New Medical School
Opens in Harlem
by Sybil Maimin
The Harlem renaissance continues! The opening of a College of Osteopathic Medicine (TOUROCOM) on 125th St., across from the Apollo Theater, was announced, with much excitement and anticipation, by Touro College, the fast growing, multi-campus educational institution founded in 1971. Representatives of numerous government and local community organizations applauded the news. The Harlem location is intended to increase the number of minority physicians (an increasingly small group) and improve medical care in an underserved area. Dr. Bernard Lander, dynamic and legendary founder of Touro, has a long-time interest in Harlem. The spunky, white-haired visionary with a background as sociologist, educator, and rabbi, was on Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s 1944 Committee on Unity which became the city’s first Commission on Human Rights. He served on the federal commission that established the “War on Poverty,” and has been consultant and committee member on numerous initiatives to help troubled youth. The new medical facility fulfills “a dream and commitment,” he said. A College of Pharmacy will be added in 2008.To address the problem of “an insufficient number of black and Hispanic men and women in medicine,” he also announced plans to establish a college of science in Harlem to “inspire and prepare local youngsters for careers in science and medicine.”
The osteopathic facility, the first new medical school to be approved in New York State in over thirty years, was subjected to a rigorous accreditation process. Dr. Jay Sexter, proud CEO of the new college, explained that recently elected lieutenant-governor David Patterson was a crucial early supporter. Citing his knowledge of Lander’s early work in human rights, Patterson said, “I knew this was the right institution to bring a medical school to this community.” Patterson announced that $100 million in Governor Elliot Spitzer’s proposed budget will be dedicated to medical research. Touro plans to include research facilities in the 125th St. location with projects that will benefit the community. Kenneth Knuckles, president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, which has loaned $4.7 million for the school, spoke of its potential to “break the cycle of poverty in this community.” Citing the challenges facing the new college, Dr. Daniel Laroche, president of the Empire State Medical Association, which represents minority physicians, noted that very few minorities are among the more than 800 applicants for the 125 spots in the first class. Mindful of this problem, Touro has an ambitious, long-term program with elementary, junior, and high schools in the area to encourage interest in and preparation for work in the sciences. It is necessary to change a culture and mindset, explained Laroche, and get word out that few make it as professional basketball players, but the lifestyle of MD’s can be very pleasant. In collaboration with Harlem Hospital’s public health program, Touro is co-sponsoring Project Aspire to encourage health field aspirations among the young. Dr. Deborah Williams, a physician who has joined the faculty of the new college, spoke of being one of six blacks in a class of 100 in medical school. “This is terribly exciting,” she said. “It is a tremendous opportunity to address increasing minority participation and representation in medical education and in the health care field overall. Other institutions have attempted it, but I think this is the first time it is not an attempt, but a mandate, a mission.”
Osteopathic medicine is a holistic approach that embraces a whole person philosophy. Osteopathic physicians are awarded a D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) degree after four years of the same basic education as M.D.s including classroom work and clinical rotations. In addition, they receive extensive training in manipulative techniques and diagnoses. Hospital residencies are in specialties ranging from pediatrics to neurosurgery. Osteopaths frequently go into primary care medicine; graduates of the new facility will be encouraged to live and work in Harlem. TOUROCOM is the country’s twenty-fourth school of osteopathic medicine and the second in New York State.#
