Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Sharon Regional Health System have announced a clinical training affiliation agreement for future students at IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
From left: Sharon Regional Health System Chief Medical Officer Jeremy Mashburn, Sharon Regional Health System President, Medical Staff and Board Member of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association Valeri Roth, and IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Dean Miko Rose
Securing clinical training sites for students is part of the successful accreditation process; IUP has secured more than 230 percent of the needed clinical training spots, surpassing the 120 percent required for accreditation.
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.
The clinical training affiliation agreement with Sharon Regional Health System is IUP’s twentieth formal signed agreement.
Other formal clinical training affiliation agreements in place are with Clarks Summit State Hospital, Torrance State Hospital, Conemaugh Meyersdale Medical Center, Warren State Hospital, Conemaugh Miners Medical Center, Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers, Wayne Memorial Hospital, Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber, Conemaugh Nason Medical Center, Penn Highlands Healthcare, Clarion Psychiatric Center, Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Broad Top Area Medical Center, Hyndman Area Health Centers, Nulton Diagnostics and Treatment Center, The Primary Health Network, Indiana Regional Medical Center, and Punxsutawney Area Hospital.
IUP also has a pre-clinical training agreement with the Indiana County Coroner’s Office for IUP students in a number of programs, as well as for future students at IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
From left: President and Designated Institutional Official Western Reserve Health Education and Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine Northeast Ohio Medical University Kim Howe, IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Dean Miko Rose, and IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education Ryan Smith
Today’s signing event included remarks by President and Designated Institutional Official Western Reserve Health Education and Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine Northeast Ohio Medical University Kim Howe; Sharon Regional Health System Chief Medical Officer Jeremy Mashburn; Sharon Regional Health System Medical Director of Emergency Services Christopher Conti; Sharon Regional Health System President, Medical Staff and Board Member of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association Valeri Roth; Hermitage Business and Community Development Director Mark Longetti; IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Dean Miko Rose; and IUP proposed college of osteopathic medicine Founding Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education Ryan Smith.
Mashburn and Howe represented Sharon Regional Health System, and Rose and Smith represented IUP for the agreement signing.
Sharon Regional Health System successfully opened as a nonprofit hospital under Tenor Health Foundation in March 2025 after the January 2025 closing of Sharon Regional Medical Center, bringing essential healthcare services back to the Shenango Valley community.
“I am grateful for this partnership between IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine and Sharon Regional in establishing this innovative clinical training partnership,” Senator Michele Brooks said. “Agreements like these that focus on training medical students in rural settings are the future for ensuring top quality care in rural areas and creating a pipeline to a greater number of doctors practicing in underserved parts of Pennsylvania. I will continue to work to ensure that regardless of someone’s zip code, that rural families deserve local access to doctors. Partnerships like this provide the opportunity to attract doctors to train in these areas and sustain a higher level of care,” she said.
“IUP is committed to addressing the important mission of supporting the health and wellness of our Commonwealth, and establishing a college of osteopathic medicine is an essential step in addressing the critical shortage of physicians, especially in Pennsylvania’s rural communities,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“We continue to see incredible support from hospitals and health care leaders in our work to advance our proposed college of medicine, especially in our efforts to establish clinical training affiliation agreements,” he said. “As a result, we have partnerships with health care providers that serve patients in almost every county in Pennsylvania,” he said. “IUP shares our partners’ intention to welcome our well-trained and talented doctor of osteopathic medicine graduates ‘back’ to practice at the sites where they have completed their clinical training.
“We are inspired by Tenor Health Foundation and Sharon Regional Health System’s commitment to providing outstanding medical care in Sharon during very challenging times for health care, and we are very proud to be in partnership with them,” he said.
“Congratulations to IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine and Sharon Regional for this important clinical training affiliation agreement,” Primary Health Network CEO George Garrow said. “Meaningful partnerships such as this will enhance our ability to train the next generation of physicians to help meet the needs of rural communities like ours in Mercer County and here in Sharon. Today, I am reminded of the quote from Helen Keller, ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.’ ”
“On behalf of the medical staff at Sharon Regional Health System, we are thrilled to participate in today’s signing event,” Roth said. “This partnership represents a meaningful investment in the future of healthcare in the Shenango Valley. By welcoming medical students into our clinical environment, we are helping to build a strong pipeline of future physicians who will understand our community, train alongside our dedicated teams, and ultimately strengthen access to high‑quality care. This collaboration supports the continued growth and stability of our health system while ensuring that the residents we serve benefit from expanded services, enhanced clinical expertise, and a deeper commitment to advancing rural health.”
