College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Northwest

The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP), was established in 1977 as a direct and important response to a critical shortage of primary care physicians in the western United States. Philip Pumerantz, PhD, accepted the invitation of the college's board of directors to become the founding president in September of 1977. In January 1978, COMP received pre-accreditation status from the American Osteopathic Association. Provisional accreditation status was achieved in July of 1978 and full accreditation in February 1982. In August of 1996, in order to better reflect its stature, COMP was restructured into a university with a new name: Western University of Health Sciences.

Continuing Full Accreditation status was last granted for WesternU/COMP in January 2008 by the Bureau of Professional Education of the American Osteopathic Association. The next scheduled Full Accreditation visit by the Commission on Osteopathic Colleges Accreditation (COCA) is in January of 2015.

The Northwest Track option became fully accredited by the COCA in January of 2007, and is now known as COMP-Northwest as of July 2011.

The American Osteopathic Association, Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (AOA COCA) is the only accrediting agency for pre-doctoral osteopathic medical educational institutions, including the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, and is recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE). Accreditation indicates that the college of osteopathic medicine (COM) has met or exceeded the AOA standards for educational quality.

COMP-Northwest is the second medical school campus of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP), which is the medical school of Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU), in Pomona, California. WesternU is a comprehensive graduate university of health professions, with nine colleges in medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, optometry, podiatry, allied health, biomedical sciences and veterinary medicine.

COMP-Northwest enrolled its first 100 students in 2011. We are an expansion site of COMP in Pomona, and as such follow the same well established curriculum developed at COMP during the past 35 years and are fully accredited.

At our stunning new campus our mission is to educate technically competent, culturally sensitive, professional and compassionate lifelong learners with the distinctive osteopathic philosophy. Here students thrive in modern laboratories and lecture halls with state-of-the-art technology. They rotate through clinical settings, including rural and inner-city medical centers, group practices, managed care organizations, and tertiary care hospitals.

During their four years at COMP-Northwest, our students develop expertise in diagnosis and learn the problem-solving skills needed to treat and care for the whole patient. We help our students build the foundation needed for a rewarding career as physicians who continually strive for positive impact on healthcare.

Students flourish in a patient-focused learning environment. Our curriculum employs multiple modalities such as lecture, case-based learning, osteopathic and general clinical skills training, small group discussion, service learning and directed independent study. The four year program is divided into a pre-clinical phase and a clinical phase.
The Medical School Campus

The site plan presented below highlights the location of COMP-Northwest, and footprints adjacent vacant land where a second building of comparable size is planned in anticipation of an expanding medical school, as well as an Oregon location for other college programs from WesternU.

The campus is evolving into a series of program areas with a particular emphasis:
University Plaza: The location of COMP-Northwest, where other colleges are expected to locate to create a major health professions education center for the Willamette Valley and Southern Oregon.

Hospitality Square: The location of a planned 100 room hotel and adjacent conference center.

Retail Center: A location for retail stores, including a bookstore, college shops, and restaurants.

Office Complex: A location for health professional offices, medical research and services firms and general office space.

Patriots Place: A 150-bed Oregon Veterans Home, to house and care for Oregon veterans and their families.

College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Northwest Degree Programs :

Medicine

Dentistry

Nursing

Pharmacy

Allied Health Science

Video Presentation

DO's Making a Difference

DO's (Osteopathic Doctors) - Making A Difference: How DO's in the Pacific Northwest are making a difference in their communities. But future DO's need help meeting high tuition costs before they can become the next generation of caring doctors.