At the close of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (AACOMAS) application cycle for 2011 admission, 14,275 applicants had submitted 109,020 individual applications for admission to 25 colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs) and four branch campuses. Applicants to the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center at Fort Worth Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine applied through the Texas Medical and Dental Application Service.
This year's totals represent a one-year increase of 6.64 percent in the number of applicants and 8.38 percent in the total number of individual applications. The mean number of applications submitted by each applicant was 7.6. These applicants are seeking one of approximately 5,400 2011 first-year seats in the nation’s osteopathic medical colleges.
Over the past decade, the number of COMs across the country has grown from 19 to 26, and the number of osteopathic medical students has increased from fewer than 11,000 to more than 19,000. By 2015, COMs across the nation will graduate more than 5,300 osteopathic physicians annually, a number that is expected to continue to grow as more colleges open and existing colleges increase their class sizes.
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, welcomed its first class in fall 2010. This upcoming fall, the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine’s new campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina will open its doors, as will Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific’s new site in Lebanon, Oregon. Campbell University in North Carolina, Marian University in Indiana, and the Southeast Alabama Medical Center have all hired deans for their proposed colleges of osteopathic medicine and have all announced plans to open in 2013.