“The reopening of Sharon Regional Health System is a symbol of hope, resilience, and determination, and reflects a true belief in the essential need for outstanding and accessible rural health care by its leadership and its staff,” Rose said.
“By providing our future medical students the opportunity to train at hospitals like Sharon Regional Health System that have a sincere commitment to health care access and excellence, our future students will see, first-hand, how important rural health care facilities are to their communities,” she said. “IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine is determined to help to provide a workforce pipeline of excellent physicians where they are needed most, for now and for the future,” she said.
IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine has “candidate status” from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), which recognizes that IUP has done the required planning and has the resources necessary to apply for pre-accreditation status within two years. Candidate status is the second step in seeking accreditation from COCA. IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine is currently in the third step in the accreditation process, seeking “pre-accreditation status.” When proposed colleges achieve pre-accreditation status, they are permitted to begin recruiting students.
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. Founding Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education Ryan Smith and Founding Associate Dean of Preclinical Affairs Luke H. Mortensen joined the team in 2024.
Named one of Pennsylvania’s Fifty Over 50 top leaders in 2024 by City & State Pennsylvania, Rose 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. She was an invited panelist for the 2025 Rural Economic Development Summit in Harrisburg, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, addressing “What Can Be Done in Rural Pennsylvania? The Power of Partnership.”
IUP’s Council of Trustees endorsed the exploration of a possible development of a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP in December 2022.
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.
Doctors of osteopathic medicine, or DOs, complete four years of osteopathic medical school, with an emphasis on preventive medicine and comprehensive patient care. They are trained to recognize the interrelated unity among all systems of the body, each working with the other to promote overall health and wellness. Osteopathic medical schools have a long tradition of serving rural communities. Physicians who are trained in osteopathic medicine are four times more likely to select primary care specialties and almost twice as likely to practice in rural areas as allopathic (MD) students are.
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 have resulted in funding from individual donors, foundations, agencies, and legislators totaling more than $48 million. Fundraising for the project is part of IUP’s Impact 150 $150 million comprehensive fundraising campaign, raising funds for healthy students, a healthy university, and healthy communities.
Gifts to support the proposed college of osteopathic medicine include:
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A $1 million gift from Terry A. Serafini, a 1961 mathematics education and physics education graduate from Pittsburgh, announced in March;
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In November 2025, $1.9 million in community project funding for the proposed college of osteopathic medicine was announced as part of the FY26 federal budget. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler is the sponsor of this community project funding.
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In September 2025, IUP graduates David (1971) and Becky Walzak (1970) made a $500,000 donation for the proposed college of osteopathic medicine.
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In August 2025, John (Jack) and Linda Brose, of Athens, Ohio, gifted $25,000 for scholarships for future students at the proposed college of osteopathic medicine; Brose joined IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine team as a consultant and executive mentor in 2022.
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In July 2025, John Ninosky, a 1993 criminology graduate, gifted $50,000 for future students at the proposed college of osteopathic medicine in honor of his late wife, Tammy Beale Ninosky, a 1993 IUP child development and family relations graduate.
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In June 2025, IUP received a $50,000 gift from Thomas R. Smith, of Hollidaysburg, who received a master’s degree in secondary counselor education from IUP in 1976 and retired from a 40-year career in education.
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In April 2025, IUP received a $1 million gift from an anonymous alumnus of IUP, who is a native of Indiana County, and a $50,000 gift from Lt. Col. Barry Gasdek, a 1964 graduate and 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient originally from Westmoreland County.
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In February 2025, 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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In July 2024, IUP graduates Tim and Debra Phillips Cejka (1973) gifted $2 million for the proposed college.
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In June 2024, the Foundation for IUP committed $20 million.
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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.
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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.
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In January 2024, IUP’s Alumni Association Board of Directors authorized a donation of $500,000.
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In December 2023, Sen. Pittman announced that as part of the 2023–24 state budget, $2 million was set aside for the project.
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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.
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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.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary during the 2025–26 academic year and through the Impact 150 comprehensive campaign, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking to its next 150 years of student success, innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.