Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine

About Us
Dean's Message
Dean SilvagniIn today's world, where scientific and technological advances seem to occur at warp speed, it's essential for our college to place itself on the cusp of medical education innovation and prepare its students for a medical landscape brimming with challenge and change.

To keep pace with this wave of perpetual transformation, NSU-COM consistently evaluates and revises its curriculum to ensure that its students receive a multifaceted education that will allow them to maximize their potential and provide them with the tools to become first-rate physicians.

Our outstanding and experienced faculty has taken a leadership role in ensuring that we offer our students a comprehensive and stimulating course of study in osteopathic medicine. Through our joint efforts, we are providing future generations of osteopathic physicians an opportunity to gain a significant amount of scientific information and medical knowledge while also imparting the equally important and often-ignored skill of learning how to teach oneself over multiple decades in a rapidly changing world.

As our college has continued to grow in both size and stature, it has become known as an institution that appeals to academically successful students who have the potential to embody certain traits such as compassion, confidence without arrogance, and a high predilection for the medically underserved. Why do these traits predominate by the time they graduate? It occurs because our faculty, staff, and administration embody and project these noble traits, which in turn encourages and guides our students on how to emulate and replicate those qualities.

There is a culture that exists at this institution that exudes these very positive feelings. We're not here just as employees of the college or university, whether we be faculty, staff, or administration. We're here because we share a passion for what we do, which is to ultimately produce high-quality physicians who are committed to being caring and compassionate patient advocates, wherever and whatever they may practice.

Accreditation
Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine has been granted accreditation by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) of the American Osteopathic Association. This body is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting agency for colleges educating osteopathic physicians.

The Master of Public Health Program is accredited by the Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH).

Nova Southeastern University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; telephone number 404-679-4501) to award bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees.

Community Service/Outreach Programs
Medical Outreach
NSU-COM coordinates and participates in medical outreach events that provide health care to local, state, and international communities that are underserved. The exposure to varied cultures and the unique concerns that each presents provides participants with unparalleled real-world education that serves to enrich us all. The events include the REACH Fair, and international medical outreach trips to various countries.
About the International Medical Outreach Programs

Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-COM) coordinates and participates in international medical outreach programs that provide health care to underserved international communities. The mission of the outreach programs is to provide access to medical care in underserved and vulnerable countries to improve the health and wellness of those populations most in need. Our goal is to establish long-term relationships that allow us to revisit each community multiple times over several years until the community can maintain its medical status independently. Moreover, volunteers experience and share in a new culture. Each visit brings progress and success in community wellness.

In addition to attending to the health needs of those who do not usually have access to care, theses rewarding experiences also offer our students, faculty members, and volunteers the chance to use their clinical skills in settings that may have medical and public health challenges different from their own. The exposure to varied cultures and the unique concerns that each presents provides participants with unparalleled real-world education that serves to enrich us all.

NSU-COM offers one - to two-week medical outreach trips for volunteer physicians, nurses, medical students, and other medical and non-medical individuals. Students of other disciplines are also allowed to participate, as each outreach trip allows. We provide medical assistance in areas where health care is limited or difficult to obtain and establish partnerships with the local clinics.

About Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Program
If you are considering a career as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, enormous opportunities to practice modern medicine await you. For the osteopathic physician, a patient is much more than a presenting symptom. Each person is a complete human being to be evaluated with consideration for his or her entire background.

The osteopathic model is comprehensive and holistic and demands that its practitioners possess both humanitarian and intellectual qualities. It encourages a broad educational background in the sciences as well as the humanities. Learn more about Osteopathic medicine by using our Osteopathic Resources.

Two types of physicians are licensed to practice medicine in all 50 states: the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) and the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.). While both types of physicians are trained in all aspects of patient care, D.O. offer a distinct holistic approach to medicine.

Osteopathic Medicine is a profession which recognizes the relationship between physical structure (musculoskeletal) and organic function. Osteopathic physicians view the human body as an interdependent unit rather than an assortment of separate parts and systems. Osteopathic Medicine is distinguished by:

• an emphasis on primary care
• utilization of osteopathic manipulative medicine when indicated
• a tradition of caring of patients in underserved rural and urban areas

While all medical, surgical, and obstetric specialties are represented within our profession, the training of vitally needed family physicians, and the drive to reach rural, minority, geriatric and indigent populations, make our program unique.

About M.P.H. Program
The Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) Program is an accredited graduate level program designed to prepare students to define, critically assess, and resolve public health problems. The program provides training in the theories, concepts, and principles of public health and their application. To meet the rapidly changing needs of health service professionals, including preventive medicine specialists, the curriculum is structured to accommodate a diversity of backgrounds and individual career goals.

There is a demand for public health professionals as a result of emerging and re-emerging diseases, environmental health concerns, health care reform, health care system, sociopolitical factors affecting our nation's health, and expansion of health issues that are global in scope. Professionals with the M.P.H. degree may hold positions of responsibility in a variety of settings including health care facilities, county and state health departments, social service agencies, health policy and planning organizations, universities, and community-based health education and health promotion settings, nongovernmental organizations, governmental agencies, international health organizations, and the corporate world. These positions often involve active participation of the M.P.H. graduate in the coordination, planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of health programs and services. Some students pursue further advancement in their graduate education upon completion of the M.P.H. degree program.

The M.P.H Program offers a generalist Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree, which requires a minimum of 42 credit hours of study. This consists of 27 credit hours of required core courses including a public health field experience (6 credit hours) and a minimum of 15 credit hours of public health elective courses. Coursework may be taken on a full-time or part-time basis. M.P.H. students are required to complete their course of study within five years of matriculation. A full-time student may be able to complete the requirements within two years.

Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine Degree Programs :

Medicine

Public Health

Video Presentation

How to Interview for Medical School

This is a video created by Nova Southeastern University's College of Osteopathic Medicine to help medical school applicants prepare for their interview at any medical school.