From left, IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine and Founding Associate Dean of Preclinical Affairs Luke H. Mortensen; Founding Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education Ryan Smith; IUP Vice President for University Relations Jennifer DeAngelo; Founding Dean Miko Rose; IUP President Michael Driscoll; Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Information Officer and Designated Institutional Official Russell Cameron; Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Officer Trina Abla; Penn Highlands DuBois President Will Chinn; Armstrong County Commissioner Pat Fabian; Penn Highlands Healthcare Family Medicine Chief Resident Dawit Ayalew.
On February 19, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Penn Highlands Healthcare formalized a clinical training affiliation agreement for students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
IUP President Michael Driscoll
IUP’s Council of Trustees endorsed the exploration of a possible development of a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP in December 2022. IUP has formally initiated steps towards accreditation of its proposed college of osteopathic medicine from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, a three- to five-year process that includes submission of self-studies and a feasibility study, along with site visits.
Securing clinical training sites for students is part of the successful accreditation process. Typically, students in colleges of osteopathic medicine spend the first two years of their education in the classroom; during the third and fourth years, students are based in the community at clinical sites.
Today’s signing ceremony took place at Penn Highlands DuBois with IUP President Michael Driscoll, IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Dean Miko Rose, Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Officer Trina Abla, and Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Information Officer and Designated Institutional Official Russell Cameron.
Penn Highlands DuBois President Will Chinn
Penn Highlands Healthcare Family Medicine Chief Resident Dawit Ayalew
Penn Highlands DuBois President Will Chinn served as master of ceremonies for the event. Additional speakers included Penn Highlands Healthcare Family Medicine Chief Resident Dawit Ayalew.
The Penn Highlands Healthcare clinical training agreement is IUP’s tenth formal signed agreement. Agreements are in place with Clarion Psychiatric Center (February); Armstrong County Memorial Hospital (January); Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center (December 2024); Broad Top Area Medical Center, Hyndman Area Health Centers, Nulton Diagnostics and Treatment Center, and the Primary Health Network (November 2024); Indiana Regional Medical Center (September 2024); and Punxsutawney Area Hospital (June 2024).
“Pennsylvania, especially rural Pennsylvania, is in the midst of a health care crisis: there are just not enough physicians to serve the citizens of the commonwealth,” Driscoll said. “Our goal for our proposed college of osteopathic medicine is to identify and educate talented potential physicians who want to be part of the solution,” he said.
“While accreditation requires specific numbers and types of clinical training affiliation agreements, IUP made the decision early on to focus on developing agreements at rural community hospitals and facilities to provide opportunities for students to become engaged with these hospitals, the hospitals’ health care providers, and the communities; and to see, first-hand, how important these community health care facilities and providers are to the health and wellness of the host communities,” he said.
From left, IUP President Michael Driscoll; proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Dean Miko Rose; Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Officer Trina Abla; and Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Information Officer and Designated Institutional Official Russell Cameron.
Rose was hired as the founding dean of the proposed college of osteopathic medicine in November 2023; the hiring of a founding dean is one of the first steps to establishing the college.
“Because every community and its health care needs are very different, every clinical training site offers a unique perspective and learning opportunity for our students,” Rose said. “We are very proud and grateful for each and every clinical training affiliation agreement, and for what they will offer to our students. In turn, our community hospitals and health care providers have told us that they understand that a robust pipeline of talented physicians who train at their hospitals are key to the future of their facilities, and more importantly, to the patients that they serve,” she said.
“In addition to our clinical training affiliation agreement for our students in our proposed college of osteopathic medicine, we have been in active discussions with Penn Highlands Healthcare leadership for the past year, discussing opportunities for shared resources for their staff and for our current students in the health care disciplines,” Rose said.
“The new IUP College of Osteopathic Medicine is going to present wonderful opportunities for the students, and be beneficial to both the university as well as the patients we care for at Penn Highlands Healthcare but most importantly to the rural communities we serve,” said Abla.
“The proximity of the IUP medical school to our service areas and sharing the common vision of training physicians to work in rural healthcare makes the collaboration between our programs an obvious choice,” said Cameron.
Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Officer Trina Abla
Penn Highlands Healthcare System Chief Medical Information Officer and Designated Institutional Official Russell Cameron
Rose, named one of Pennsylvania’s Fifty Over 50 top leaders in 2024 by City & State Pennsylvania, is one of fewer than 150 physicians elected as a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists by the Fellows of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists/American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists.
