
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.)
4 years, full-time
200
75 programs in 21 states; sites include Loyola University Chicago, University of Chicago, Northwestern, Scripps, Stroger-Cook County, Cleveland Clinic, University of Minnesota, University of Indiana, State University of New York, Cincinnati Children's, University of Nebraska
79 percent go to first or second residency choice; far surpasses national match rate of 68 percent
92.3 percent pass rate for first-time test-takers
93.1 precent pass rate for first-time test-takers
Primary care, surgery, emergency medicine, pediatrics, anesthesiology, plus other medical specialties and options in hospitals, medical schools, private practices, and government facilities
113,000+ physicians and surgeons needed to serve a growing and aging population, especially in rural and low-income areas
| Prerequisite Courses | Sem Hrs | Qtr Hrs |
| Biology with lab | 8 | 12 |
| General Chemistry with lab | 8 | 12 |
| Organic Chemistry with lab | 8 | 12 |
| Physics with lab | 8 | 12 |
| English Composition | 6 | 9 |
The CCOM course of study is typically 4 academic years. The first 2 years cover primarily didactic instruction, followed by 2 years of primarily clinical rotations, including applicable didactic material. Upon graduation with the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree, CCOM graduates are eligible for postdoctoral residency training in all fields of medicine.
As scientists and practitioners of the healing arts, osteopathic physicians subscribe to a philosophy that regards the body as an integrated whole with structures and functions working interdependently. Therefore, osteopathic physicians treat their patients as unique persons with biological, psychological, and sociological needs — an approach that underscores the osteopathic commitment to patient-oriented versus disease-oriented health care.
Using this philosophy, CCOM's four-year curriculum educates students in the biopsychosocial approach to patient care, as well as the basic medical arts and sciences. CCOM students spend their first two years completing a rigorous basic science curriculum and preparing for clinical studies, including early clinical contact experiences. During their third and fourth years, students rotate through a variety of clinical training sites, accruing an impressive 88 weeks of direct patient care experience. By stimulating intellectual curiosity and teaching problem solving skills, the CCOM curriculum encourages students to regard learning as a lifelong process.
To produce competent osteopathic physicians, CCOM's program emphasizes primary care but includes traditional specialties and subspecialties. Because the DO degree signifies the holder is a physician prepared for entry into the practice of medicine within postgraduate training programs, CCOM graduates must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care, including direct hands-on analysis and treatment.
Accordingly and with reasonable accommodation, all candidates for admission to the CCOM program must have abilities and skills in five areas: 1) observation; 2) communication; 3) motor; 4) conceptual, integrative, and quantitative; and 5) behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made for some limitation in certain of these areas, but a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner.
CCOM educates osteopathic physicians to provide quality, compassionate care and promotes the practice of osteopathic medicine, lifelong learning, research, and service.
CCOM achieves educational excellence through
Every member of the CCOM family exemplifies its core values to provide relationship-centered teaching and care. Our communities include:
Since its founding in 1900, the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine has graduated more than 6,000 alumni and accounts for nearly 13 percent of all practicing osteopathic physicians and surgeons in the United States.
I hereby affirm my loyalty to the profession I am about to enter. I will be mindful always of my great responsibility to preserve the health and the life of my patients, to retain their confidence and respect both as a physician and a friend who will guard their secrets with scrupulous honor and fidelity, to perform faithfully my professional duties, to employ only those recognized methods of treatment consistent with good judgment and with my skill and ability, keeping in mind always nature's laws and the body's inherent capacity for recovery.
I will be ever vigilant in aiding the general welfare of the community, sustaining its laws and institutions, not engaging in those practices which will in any way bring shame or discredit upon myself or my profession. I will give no drugs for deadly purposes to any person, though it be asked of me.
I will endeavor to work in accord with my colleagues in a spirit of progressive cooperation, and never by word or by act cast imputations upon them or their rightful practice.
I will look with respect and esteem upon all those who have taught me my art. To my college I will be loyal and strive always for its best interests and for the interests of the students who will come after me. I will be ever alert to further the application of basic biologic truths to the healing arts and to develop the principles of Osteopathic Medicine which were first enunciated by Andrew Taylor Still.
The Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine is accredited by the Commission on College Accreditation American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation is recognized as the accrediting agency for colleges of osteopathic medicine by the United States Office of Education and the Council of Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA). For further information, please contact: American Osteopathic Association, 142 E. Ontario Street, Chicago, IL 60611; 800-621-1773.
Midwestern University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission/A Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC/NCA), 30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602.
MWU Osteopathic Medicine Program in Glendale
Osteopathic Medicine as a Career
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM)
American Osteopathic Association (AOA)
Costin Institute for Medical Educators
Illinois Osteopathic Medical Society (IOMS)
Student Doctor Network (SDN)