Ryan Smith
A member of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s College of Osteopathic Medicine leadership team has been chosen as a representative for a national professional organization.
Interim Senior Associate Dean of Operations and Founding Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Graduate Medical Education Ryan Smith has been selected to serve as the American Osteopathic Association representative on the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
This expert panel evaluates, monitors, and accredits adult and child and adolescent psychiatry residency and fellowship training programs in the United States. It is composed of both attending and resident physician members appointed by or representing organizations like the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association.
His term on the Review Committee will be from July 2027 to June 2033.
Smith currently serves on the AOA Bureau of Osteopathic Education and on the Test Accommodations Committee for the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners.
The NBOME is an independent examination board that provides the sole means for assessing on a national level the competencies for osteopathic medical practice through national, standardized examinations for osteopathic medical students. Smith has been involved with NBOME for more than 15 years, holding several chair and leadership positions for the organization.
“Selection for these key oversight boards and committees reflects Dr. Smith’s expertise and national reputation as a leader in psychiatry and in graduate medical education,” IUP College of Osteopathic Medicine Founding Dean Miko Rose said.
In 2025, Smith was selected as the NBOME 2025 Item Writer of the Year for the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States (COMLEX-USA) Level 1 examination.
The COMLEX-USA series is designed to assess osteopathic medical knowledge, knowledge fluency, clinical skills, and other competencies essential for practice as an osteopathic generalist physician. It is a three-level, national standardized exam designed for licensure for the practice of osteopathic medicine, designed to assess osteopathic medical knowledge, knowledge fluency, clinical skills, and other competencies essential for practice as an osteopathic generalist physician.
Passing Levels 1 and 2-CE of this examination sequence is a requirement for attaining a DO (doctor of osteopathic medicine) degree from colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States, and passage of Level 3 is required for entry into and promotion within graduate medical education (residency) training programs and the attainment of a state medical license.
“It’s an honor to be selected as the American Osteopathic Association’s psychiatrist representative for the review committee and to be part of the important work of maintaining educational excellence and rigorous standards for future physicians,” Smith said.
Smith joined the IUP team in July 2024. He has a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) degree with a PhD in education and health science education leadership, a master’s degree in medical education leadership, an MBA with a concentration in strategic leadership administration, and a bachelor’s degree in medical biochemistry and physics. He is a board-certified psychiatrist and diplomat and a fellow of the American Osteopathic Board of Neurologists and Psychiatrists.
Smith came to IUP from Orlando Health Sciences University’s Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he was the founding associate dean for preclinical education and professor of psychiatry; he also continues to serve as an adjunct associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
He is a National Academy of Osteopathic Medical Educators Fellow, an American Psychiatric Association Fellow, and an American Association of Osteopathic Examiners Fellow, serving as vice president of the organization until 2023. Smith has been practicing psychiatry at the New Hampshire State Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire, for the past 15 years and directed the mental health division of a federally qualified rural health center in Washington County, Maine.
Prior to his work at Orlando Health Sciences University, Smith was the founding psychiatry residency program director at Tufts University School of Medicine’s site at Portsmouth Regional Hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine. He also served for eight years as a full-time faculty member at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine, where he led the division of psychiatry and systems-based education and was named Professor of the Year twice in his tenure there.
Smith completed his graduate medical education at Maine Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine (psychiatric post-graduate training year four and child psychiatry fellowship), Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (psychiatric post-graduate training years two and three and psychiatric residency), and Harvard Medical School (psychiatric post-graduate training year one and psychiatry residency).
He was honored as professor of the year and as clinical faculty member of the year at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, and he received the James K. Lally, DO, Emerging Leader of the Year Award from the American Osteopathic Foundation, the Marguerite Elliot Innovator in Clinical Medical Education Award from the Society of Osteopathic Medical Educators, and the Young Physician of the Year Award from the Maine Osteopathic Association; earned membership in the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Gold Humanism Honor Society; and was a National Health Service Corps Scholar for the US Department of Health and Human Services, serving in Washington County, Maine, which has one of the highest uninsured rates in all of New England.
He has held several clinical, consultant, and voluntary supervisory positions and has been in leadership positions for many national professional organizations. He has been active in research, including in two ongoing projects: “Gender Differences in the Perception of Stress after High-Stakes Medical School Examinations” and “Predictors of Performance on National Medical Licensing Board Exams.”
He has also been a contributor to articles in many professional journals and has been an invited lecturer at medical colleges and professional meetings. Smith served for five years via gubernatorial appointment to the Maine State Board of Osteopathic Medical Licensure.
IUP’s College of Osteopathic Medicine holds pre-accreditation status from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), which means that IUP can begin recruiting and admitting students to its College of Osteopathic Medicine and begin medical instruction within the approved osteopathic medical curriculum.
IUP anticipates its first class of 64 students entering the program in fall 2027. Colleges holding pre-accreditation status are permitted to admit no more than 50 percent of the approved class size in the first year; no more than 75 percent of the approved class size in year two, transitioning to the approved class size in years three and four. IUP’s College of Osteopathic medicine approved class size is 120 students.
IUP currently has 290 percent of the clinical training affiliation agreement spots required for COCA accreditation, all at rural healthcare providers, which will permit students to complete more clinical training than is required by national accreditation standards.
IUP’s Council of Trustees endorsed the exploration of a possible development of an IUP College of Osteopathic Medicine in December 2022. There are only three colleges of osteopathic medicine in Pennsylvania, all at private universities; IUP’s College of Osteopathic Medicine is the only college of osteopathic medicine at a public university in the commonwealth.
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. IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive campaign is designed to honor a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, public service, and leadership in healthcare education, including the first college of osteopathic medicine at a public university in the commonwealth.