In addition to Founding Dean Rose, IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine administrative team includes Founding Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education Ryan Smith and Founding Associate Dean of Preclinical Affairs Luke H. Mortensen.
IUP chose to explore a proposed college of osteopathic medicine based on several factors, including the critical need for rural health care: there are not enough trained physicians to provide care to Pennsylvania’s citizens: the ratio of patients to available primary care physicians is 1,367 to 1, according to the United Health Foundation.
There are only three colleges of osteopathic medicine in Pennsylvania, all at private universities; IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine would be the only college of osteopathic medicine at a public university.
National studies show that graduates from programs of osteopathic medicine are more likely to pursue primary care in rural and underserved areas—57 percent of all doctors of osteopathic medicine practice as general practitioners, and more than 20 percent of DO graduates practice in rural areas. Demand is high for osteopathic medicine training: in 2021, 22,708 applicants competed for 8,280 seats at schools of osteopathic medicine.
IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine and IUP’s commitment to addressing the rural health crisis continues to draw support from individual donors, foundations, agencies, and legislators:
- In February, IUP announced gifts totaling $500,000: a $250,000 gift from an anonymous donor and a $250,000 gift from the Fairman Family Foundation of DuBois;
- In December 2024, Theodore Lazzaro, board-certified surgeon and founder of Aestique Med Spa, gifted $50,000 to IUP for scholarships for students in health care professions;
- In October 2024, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors designated $2 million in design funds as part of the 2024–25 State System of Higher Education capital allocations budget for the academic building renovation for the health sciences cluster and proposed college of osteopathic medicine;
- Senator Joe Pittman and Representative Jim Struzzi announced in October 2024 that $2 million from the 2024–25 state budget has been set aside for the project;
- In July 2024, IUP graduates Tim and Debra Phillips Cejka gifted $2 million;
- In June 2024, the Foundation for IUP committed $20 million;
- In May 2024, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler included $2 million for IUP’s project among his FY25 requested community projects, and Senator John Fetterman included $2 million on his list to advance in the FY25 Community Project Funding process;
- IUP received a $150,000 allocation for the project in the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which was sponsored by Congressman Reschenthaler and Senator Fetterman and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 9, 2024;
- In February 2024, the Board of Governors allocated $500,000 for a facilities feasibility study for academic facilities for IUP’s health sciences cluster and proposed college of osteopathic medicine;
- In January 2024, IUP’s Alumni Association Board of Directors authorized a donation of $500,000;
- In December 2023, Sen. Pittman announced that as part of the 2023–24 state budget, $2 million was set aside for the project;
- In July 2023, IUP graduates Nick Jacobs and Mary Ann Hoysan Jacobs donated $40,000 to advance the project. Nick Jacobs is a 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient who has a 1969 bachelor’s degree in education and a 1972 master’s degree in music education; Mary Ann Jacobs has a 1968 bachelor’s degree in music education and a 1993 master’s degree in adult and community education; and
- In May 2023, Rich Caruso, a 1983 accounting graduate from Meadow Lands, 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient and former president and current member of the Foundation for IUP Board of Directors and member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors, announced a pledge of $1 million for the project.
About Penn Highlands Healthcare
Penn Highlands Healthcare was officially formed in 2011 and is comprised of nine hospitals. Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands Connellsville, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Penn Highlands Mon Valley, and Penn Highlands Tyrone have served area communities for more than one hundred years.
Penn Highlands State College is a new state-of-the-art hospital that opened in 2024.
The health system’s business continuum also includes a home care agency, long-term care facilities, and residential senior living communities, as well as durable medical equipment companies and retail pharmacies.
Penn Highlands Healthcare has evolved into an organization with approximately 6,200 employees in more than 150 locations throughout 26 counties in Pennsylvania that include community medical buildings, outpatient facilities, surgery centers, and physician practices. The facilities have a total of 1,396 inpatient, skilled nursing, and personal care beds. The system, which has 849 physicians and 427 advanced practice providers on staff, offers a wide range of care and treatments with specialty units for cancer, cardiovascular/thoracic, neurosurgery, pulmonology, neonatal, and high-risk pregnancy patients. Being focused on what is important—patients and families—makes Penn Highlands Healthcare a great choice for healthcare in the region.