Total enrollment at the nation’s osteopathic medical colleges now tops 21,600, a 4.5 percent increase over last year’s total enrollment. Today, 20 percent of all U.S. medical students are attending osteopathic medical schools, a percentage that will continue to increase as new campuses are developed or complete all four years of enrollment, and as established and existing colleges complete previously approved increases in their class sizes. Three new colleges of osteopathic medicine will open their doors in 2013, and several others are in the planning stages.
With 2156 osteopathic medical students, LECOM has the largest enrollment of any medical school in the country with campuses in Erie, PA, Greensburg, PA. and Bradenton, Florida.
• This fall, 5,804 new students enrolled at one of the nation’s 26 colleges of osteopathic medicine, a 2.9 percent increase over last year’s incoming class. This includes 536 first-year students at LECOM.
• In spring 2012, 4,722 students graduated from osteopathic medical schools, 13.5 percent more than the previous year’s 4,159 graduating osteopathic medical students, and 54 percent more than the number of new osteopathic physicians who graduated a decade ago. LECOM awarded the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree to 399 new physicians.
• Enrollment is expected to continue rising in the coming years, with three colleges of osteopathic medicine opening their doors in fall 2013: Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Campbell University College of Osteopathic Medicine (North Carolina) and Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Indiana). Each school plans to enroll entering classes of more than 100 students.
• Halfway through the application cycle for entry in fall 2013, osteopathic medical school applications are on track to hit record numbers for the tenth consecutive year. LECOM has seen a 16% increase in the number of medical college applicants this year.
Growth in the number of osteopathic medical school graduates will help mitigate looming physician shortages, especially in the critical primary care area. A variety of reports predict primary care physician deficits that will range from 20,000 to 46,000 by 2020-2025, and all physician shortages of 120,000 to 160,000. With large numbers of new osteopathic physicians continuing to pursue primary care careers, AACOM is hopeful that the osteopathic medical profession can help the nation avert a primary care crisis. LECOM continues to be a leader in preparing primary care physicians. Nearly three out of five LECOM graduates have gone into primary care fields of family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics and the college consistently ranks in the top ten medical schools who graduate the most primary care physicians.
