At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, we built the College of Osteopathic Medicine for students who want to make a real difference in others' lives. If you are called to serve, lead, and care for people in a meaningful way, this college is being created with you in mind.
Here, you will prepare for a future in medicine through an education grounded in whole-person care, scientific excellence, compassion, and community impact. You will learn how to care not only for illness, but to solidify and strengthen health, while gaining the knowledge and experiences needed to become a skilled, thoughtful physician.
Our mission is especially focused on preparing doctors to serve rural and underserved communities where access to healthcare is needed most. At IUP, you will be part of something bigger than yourself: a new generation of physicians committed to improving lives, strengthening communities, and shaping the future of healthcare.
Dean's Message
“IUP’s College of Osteopathic Medicine will focus on identifying, recruiting, and educating those hidden healthcare heroes who may not even realize their own potential to become our next generation of physicians. We will carefully refine and document our successes, creating a revolutionary national model for scouting and bolstering future healthcare leaders, especially for our rural communities.” – IUP COM Founding Dean Dr. Miko Rose
Welcome to Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, pledged to provide you with a medical education with a rural focus and an emphasis on an evidence-based, inspiring, compassion-focused, holistic, community-centered, affordable education.
As a student in the IUP COM, you represent the culmination of the vision and dreams of thousands of individuals who believe in IUP’s commitment, responsibility, and ability to address the rural health crisis.
The IUP College of Osteopathic Medicine origin story began when IUP President Dr. Michael Driscoll and Indiana Regional Medical Center and Mountains Health President and CEO Stephen Wolfe made the decision that the shortage of physicians – especially the lack of primary care physicians in rural communities – was not only at a critical state, but worsening. They saw rural hospitals closing and physicians in those rural communities retiring, and knew there was no more time to wait, that it was time for bold action.
Together, they developed a vision and a model for a college of osteopathic medicine that focused on recruiting and graduating students who had outstanding potential for brilliant and compassionate care, and with a heart for serving rural communities.
Work began in earnest in 2023. Funds were raised, COM administrators and faculty were hired, clinical training affiliation agreements were established, the curriculum was developed, and facilities were created for a state-of-the-art, student-centered educational experience. Earning PreAccreditation status from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation in May 2026, IUP COM is ready to welcome its first class of students in August 2027.
As a student at IUP in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, you can expect that your studies will be rigorous, with high expectations from trained and experienced faculty who are committed to your success. Every aspect of the program’s academic requirements and infrastructure has been carefully studied, researched, and specifically tailored to your needs, purposefully providing you with time to revisit what you have learned through a spiral learning philosophy, helping you to develop clinical reasoning skills, not just memorization.
The first two years of the DO curriculum are intentionally broad and include early clinical shadowing experiences with physicians in rural health care so that you both gain an understanding of the unique needs of rural patients and remain inspired by patient care interactions. You will learn about the need for preventative care and mindfulness, ongoing monitoring of the health of the patient, early diagnosis of illnesses, and ways to help the patient actively participate in their own health and wellness.
Our program also includes a focus on training that integrates mental health competencies so that you will be prepared to adequately address the mental and behavioral health of your future patients. This emphasis includes a four-year, longitudinal required coursework on mental and behavioral health and rural health and clinical rotations in rural primary care and psychiatry beyond what is required by national accreditation standards.
Everyone at IUP, and at the IUP COM, has the education, experience, will, and drive to bring you innovative and community-focused education to support your path to becoming a deeply valued physician leader, building on IUP’s 150-year history of student success, support, open doors, and transformative education.
Make no mistake. This is not ivory tower medicine. We are here to support the creation of the next generation of fire-in-our bellies leaders with hearts of service--who understand that medicine is about the human-to-human relationship--and about treating people holistically through the tenets of osteopathic medicine.
As a first-generation physician, I know what it’s like to take steps forward into the unknown. I learned how to lean on and create community and support structures where there initially were none.
You will not have to do that here. The IUP College of Osteopathic Medicine reflects my experiences, and the experiences of a cadre of like-minded first-generation pioneers who will make sure that you will never feel alone or that you don’t belong. If you join us, you will know that we believe in you: you are the future of medicine.
Dr. Miko Rose
Founding Dean, IUP College of Osteopathic Medicine
About Dean Rose
Dr. Rose is an award-winning board-certified first-generation physician in psychiatry and neurology, nationally known for wellness programming. She began work as the founding dean for the IUP COM in November 2023. She came to IUP from Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she was associate professor and chief of the Division of Psychiatry in the Department of Clinical Medicine and assistant dean for Clinical Education.
She was also an associate professor and program director of the Joy Initiative Wellness Program at Michigan State University. She founded and started the Joy Initiative at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine schools. She completed her medical training at Michigan State University.
She is an elected fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists by the Fellows of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists/American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists. She has also been honored by one of Pennsylvania’s Fifty Over 50 by City & State Pennsylvania and has been an invited speaker for international conferences and state organizations across the nation.
Prior to entering medical school, Dr. Rose worked as a program officer, fundraiser, and advocate for the underserved with a focus on overcoming domestic violence and trauma through life coaching and mindfulness.
Our Mission, Vision, and Values
Our Mission
The mission of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, recognizing our roots as a public institution, is to increase the number of community physicians throughout rural and underserved Pennsylvania while creating a national model for rural healthcare. We will fulfill this goal by providing an innovative program of osteopathic medical education that is evidence-based, inspiring, compassion-focused, holistic, community-centered, and affordable.
Our Vision
The vision of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, in support of our roots as a public institution and our mission, is to become a national leader in the provision of affordable and accessible pre-clinical, clinical, graduate, and continuing medical education with a focus on the development of osteopathic physicians equipped to transform the landscape of rural and underserved primary care throughout Pennsylvania and our nation. To do this, the IUPCOM will become a leader in leveraging both internal and external partnerships to create an interprofessional educational network emphasizing expertise in medical research, community outreach, and evidence-based clinical care to deliver timely, high-quality, and cost-effective medical care to our nation’s most under-resourced rural populations.
Our Values
The core values of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, in support of our roots as a public institution and our mission, are:
- Accessibility: provide access to affordable and comprehensive medical education across the continuum of physician development, with a focus on individuals from rural and socioeconomically challenged backgrounds and from within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education;
- Commitment to the Principles of Osteopathic Medicine: underscore the four tenets of osteopathic medicine in our research, teaching, and community service foci, with an emphasis on the importance of holistic and self-healing principles.
- Compassionate Care and Service: inspire compassion in all that we do and aim to transform how medical care is delivered in rural and underserved primary care shortage areas in Pennsylvania, the mid-Atlantic region, and our nation.
- Integrity, Respect, and a Culture of Inquiry: foster a culture of continuous, lifelong learning with an inherent drive to continually improve and innovate in all that we do; and
- Accountability and Teamwork: inspire a community of learners with a focus on ethical actions and including the continuum of learners from rural communities.
Meet the COM Faculty and Leadership Team
Get to know the team behind IUP's College of Osteopathic Medicine.