74 Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine—Osteopathic Medicine Program health care for Florida’s medically needy rural and inner-city urban areas. Our nationally recognized program now serves underserved communities and populations throughout a nearly 20,000-square-mile area of South and Central Florida. Our first AHEC center—the Everglades AHEC—reaches underserved areas within a 10-county region extending from Broward County to rural communities around Lake Okeechobee. Based on the success of the Everglades AHEC, the university was awarded additional funding to develop a Central Florida AHEC, which now serves nine counties and extends from Lake Okeechobee to north of Orlando. By utilizing its well-established foundation of more than 100 academic and community partnerships throughout South and Central Florida, the AHEC Program is able to provide training programs in community settings to expose health professions students to the challenges, rewards, and practice opportunities related to working in medically underserved areas. The AHEC program also delivers training programs to current and future health professionals on the treatment of tobacco dependence and provides group tobacco cessation services throughout its service region. The Office of Graduate Medical Education NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine recognizes its role in supporting graduate medical education (GME), both as a benefit for its students during their clinical training years and as it benefits our graduates in finding positions upon graduation. Historically, the Consortium for Excellence in Medical Education Osteopathic Postgraduate Training Institute (CEME-OPTI) has been the mechanism the KPCOM has used in supporting AOA-accredited GME. With the transition to the single accreditation system in 2020, the KPCOM has transitioned the work of the CEME-OPTI to the KPCOM Office of Graduate Medical Education (OGME). Currently, the OGME is affiliated with 19 hospitals/institutions, 89 training programs, and 1,247 trainees. This alliance of affiliated clinical training sites, linked through electronic networks, collaborates in the areas of teaching, research, and community health, demonstrating a shared commitment to excellence in the education of tomorrow’s physicians. The KPCOM Office of Graduate Medical Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as a Sponsoring Institution for our own GME programs. The KPCOM currently sponsors the following accredited and unaccredited residency and fellowship programs: 1. Psychiatry Residency—Orlando (ACGME-accredited)— Program Director Jose Torres-Miranda, M.D. 2. P sychiatry Residency—Bay Pines (ACGME-accredited)— Program Director Laura Sunn, M.D. 3. Family Medicine Residency—Evara Health (ACGMEaccredited)—Program Director Carlos Rodriguez, M.D. 4. Family Medicine Residency—Tampa Family Health Centers (in process for accreditation 2024)—Interim Program Director Gaelle Laurore-Fray, D.O. 5. Pediatrics Residency—Tampa Family Health Centers (in process for accreditation 2024)—Interim Program Director Jenifer Haynes, D.O. 6. S ports Medicine Fellowship—Program Director Alessandra Posey, D.O. 7. Correctional Medicine Fellowship—Program Director John May, M.D. 8. P rosthetic Urology and Sexual Medicine Fellowship— Program Director Edward Geihler, M.D. 9. Allergy and Immunology Fellowship—Program Director Shanaz Fatteh, M.D. Rural and Urban Underserved Medicine Program Since its establishment in 1979, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine has been committed to educating students about rural medicine and having them train in underserved communities. The Department of Rural Medicine’s instructional programs have been recognized nationally for helping to meet the health care needs of underserved communities and enhancing the medical skills of our students. Our third-year medical students train for two months in rural and underserved settings. They are expected to expand their proficiency in patient care and community medicine. This rotation also increases the students’ knowledge in providing health care to multicultural populations. Training sites include community health centers, county health departments, private physicians’ offices, ambulatory care facilities, and other leading health care institutions, including the Florida Department of Corrections. Additionally, our fourthyear medical students spend an additional four weeks at a self-selected, but approved, site that may bring them beyond the local, state, national ,and international boundaries. The Rural Medicine Training Program provides our students with a unique and enriching experience. A number of our graduates are now clinical directors at the community health centers or have established successful practices in a rural Florida region.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDE4MDg=