Students Win NHSC Scholarship, Publish Research, Join Global Missions and More
Published November 05, 2025
Campus Roundup Inside OME
PCOM South Georgia Student Wins National Health Service Corps Scholarship
For Diamond Alexander, DO ’27, a student at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine South Georgia (PCOM South Georgia), winning the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship affirmed her lifelong passion for helping others.
Growing up in a single-parent household in Alabama, Alexander spent a lot of time with her grandparents who lived in a rural area with limited access to healthcare. It was then that she first saw how important preventative healthcare was and the power of a good physician.
As the first person in her family to attend medical school, Alexander says the NHSC Scholarship represents both a personal milestone and a professional mission.
Read more about Alexander’s scholarship and commitment to rural healthcare.
DMU Professor Co-Authors Visual Atlas of the Human Skeleton from Birth to Adulthood
With the recent publication of A Visual Atlas of Skeletal Growth and Development, Heather Garvin, PhD, D-ABFA, professor of anatomy at Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, is helping provide a much-needed resource for students and practitioners in anatomy, biological anthropology, human biology and health sciences.
The atlas, co-authored with Kyra Stull, PhD, D-ABFA, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno, illustrates the skeletal growth and development of individual bones from birth through skeletal maturity (age 20). Each bone is shown in multiple views at annual increments, illustrating changes in shape and fusion with age.
Read more about the new skeletal atlas and its value to medical education.
BUCOM Students Make Their Mark at AACOM Advocacy Day 2025
In just its second year, the Baptist Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (BUCOM) is already making history. With only two classes of students, BUCOM has shown remarkable enthusiasm and leadership on the national stage—winning the AACOM Advocacy Day 2025 COM Engagement Competition.
BUCOM had the highest student participation in this year’s Advocacy Day, earning the top spot among colleges of osteopathic medicine nationwide. In recognition of their outstanding engagement, BUCOM’s Student Government Association was awarded a $1,000 prize from AACOM.
Read more about BUCOM’s success at Advocacy Day.
VCOM-Louisiana Participates in MedCamps Fall Bash to Support Children with Disabilities
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Louisiana Campus (VCOM-Louisiana) was proud to sponsor MedCamps of Louisiana, Inc.’s annual Fall Bash at Camp Alabama, an event open to the community that supports MedCamps’ mission of promoting health and wellness for children and young adults with chronic illnesses and disabilities through recreational and educational experiences. VCOM-Louisiana students volunteered by leading horseback rides, making cotton candy, assisting in the first aid area and more, providing an incredible opportunity to give back and celebrate this inspiring community.
View more photos from the event on VCOM-Louisiana’s Facebook.
UNT Health - TCOM Graduate Saving Lives by Taking Global Missions to the Next Level
A vascular surgeon with a knack for problem-solving and an engineering mindset is one way of describing Keenan Gibson, DO, but don’t leave out his passion for global health. Gibson, a 2022 graduate of the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNT Health – TCOM), just returned from a two-and-a-half-week medical mission trip to Ghana, which gave him his first opportunity to make an impact in global health.
Dr. Gibson, who is in his research year at his vascular surgery residency at UC Davis Health in California, jumped at the opportunity to go on the mission trip, which was through the International Surgical Health Initiative.
Read more about Dr. Gibson’s journey and mission in Ghana.
Student Doctor Shares Transformative Global Health Experience
During a recent global medicine trip to rural Tanzania, Giana Davlantes, MS, a second-year medical student at California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM), witnessed firsthand the stark realities of healthcare delivery in underserved regions. What began as a mission to provide medical support and supplies became a life-changing experience that deepened her understanding of compassion, resilience and the true meaning of patient care.
Read the full story published in KevinMD.com to discover how this journey shaped her perspective on medicine and humanity.
Helping Kids See Clearly: Free Vision Clinic at KCU with OneSight
Kansas City University (KCU) medical students gained hands-on experience alongside optometrists, while hundreds of kids picked out frames and left feeling confident, excited and ready to learn. With 95 percent of children needing glasses, this long-running clinic continues to make a real difference for families across the Kansas City metro area.
Watch the coverage on KCU-COM’s YouTube channel.
MSOM Scholarships Funded by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Grant
The Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine (MSOM) announced that CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has awarded the school a $400,000 grant to support student scholarships.
The long-term programmatic grant will provide $100,000 annually through 2027, funding four partial scholarships for the 2026–2027 academic year. Scholarship recipients will be selected based on merit, including academic performance and MCAT scores.
Read more about how the CareFirst grant will support MSOM students.