Seton Hill New Site for Nation's Largest Medical School
In April, the Council on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) of the American Osteopathic Association gave LECOM approval for an increase in class size through courses offered at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. LECOM at SETON HILL will accept 104 students per year at this additional location where they will enroll in the Problem-Based Learning study method beginning in August 2009.
“Seton Hill University and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine engaged in more than a year of research and conversations with physicians, community leaders, elected officials and other valued advisers concerning the possibility of opening an additional location for LECOM on Seton Hill’s campus,” said Michele Ridge, chair of the Board of Trustees at Seton Hill. “Our research and discussions gave us a clear understanding of the need for expanded medical education in southwestern Pennsylvania. We affirmed that a partnership between LECOM and Seton Hill would increase the percentage of medical school graduates who stay in the area to serve the medical needs of rural southwestern Pennsylvania communities, provide preventative health care information and protocol, and help forestall Pennsylvania’s health care crisis.”
“Fifteen years after LECOM opened in Erie, we are fulfilling our mission by expanding enrollment to assist southwestern Pennsylvania attract more physicians with the help of our partner Seton Hill University,” said Michael Visnosky, J.D., LECOM chairman of the Board of Trustees. “The process for another site requires the college to develop two key components for medical education. First, you must show regional and local support for expanding your program to the location. Second, you must show you can provide enough clinical rotations for your students and demonstrate the development of post-graduate medical education training spots. Twenty Westmoreland County and western Pennsylvania community leaders came forward in support of LECOM at SETON HILL and the Greensburg area medical community will help to provide the clinical training required by the second component.”
The affiliation of LECOM and Seton Hill University has created the opportunity for a partnership with Excela Health System, the fourth largest health system in Pennsylvania. LECOM at SETON HILL students will be able to earn valuable clinical training during third-year and fourth-year rotations at Excela hospitals.
Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown has agreed to be a key clinical education provider for LECOM at SETON HILL and there are another six LECOM affiliated hospitals within 40 minutes of Greensburg.
LECOM through the Lake Erie Consortium for Osteopathic Medical Training (LECOMT) has developed post-graduate training at 30 hospitals where LECOM medical students also receive clinical training. LECOMT members offer nearly 700 post-graduate medical education spots.
LECOM is extending medical education to the Seton Hill campus to attract students who will fill the need for physicians in southwestern Pennsylvania. The region surrounding Greensburg has a large, rural underserved population with a critical shortage of physicians. Medical school graduates often continue their post-graduate training and establish residency in the same area in which they attend medical school. LECOM has seen many of its graduates stay in the Erie region, and about half of its alumni remain in Pennsylvania.
“Seton Hill recognizes the value of a partnership with LECOM, an organization that shares many of the same values embraced by our University and the Sisters of Charity,” said Seton Hill President JoAnne Boyle, Ph.D. “The expansion of the largest medical school in the country into Greensburg, and onto Seton Hill’s campus, is truly exciting for both institutions, the region, and prospective students.”
LECOM at SETON HILL will use the highly successful Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum developed at LECOM Erie and used exclusively at LECOM Bradenton, the College’s Florida campus. “LECOM has become a leader in innovative, student-centered learning,” said Irving Freeman, Ph.D., J.D., vice president for LECOM at SETON HILL. “In a very short time, we have demonstrated the success of our learning pathways through our graduates’ results on osteopathic licensing exams and in their acceptance to residency programs throughout the country.”
PBL involves small groups of students working together on patient cases. Students develop learning objectives in basic science or clinical care needed to solve the patient case. Faculty facilitators guide the students as they gain medical knowledge. LECOM will hire 13 full time faculty members and four part time instructors to serve as PBL facilitators and instructors for LECOM at SETON HILL. All faculty members will have doctoral degrees in medicine or basic science, D.O., M.D. or Ph.D.
Longtime Pittsburgh medical educator, Irving Freeman, Ph.D., J.D. will direct the academic program for LECOM at SETON HILL. Dr. Freeman was the executive director for academic affairs at UPMC Mercy Hospital before taking the position as vice president for LECOM at SETON HILL. He will report to LECOM Provost, Senior Vice President, and Dean of Academic Affairs Silvia M. Ferretti, D.O.
LECOM will invest more than $4 million to renovate and equip two Seton Hill campus buildings to accommodate the new medical school program. LECOM will utilize space in Seton Hill’s Lynch Hall and Reeves Memorial Library building.
Seton Hill’s partnership with LECOM includes the creation of a cooperative degree program. Qualified Seton Hill undergraduates will be able to complete the Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degrees in as few as seven years.
LECOM at SETON HILL will complement Seton Hill’s existing undergraduate and graduate programs in the natural and health sciences, including the programs in Nutrition and Dietetics, Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Physician Assistant. Seton Hill’s Physician Assistant Program has an overall pass rate of 100% on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination.
LECOM opened in Erie in 1993 to train Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine and added the Florida campus in 2004. In addition to the College of Osteopathic Medicine, LECOM operates a School of Pharmacy with programs in Erie and Bradenton. LECOM enrolls more than 2000 students and the Seton Hill location is expected to grow to 400 students in a few years.
LECOM at SETON HILL has received enthusiastic support from local, state, and federal legislators, local health care providers, and other community leaders, some of whom traveled to Washington, DC on April 26, 2008 to speak on behalf of the initiative at a meeting of the Council on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) of the American Osteopathic Association. Attending the meeting in Washington were United States Representative Jason Altmire; Excela Health Chief Medical Officer Ralph Capone, M.D.; Greensburg City Planning Director Barbara Ciampini; Greensburg Mayor Karl Eisaman; Excela Health Chief Executive Officer David Gallatin; the Honorable James R. Kelley, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania; Michael S. Kluska, D.O.; Director of the Southwest Regional Office of the Governor Allen G. Kukovich; President, United Way of Westmoreland County Nancy Kukovich; Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill Sr. Vivien Linkhauer, S.C., Ph.D.; Seton Hill Board Chair and former First Lady of the Commonwealth of Pa. Michele Ridge; State Representative Thomas Tangretti; and Greensburg City Administrator Sue Trout.
The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) is a private college with campuses in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Bradenton, Florida. The nation has a growing demand for new doctors and pharmacists, and LECOM’s mission is to prepare health care professionals trained in the osteopathic tradition of competent and compassionate, whole-person primary care.