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The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine fosters health care leaders across the continuum in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education to advance exceptional osteopathic healthcare locally and globally through education, research, scholarship, practice, and community health.

Vision

The University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine will become a recognized leader in educating primary care physicians for Maine, New England, and the nation by developing into:

• A medical school that offers a state-of-the art curriculum, dynamic clinical rotations, and support unique GME
• A major contributor in clearly defined, and well-focused medical research
• A strong clinical program that serves our community through collaborative and entrepreneurial efforts
• An organization that offers leadership to our profession and our community
• A catalyst for inter‐profession education and service
• A trusted partner in health care for our community

Core Values

• Foster an environment of wellness, equity, inclusion, and diversity across our community
• Creatively shape the future while preserving our heritage to train osteopathic physicians to care for rural and underserved populations of Maine and New England
• Strengthen our commitment to the principles of osteopathic medicine
• Promote a diverse, innovative, interprofessional, and entrepreneurial culture
• Maintain our caring, collegial environment
• Foster integrity and accountability through a strong ethical base
• Utilize evidence-based methods, practice-focused research, scholarship, critical thinking, and a variety of learning modalities to improve medical education and healthcare outcomes
• Actively seek internal and external collaborations to further our mission

The degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), granted to graduates of osteopathic medical schools, demonstrates to the public that these physicians have received a complete medical education grounded in the general principles of osteopathic medicine, the interrelatedness of mind, body, and spirit, as articulated by its founder, Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, and the American Osteopathic Association.

Consistent with osteopathic philosophy and training, the majority of osteopathic physicians practice in primary care specialties or with underserved populations. Osteopathic physicians provide both preventive and curative services to patients on a comprehensive and continuing basis. Recognizing the interrelatedness of mind, body, and spirit to each individual’s state of health, osteopathic medicine, with its patient-centered focus, embodies both conventional and complementary approaches to patient care.

In addition to the primary care specialties (e.g., Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine), many osteopathic physicians choose residency training in other medical and surgical specialties, and in settings such as active military practice, hospitalist care, and academic health centers. All fifty (50) states in the USA and more than sixty (60) countries offer unlimited medical licensure to qualified osteopathic physicians.

Curriculum Overview

Medical education is continuously evolving in alignment with best practices for learning and teaching. To maintain the most up-to-date, productive learning environment for our students, 51���� COM reserves the right to revise and amend as appropriate the policies and practices described in this catalog.

The 51���� COM curriculum is designed to educate and train osteopathic primary care and other specialized physicians who are skilled in health promotion and illness prevention, and the treatment and care of those who are ill. To that end, 51���� COM provides an innovative, contemporary, patient-focused curriculum that fosters lifelong, self-directed, evidence-based learning, and professional development. Our progressive, integrated four (4)-year curriculum aligns educational activities with the principles of adult learning to maximize the attainment and retention of knowledge, skills, and attitudes crucial to the delivery of health care in the 21st century.

The four (4)-year curriculum is under the supervision of the Dean, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA), and the Associate Dean for Clinical Education (ADCE) with guidance and input from the Curriculum Advisory Committee, Dean’s Leadership Team, COM faculty, and COM students. The 51���� COM dean is the arbiter. 51���� COM has adopted, as learning objectives (outcomes), the following seven (7) core competencies and the core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM).

The AOA Seven (7) Core Competencies

Osteopathic Principles and Practice

The student will understand and apply osteopathic principles to patient care.

Patient Care

The student will have the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to provide compassionate, appropriate, and effective patient care.

Medical Knowledge

The student will demonstrate knowledge of established biomedical, epidemiological, social, and behavioral sciences and their application to patient care.

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement

The student will demonstrate the ability to investigate and evaluate patient care practices using scientific evidence and apply these to patient care.

Interpersonal and Communication Skills

The student will demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that result in effective and empathetic interactions with patients, families, and colleagues.

Professional

The student will demonstrate a commitment to carrying out professional responsibilities in an ethical and sensitive manner.

System-Based Practice

The student will demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the system of health care to provide care that is of optimal value.

