uniformed
Services University, the Department of
Health and Human Services, the Assistant
Secretary for Preparedness and Response,
and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency at Georgetown University and held
September 17-18 in Washington D.C. (
They
are joined in the accompanying photo by
keynote
speaker Tom
Daschle,
a former
senator and
majority
leader from
South Dakota
who is also
a family friend and former colleague of Dr.
Rokusek; Charles L. Rice, M.D., president
of the Uniformed Services University; and
symposium host Kenneth S. Schor, D.O.,
M.P.H., the acting director at the University
of Health Sciences, who was a classmate of
Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni, NSU-COM dean.)
COMmunications
7
COM Outlook . Winter 2014
Osteopathic medical college new
student enrollment
grew by 11.1 percent in 2013
according to data released
by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic
Medicine (AACOM). The steep growth in first-year student
matriculation brings the total enrollment at osteopathic
medical colleges to 22,054 students—an increase of 4.9 per-
cent over fall 2012 figures. The increase in first-year student
enrollment is attributed in part to three new colleges of
osteopathic medicine that opened this year.
More than 20 percent of U.S. medical students currently
attend osteopathic medical schools. This percentage is
expected to increase as new campuses are developed and
as established colleges continue to expand with increases in
their class sizes. Additionally, several new colleges are in
the planning stages.
Among the key findings from AACOM’s enrollment
report is the fact that in spring 2013, 4,726 students gradu-
ated from osteopathic medical schools, representing an
increase of more than 50 percent over the number of new
osteopathic physicians who graduated a decade ago.
In addition, three colleges of osteopathic medicine
Steep Increase in Osteopathic
Medical College Enrollment
On November 23, NSU-
COM hosted the first
Interdisciplinary Lead-
ership Conference on
Child Abuse
. The daylong
conference attracted more
than 90 participants—a
combination of NSU and
COM faculty members,
community experts, and other interested individuals.
John E. Wright, M.D., FAAP, medical director of the
Broward County Child Protection Team, who trains stu-
dents and residents, developed the conference’s concept.
The organizing committee included NSU-COM faculty
members Edward Packer, D.O., FAAP, FACOP, and Ken-
neth Johnson, D.O., FACOOG, as well as representatives
from the Children Services Council of Broward County
and the Nancy J. Cotterman Sexual Assault Treatment
Center of Broward County.
Discussion topics included strategies to protect children
with physical and developmental disabilities from poten-
tial abuse, application of various laws in child-abuse cases,
a review of the latest statistics of child abuse in our region,
and guidelines on child-abuse prevention.
NSU-COM Hosts Interprofessional
Conference on Child Abuse
enrolled first classes this year: Alabama College of Osteo-
pathic Medicine (Alabama), Campbell University School
of Osteopathic Medicine (North Carolina), and Marian
University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Indiana).
Including the new schools, there are now 30 colleges of
osteopathic medicine. The number of students who applied
to osteopathic medical schools also hit record numbers at
16,454—an increase of more than 1,500 over last year’s ap-
plicant pool.
