Medical School Acceptance

Osteopathic Medical Schools

Presently there are 20 Osteopathic Medical Schools in the US which have received accreditation from the Bureau of Professional Education of the American Osteopathic Association. At present they have over 10,000 students enrolled between them. All of these schools are located in the Midwest and Northeast regions of the US and will be affiliated to either a private college or health science school in those regions.

Although the curriculum form each school will be based on the same general philosophies, you will find that each school will work in specialized fields of training and will have it own character traits and certain strengths and weaknesses that the others do not have.

So when it comes to choosing the right osteopathic medical school for you there are a number of things that you should be taking into consideration.

1. How do they teach their students all the pre-clinical coursework?

2. Where do the clinical rotations that the students are required to take part in take place?

3. How is the student's clerkship time spent?

4. Where is the school actually located?

The decision as to whether you apply to one, all or some of these schools is completely up to you. The best way of doing this is through the application service offered by AACOMAS (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service). This service is administered by AACOM (American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine). If a student wishes they can apply to the schools online and then send through the supporting documentation to AACOMAS at www.aacom.org.

When applying for a placement at any osteopathic medical school students should be aware that acceptance is carried out on a rolling basis. So it is important that you review all of their application deadlines thoroughly and submit all essential documentation and materials to them as soon as you possibly can. Most of the schools will normally begin to accept applications from students at the beginning of June and will then start the interview process shortly after the 1st June.

The training that takes place at an Osteopathic Medical School compared to that of a more traditional medical school looks at the holistic way of treating the patient. This means that they will look at treating the patient as a whole rather than just the symptoms of their illness or ailment. So upon graduation you may find yourself having to explain to those that you are treating what it is you are actually able to do and in some cases you may be treated by those that feel you are not suitable to provide any form of treatment to them.