PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine reports it has had a great experience sending third-year medical students to Shore Medical Center.
The college (PCOM) and Shore are in their second year working together to educate medical students. This second class of 10 PCOM medical students began 10 months of rotations with doctors earlier this summer.
“Like the majority of medical schools, PCOM is a four-year program with the first two years dedicated to lab, lecture and simulation training in the basic sciences,” Dr. Art Sesso, chairman of surgery for the college, wrote in response to written questions from the Sentinel. “Years three and four are the clinical years, with rotations scheduled for core medical disciplines and electives in areas of student interest.
“This is only the beginning of the training process, as students then move into residency training, which can take anywhere from two to six years depending on the discipline being studied,” he wrote.
The doctor said PCOM allows students the choice between two different tracks. One is a “core clinical campus” model. That is where Shore Medical Center fits in.
“In this model, a student does all of their foundational course rotations (cardiology, family medicine, surgery, E.R., etc.) at one location,” Sesso wrote. “The second model allows students to select from a list of facilities to complete their requirements. PCOM has relationships with several hospital systems across Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, but also allows students to pursue elective rotations across the country.”
With all of the massive medical centers in the greater Philadelphia area, Sesso said PCOM has its reasons for affiliating with Shore.
“When choosing health system partners, PCOM has always prioritized the quality of patient care over institution size. Shore Medical Center has always demonstrated high standards for its clinicians and is known for its phenomenal training and willingness to share this knowledge with incoming medical students,” Sesso wrote. “I myself, being a longtime resident in Ocean City, have also seen firsthand the quality of medical care the facility provides for its community and believed Shore Medical would instill that same level of professionalism and compassionate care in our students.”
Asked if the college’s expectations have been met in its relationship with Shore, Sesso said that was “most definitely” the case.
“It is important to note that our initial student group ranked the highest among our training partners in their end-of-rotation examinations. Among this group was a student who achieved one of the highest national board scores in the country,” Sesso wrote. “Coupled with the feedback we’ve received from the students, we have had a great experience with this partnership.”
To learn more about the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, visit PCOM.edu.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff