LUCOM strengthens partnerships with area health care organizations

Now celebrating its third year, Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) will see the firstfruits of its commitment to reach the medically underserved in Southern and Southwest Virginia when student-doctors begin serving there full time this month.

LUCOM’S third-year class will be placed in area hospitals throughout those regions, where about 67 percent of the population lack immediate access to medical care. LUCOM is working collaboratively with LifePoint Health, which operates Danville Regional Medical Center (DRMC) and Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County, as well as hospitals in Clinch Valley, Galax, and Wytheville through a six-year renewable partnership agreement.

More than 20 student-doctors will live in these assigned areas for the last 20 months of their time at LUCOM, completing clinical rotations in different medical disciplines and specialties. The completion of this training will develop and refine their clinical knowledge and skills to a point where they are prepared to meet the expectations of a graduate-level physician ready to enter resident training. Student-doctors will be on duty at various times depending on clinical service and are expected to be on-call for 12 hours a day.

Ronnie B. Martin, D.O., dean of LUCOM, said that working with the DRMC (which includes over 25 medical specialties and 14 surgical services) allows student-doctors to train for a wide range of medical specialties upon graduation.

“These opportunities not only advance the student-doctor’s education and provide for improvements in health care access for patients of the region, but they will be a major economic impact as well,” he said. “The southern portion of Virginia is vastly underserved, has large areas of need for health care, and is among the most economically depressed areas of the state.”

LUCOM also has established affiliations and clinical partnerships with Centra Health, a regional nonprofit health care system based in Lynchburg, Va; Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk, Va.; Chesapeake Care Clinic in Chesapeake, Va.; Johnson Health Center in Lynchburg, Va.; LifePoint Palestine Regional Medical Center in Palestine, Texas; Piedmont Access to Health Services Community Medical Centers in Danville and Martinsville; Sentara Halifax Regional Hospital in Halifax, Va.; and Saint Anthony Hospital in Effingham, Ill. These sites will train LUCOM student-doctors and assist in the development of Graduate Medical Education (GME) opportunities to advance the mission and vision of the college.

GME occurs after student-doctors graduate. Osteopathic physicians (D.O.) and allopathic physicians (M.D.) require an additional three-to-seven years of continued clinical education after graduation from medical school to gain full practice rights, certification, and the ability to practice independently.

LUCOM is partnering with Centra Health, LifePoint Health, and Johnson Health to develop new GME opportunities in the Lynchburg and Southern Virginia regions. These partnerships will provide local training to LUCOM graduates/physicians and in turn meet the needs of the population into the future. With the help of these partnerships, Liberty physicians will be able to practice in all clinical, medical, and surgical specialties.

Dr. Martin said that he is confident that LUCOM graduates will be prepared and well-rounded at the time of graduation.

“They will be competitive and qualified to enter any GME program or medical specialty they desire,” he said. “LUCOM places an emphasis on community-based specialties such as family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and women’s health.”

Student-doctors also have the opportunity to advance their knowledge and skills during their clinical education phase with members of the LUCOM faculty at the Liberty Mountain Medical Group (LMMG). At the clinic, student-doctors will shadow and perform functions as assigned by clinical educators/specialists in their field.

LMMG is a comprehensive primary care facility located just minutes from campus and provides treatment for patients of all ages. The clinic, a joint venture between LUCOM and Central Virginia Family Physicians, provides medical services in the areas of family medicine, internal medicine, osteopathic manipulative medicine, pediatrics, sports medicine, and women’s health.

LUCOM’s mission and vision is to develop physicians concerned about the whole person — body, mind, and spirit — and who possess the empathy and compassion that exemplifies the love of Jesus Christ. To support this mission, LUCOM continues to develop, promote, and expand medical outreach programs both in Virginia and in South America.

An example of this commitment to service was seen last October when a team of student-doctors hosted the college’s first domestic outreach event in Martinsville, Va. During a six-hour health clinic, student-doctors and supervising physicians provided physical examinations and health screenings for dozens of individuals. The team focused on chronic disease and its effect on wellness and health, using Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine to treat patients. During the spring semester, student-doctors continued serving those in need through domestic outreach events in both Halifax, Va., and Danville, Va.

LUCOM recently completed its third medical outreach trip to Guatemala. Under the supervision of LUCOM faculty, more than 50 second-year student-doctors and other physicians and volunteers provided health care to more than 1,500 patients in the providence of Zacapa, visiting the villages of Las Caretas, San Pablo, and Santa Cruz.

Student-doctors provided physical examinations, diagnosed and treated both acute and chronic disease prominent within the regions, distributed medications, applied Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine techniques to relieve disability and discomfort, offered health education in a wide variety of subjects, and provided ophthalmology services. They also assisted with feeding stations, treated gastroenterological parasites, and distributed supplements and vitamins.

Liberty welcomes third class of student-doctors

LUCOM welcomed over 150 new students into the third class at the annual White Coat Ceremony held Saturday, July 30. Orientation week for the class of 2020 included a keynote address from T. Scott Garrett, M.D., Virginia’s 23rd house district delegate.

Del. Garrett challenged the newest class of student-doctors to not be “helicopter doctors” and simply hover from one patient to the next, but to be bedside doctors, providing care for the patient and not merely the disease.

“There are five professions that have servant hearts; doctors, nurses, law enforcement, pastors, and teachers,” he said. “Each one of you has a servant’s heart.”