Pre-Clerkship Education

51���� COM students spend the first two (2) years of the program on the 51���� campuses in Biddeford and Portland, Maine. The curriculum consists of a patient-centered basic and medical science curriculum integrated with osteopathic clinical skills learning activities, which are applied to experiential learning in simulation, standardized patient settings, physicians’ offices, hospitals, extended care facilities, and health centers. Learning sessions include traditional didactic lectures, interactive problem-solving sessions, patient case study discussions, hands-on skills training, panel discussions, demonstrations, and clinically focused encounters with standardized, simulated, and real patients. Our integrated curriculum offers learning activities to provide a strong foundation in the basic biomedical, medical, behavioral, and social sciences as well as physical examination and clinical skills as they apply to the rapidly changing practice of medicine in the 21st century. A thorough grounding in the manual skills, characteristic of osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), is provided in the first two (2) years and supplemented, reinforced, and expanded in the third and fourth year.

Student preparation before class and active participation in class is a consistent element in the learning dynamic throughout the curriculum. An open, respectful dialog between faculty and students is characteristically valued and encouraged. Capitalizing on the University’s support of multiple degree programs in the health and allied health professions, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, and social work, the curriculum engages in, endorses and promotes interprofessional education (IPE), collaboration, and practice (IPP).

High-quality laboratory and educational facilities provide a stimulating venue for learning activities. The specially constructed Leonard Hall redefines the typical medical school teaching and learning environment by creating an intentional space that fosters group dialogue, case-based study, and interactive connection using emerging technologies. The Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences houses laboratories, lecture halls, and clinical skills training spaces that place 51���� COM at the national forefront of health and life sciences education. The Donor Lab (including full cadaveric dissection) is an advanced facility where students work in teams and engage with clinical and anatomy faculty as they learn from their “first patients.” The Manipulative Medicine and Clinical Skills Lab spaces are spacious and well designed with the latest technological support. The Clinical Performance Center is an interactive clinical skills teaching, testing, and learning facility with a well-established Standardized Patient Program. The Clinical Simulation Center is a state-of-the-art facility designed for interprofessional learning opportunities, team-based interactions, meaningful debriefing, and student reflection.

Clerkship Education

The last two (2) years of pre-doctoral training occur in community-based hospital and clinical settings, which prioritize experiential and hands-on learning to expand the student’s clinical acumen and further develop individual and team knowledge and skills. During third year, each student is assigned to one (1) of our Core Clinical Sites located in the Northeastern US for a twelve (12)-month period. These serve as the base for educational opportunities and completion of the entire year three (3) curriculum.

The 51���� COM Core Clinical Sites are a consortium of community-based education sites, each consisting of one (1) or more community-based training institutions within a specific geographic region that allows coordinated delivery of the core academic clinical training experience. In keeping with our focus on primary care, 51���� COM Core Clinical Site training programs are based in community hospitals, private physician offices, and community health centers that represent environments in which many 51���� COM graduates will eventually practice the College's Core Clinical Sites are primarily located in the New England states, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Students, in their third year, complete clinical clerkships in the six (6) core disciplines (family medicine, general surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry) at their assigned Core Clinical Site. Each campus provides the patient base, didactic and experiential learning opportunities, supervisory infrastructure, and longitudinal evaluation necessary for the accomplishment of the educational goals of third-year core clerkships; and the establishment of a solid foundation in general medicine in preparation for fourth year and residency.

While community hospitals form the core of year three (3) and most year four (4) clinical rotations, affiliations with specialty-focused facilities allow students to pursue a broad range of clinical experiences. Fourth-year students continue their learning with selective and elective clinical rotations at 51���� COM-approved programs of their choice. Many of these hospitals also provide Graduate Medical Education (GME) as members of the Northeast Osteopathic Medical Education Network (NEOMEN).

Postdoctoral Medical Education (Residency Training)

51���� COM actively participates in affiliations with a number of postgraduate residency programs (GME) through partnerships in the Northeast Osteopathic Medical Education Network (NEOMEN). The college and NEOMEN serve as a liaison to promote residency training, advise and assist with residency development, and partner with affiliated programs for training in Osteopathic Principles and Practices. 51���� COM graduates apply to these and other programs for residency training.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine is an academic program at the University of New England. 51���� is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), whose mission is to establish and maintain high standards of education through the doctoral level. Accreditation by NECHE signifies that 51���� meets or exceeds those high standards.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine receives accreditation through the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (AOA COCA), the only national accrediting agency for predoctoral osteopathic medical education in the United States. In the spring of 2023, 51���� COM again earned COCA’s highest level of re-accreditation — ten (10) years with exceptional outcomes. Being granted this level of accreditation signifies that 51���� COM has exceeded the COCA standards for educational quality and is deemed to have the credentials to confer the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine to its graduates.

