Dr. Bollard:
Thank you for your question, and it is great to hear you would like to help.
I am keenly aware of the loss of the osteopathic hospitals in North Jersey over the years. But, several osteopathic residencies have started. I have been involved in the family medicine programs at Christ and Overlook and the internal medicine program at Jersey City Medical Center. UMDNJ-SOM, KCOM, UNECOM and TouroCOM all have students in northern New Jersey hospitals and are looking to start residencies.
As to your question, any hospital is a potential site for OGME or also a dual or parallel program but yes, the program itself would need to be accredited by the AOA, which is the only accrediting body for osteopathic training programs. I offer two suggestions, which I want to reiterate from my original post:
1. If you know of a hospital(s) that might be interested in establishing a training program, let us know by emailing the information to
OGMEDevelopment@osteopathic.org. We’d be happy to reach out to the leadership.
2. If you know of someone at a hospital(s), plant the idea of developing an osteopathic training program. Let them know about the OGME Development Initiative and encourage them to contact us.
Remember, the Initiative and especially its consultants serve as resources to interested hospitals at no charge. If the consultant needs to travel to the hospital for a site visit, we pick up the cost.