AACOM Holds First Ever National Accepted Students Day
Published December 01, 2020
2020
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Celebration featured NASA Medical Officers, TV and Social Media celebrities
(Bethesda, MD)- With record breaking numbers of applicants and COVID concerns still rampant, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) held the nation’s first ever “National Acceptance Day” for incoming osteopathic medical students. The online event featured a keynote address from NASA’s chief medical officer, Q and A with several NASA medical officers, a roundtable with college deans and appearances by television stars, writers and social media influencers… all doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs).
“Osteopathic medicine is one of the fastest growing professions in the nation and we are thrilled to celebrate this record setting pool of highly qualified applicants,” said Robert A. Cain, DO, FACOI, FAODME, President and CEO of AACOM. “The number of osteopathic medical students has grown 300 percent over the past 30 years and today represents 25 percent of all medical students in the US. Now more than ever, the osteopathic philosophy of healing the whole person - mind, body and spirit - is attracting our nation’s best and brightest to apply to osteopathic medical schools.”
Every student currently accepted to an osteopathic medical school was invited to tune in live for the day long event. Dr. JD Polk, Chief Medical Officer for NASA, gave the opening keynote and also moderated a question and answer forum with fellow NASA medical officers. There was also a question and answer session with several osteopathic medical school deans and a forum with Mirtha Macri, DO, from Netflix’s Lenox Hill and Carissa Champion, DO, medical advisor and surgical communications fellow for the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy.
Dr. Polk and his colleagues stressed that, within the medical community, doctors are not judged by the letters after their names, but by their abilities. “Doctors, patients and students know leadership when they see it, but you also know competence when you see it,” said Dr. Polk. “That’s how we’re judged, by our competence. That’s the best way to carry forward the osteopathic flag in my mind: to be the most competent physicians we can be.”
Accepted students also heard taped messages of congratulations from current medical students, residents and many others, including: Tyree Winters, DO, Pediatrician, more fondly known as “The Hip Hop Doc”, Adam Goodcoff, DO, Emergency Medicine Resident, Founder & CEO of The Med Life, Renee Darko, DO, and her husband, Nii Darko, DO, Surgeon & host of Docs Outside the Box Podcast and Peter Nesbitt, DO MSMEd, Interventional Radiology, Student Doctor Alison Nesbitt, and their famous pup, Dogtordoodle.
Applicants still have several months to start their application, apply and receive acceptance to medical school for the incoming class that begins in summer 2021. So far, AACOM has received nearly 25,000 applications, which represents an 18.2% increase over this time last year and already eclipses the entire number of applicants from last cycle. There are 37 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine, educating nearly 31,000 future physicians, at 58 teaching locations in 33 US states. The 2020-2021 application cycle for osteopathic medical school opened this past May and closes April 2021
About AACOM:
The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) leads and advocates for the full continuum of osteopathic medical education to improve the health of the public. Founded in 1898 to support and assist the nation's osteopathic medical schools, AACOM represents all 37 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine—educating nearly 31,000 future physicians, 25 percent of all US medical students—at 58 teaching locations in 33 US states, as well as osteopathic graduate medical education professionals and trainees at US medical centers, hospitals, clinics, and health systems.
AACOM provides leadership for the osteopathic medical education community by promoting excellence in medical education, research, and service, and by fostering innovation and quality across the continuum of osteopathic medical education to improve the health of the American public.
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Contact:
Joseph Shapiro
Director of Media Relations
(240) 938-0746
jshapiro@aacom.org