Postdoctoral Medical Education

The College advises and assists residency programs in the Northeast Osteopathic Medical Education Network (NEOMEN) Consortium with accreditation and osteopathic recognition by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) programs. 51���� COM graduates may apply to these and other postgraduate programs for residency training.

Continuing Medical Education

51���� COM’s Office of Continuing Medical Education (CME) is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the Maine Medical Association and provides postdoctoral medical education to both osteopathic (D.O.) and allopathic (M.D.) physicians through the AOA and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Each agency grants accreditation based on the demonstrated ability to plan and implement CME activities in accordance with accreditation requirements. 51���� COM is one (1) of a handful of providers to hold the distinction of maintaining this dual accreditation and sponsor collaborative CME activities for these two (2) physicians’ groups.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine maintains its accreditations with continued adherence to required sets of criteria and its commitment to continual quality review and improvement of its programs and services.

Articulation Agreements

The College of Osteopathic Medicine has established articulation agreements with both undergraduate institutions and post-baccalaureate programs.

The institutions that have entered into an agreement whereby qualified individuals who meet the criteria of the agreement receive a guaranteed interview with 51���� COM are the following:

• University of New England, Biddeford, Maine
• Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Cheyney, Pennsylvania
• Tufts University Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Program, Medford, Massachusetts
• University of Vermont Master of Medical Science Program, Burlington, Vermont

• Medical education requires that the accumulation of scientific knowledge be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition of specific skills and professional attitudes and behavior. Medical school faculties have a responsibility to society to train and graduate the best possible physicians who are competent for safe practice appropriate to their level of training, and thus admission to medical school has been offered to those who present the highest qualifications for the study and practice of medicine. Successful completion of all required courses in the curriculum is necessary in order to develop the essential skills required to become a competent physician and to enter residency.
• The essential technical standards presented in this document are prerequisites for matriculation, subsequent promotion from year to year, and ultimately graduation from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (51���� COM). These standards pertain to all students enrolled in 51���� COM.
• The faculty is committed to fostering relationships with its students that encourage personal and professional growth. Its policies and procedures attempt to reflect this commitment to proactive and supportive communication. At the same time, it is imperative that all students recognize that the primary responsibility for a successful medical school education, both in and outside the classroom, rests with the individual student.
• The College’s obligation and mission is to produce effective and competent osteopathic, primary care physicians who will be best able to serve the needs of society. Therefore, the College seeks applicants best suited to meet this mission and all applicants will be held to the same admission standards, and all enrolled students will be held to the same academic standards.
• All students must be able to demonstrate competency for patient safety appropriate to the learner’s level of training. Demonstration of fluency of skills and knowledge appropriate to the level of training is a requirement for progression through the curriculum. Most assessments are designed to simulate activities in the clinical training and clinical practice settings and are tied to the learner’s demonstration of competency for patient safety. These assessments may be performed in a timed and structured environment and are designed to evaluate the learner’s ability to demonstrate appropriate fluency of skills and knowledge under specific conditions.
• All students, including students with disabilities, must have the capacity to manage their lives and anticipate their own needs.

Technical Standards Policies

• No otherwise qualified individual will be denied admission to 51���� COM based solely upon a disabling condition.
• Enrollment in 51���� COM assumes that admitted students will possess certain levels of cognitive, emotional, and technical skill. All osteopathic medical students are held to the same fundamental standards. Academic and clinical requirements that are essential to graduation from 51���� COM or directly related to licensing requirements will not be eliminated for any student. Reasonable accommodations will be provided to assist the student in learning, performing and satisfying the fundamental standards, so long as the student applies properly for the accommodation(s) and they are approved.
• The College is obligated to provide reasonable accommodations that are necessary to afford students with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in the 51���� COM program. Accommodations are not reasonable if they would fundamentally alter the program or the assessment, impose an undue burden to the College, or pose a direct health or safety risk to any other individual, including patients.
• Excessive absenteeism of the mandatory curriculum does not allow students the exposure, application, practice and development of the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to become an osteopathic physician. Students may miss 21% of the mandatory curriculum or less as defined in the course syllabus of any course. Students who exceed this threshold will not be allowed to proceed in the course and will be required to meet with the Committee on Student Progress (CSP) for review and recommendation and may be required to take a leave of absence.

Abilities and Skills

A candidate for the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree must have abilities and skills of five (5) varieties: observation skills; communication skills; fine and gross motor skills; conceptual, integrative and quantitative, cognitive skills; and behavioral and social/emotional skills. Students demonstrate their ability to meet these technical standards through their participation in mandatory curricular activities.

