Medical Students at NYIT’s New York College of Osteopathic Medicine to Receive White Coats
Old Westbury, N.Y., April 5, 2007: After successfully completing two years of classroom training and pre-clinical studies, 301 medical students attending the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM) of New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) are ready to continue their professional education in clinical assignments throughout the New York region.
In the presence of more than 2,000 family, friends, faculty and NYCOM alumni, NYCOM’s class of 2009 will walk to the stage at the Tilles Center Auditorium in Old Westbury, N.Y., on Wednesday, April 11, 5 p.m., to be presented with their “white coats” in a ceremony that is a tradition at medical schools throughout the country and represents a significant milestone for students. Sister Anne Brooks, D.O., will be the keynote speaker and the recipient of NYCOM’s Riland Medal for service to the community.
“The students now enter into the next phase in the medical education continuum, one that requires physicians-in-training to apply acquired knowledge and skills to patients in varying clinical settings,” said Thomas Scandalis, D.O., dean, NYCOM of NYIT. “This rite of passage is an acknowledgement of their achievements thus far, and serves as a symbol of their ongoing commitment to the profession they aspire to enter, and the patients they are entrusted to serve.”
Brooks received her osteopathic medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1982. In 1983, while fulfilling the terms of her scholarship from the National Health Services Corps, Brooks founded the Tutwiler Clinic, which provides free medical services to patients in a medically deprived area in the disadvantaged Delta town of Tutwiler, Miss. There she remains the chief administrator and one of only three doctors in the county. This year she celebrates 50 years as a Catholic nun and 25 years as a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
NYCOM of NYIT, the nation’s second largest medical school, is the only medical school in Nassau County and was the first osteopathic medical school in New York State. Chartered in 1977, NYCOM is committed to training osteopathic physicians for a lifetime of medical practice and fosters careers in primary care and the scholarly pursuit of knowledge concerning human health and disease. Based in Old Westbury, N.Y., NYCOM has one of the most diverse student medical school populations in the country and has produced more than 4,000 alumni who are practicing medicine across the nation. NYCOM offers fellowships in anatomy, osteopathic manipulative medicine and neuroscience.
Osteopathic physicians (D.O.) undergo the same training as medical doctors except that they also receive additional training in the musculoskeletal system. They are taught, and many utilize, a distinctive form of manual diagnosis and treatment called Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) as an adjunct to the holistic care of their patients’ musculoskeletal and somatic complaints. Osteopathic physicians diagnose and treat acute and chronic medical conditions utilizing, when indicated, medications, surgery and OMT.
About NYIT
NYIT is the college of choice for more than 14,000 students enrolled in more than 100 specialized courses of study leading to undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees in academic areas such as architecture and design; arts and sciences; education and professional services; engineering and computing sciences; health professions, behavioral, and life sciences; management; and osteopathic medicine. As a private, nonprofit, independent institution of higher learning, NYIT embraces an educational philosophy of career-oriented professional education for all qualified students and supports applications-oriented research to benefit the greater global community. Students attend classes at NYIT’s campuses in Manhattan and Long Island, as well as online and in a number of programs throughout the world. To date, more than 69,000 alumni have earned degrees at NYIT. For more information, visit www.nyit.edu.
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