COMs collaborate to improve access to health care in Appalachia

Building upon the osteopathic medical profession’s mission to provide access to care in underserved areas, three rural, central-Appalachia osteopathic medical schools have partnered to form a consortium to improve health care in the region.

The Central Appalachian Consortium of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine is comprised of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) at Athens, the Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, Tennessee; and the University of Pikeville-Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The consortium will examine local Appalachian communities to determine the number of practicing primary care physicians and identify health disparities in the region. The group also plans to develop and implement innovations in the way osteopathic physicians are trained in an effort to improve access to health care in these medically-underserved communities.

“If we’re going to adapt our training programs to provide better coverage of the health care shortages in the region, first we need to identify where and what the biggest gaps are related to physician workforce,” Kenneth Johnson, DO, the dean of OU-HCOM, told The Post.