Observation Skills

The student must be able to acquire a defined level of required information as presented through demonstrations and experiences in the basic sciences, including, but not limited to, information conveyed through physiologic and pharmacological demonstrations in animals, dissection of cadavers, examination of specimens in anatomy, pathology, neuroanatomy laboratories, microbiologic cultures, microscopic study of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. Furthermore, a candidate must be able to observe a patient accurately, at a distance and close at hand, acquire information from written documents and visualize information as presented in images from paper, films, radiographs, computer screens, slides or video. The student must be capable of using instruments such as, but not limited to, a stethoscope, an ophthalmoscope, a microscope, an otoscope, and a sphygmomanometer. Such observation and information acquisition necessitate the functional use of visual, auditory and somatic sensation while being enhanced by the functional use of other sensory modalities. An intact sense of smell is necessary to assist in the clinical setting.

In any case where a candidate’s ability to observe or acquire information through these sensory modalities is compromised, (i.e. physical disabilities or chemical sensitivities/allergies) the student must demonstrate alternative means and/or abilities to acquire and demonstrate the essential information without reliance upon another person’s interpretation of the information.

Communication Skills

The student must be able to effectively, efficiently, and respectfully communicate in English using verbal, written, and reading skills, in a manner that demonstrates sensitivity to patients, their families, and all members of the health care team.

A student must be able to accurately elicit information and describe a patient’s change in mood, thought, activity, and posture. Students must demonstrate established communication skills using traditional or alternative reasonable means that do not fundamentally modify this standard. Assistive devices may be used, if appropriate under these standards

Motor Skills

The student must be able to, with or without the use of assistive devices, but without reliance on another person, interpret X-rays and other graphic images and digital or analog representations of physiologic phenomenon (such as electrocardiograms).

The ability to participate in basic diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers and procedures, including but not limited to palpation, percussion, and auscultation is required. Students must have sufficient motor function to safely execute movements required to provide osteopathic manipulative medical care to patients. Students must be able to negotiate patient care environments and must be able to maneuver between settings, such as clinic, classroom building, and hospital. Physical stamina sufficient to complete the rigorous course of didactic and clinical study is required. Long periods of sitting, standing, and moving are required in classroom, laboratory, and clinical experiences.

It is also essential for a student to be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general and emergency diagnosis, osteopathic manipulative care, and medical care such as airway management, placement of intravenous catheters, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and suturing of wounds. At all times the ability to administer care to patients in a safe manner is paramount.

Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Skills

The student must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze and synthesize information in a timely fashion. In addition, the student must be able to comprehend three (3)-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structure. Problem-solving, the critical skill demanded of physicians, requires all of these intellectual abilities. These problem-solving skills must be able to be performed in the precisely limited time demanded by each specific clinical setting.

Behavioral and Social/Emotional Skills

Every student must behave in a manner exhibiting high moral and behavioral standards reflecting the position and status of an osteopathic physician. Students need to show respect for individuals and groups without regard for age, gender, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, including gender identity or expression, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. Students must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients.

Students must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and function effectively under stress. They must be able to adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of the uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of patients. They must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze and synthesize information effectively in a precisely limited time demanded by each specific clinical setting, while under stress, and in an environment in which other distractions may be present.

Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities that will be assessed during the admissions and educational processes.

Students demonstrate their ability to meet these technical standards via their participation in mandatory curricular activities.

Participation in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Clinical Skills Practice and Training Sessions

Active participation in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and Clinical Skills training and practice sessions (laboratories) is an admission, matriculation, and graduation requirement. The development of manipulative medicine palpatory skills is taught in all four (4) years of the curriculum. This learning requires active participation in all laboratory sessions. During the first two (2) years, each student will palpate, in the laboratory setting, a variety of people representing all genders and individuals with different body types to simulate the diversity of patients expected in a practice setting. Being palpated by other students and faculty helps the student appreciate how palpation feels from the patient’s perspective and enables students to provide feedback to their laboratory partners, thus, enhancing their palpatory skills. Reading and observation, although helpful, do not develop the skills required to perform palpatory diagnosis and manipulative treatment. Each student is required to actively participate as both an active learner and a recipient in all skills development laboratory sessions.

General Health

The student must have sufficient physical stamina to perform strenuous workloads for long periods. They should be free of chronic or reoccurring debilitating diseases that would interfere with or require a fundamental alteration of the program or preclude successful completion of the curriculum.