WesternU COMP and COMP-Northwest highly ranked in educating and training primary care physicians
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) and COMP-Northwest feature prominently in the U.S. News and World Report’s list of 2023 Best Medical Schools in producing primary care physicians who are addressing critical health care needs nationwide.
Within the Best Medical Schools list, WesternU COMP and COMP-Northwest ranked third nationwide in “Medical Schools with the most Graduates Practicing Primary Care.” This ranking is based on the percentage of each school’s 2013-15 medical and osteopathic graduates practicing direct patient care in primary care fields. Primary care specialties included are family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, geriatrics and internal medicine-pediatrics.
Forty-six percent of COMP and COMP-Northwest graduates entered primary care, fulfilling one of the College’s founding and fundamental missions – to develop students who will serve society by providing comprehensive, patient-centered health care with the distinctive osteopathic philosophy. WesternU is the only West Coast medical school in the top 5 in this category.
“We are humbled by COMP and COMP-Northwest earning these accolades for the most graduates practicing primary care,” said COMP and COMP-Northwest Acting Dean David Connett, DO’84, FACOFP dist. “Although we embrace any student wanting to pursue specialty training, we mentor our students throughout their entire medical school experience with primary care providers in leadership roles.”
This recognition would not be possible without the commitment to excellence provided by our faculty, staff and administrators, Connett added.
“Throughout the nation there are severe shortages for primary care providers,” he said. “We believe that COMP and COMP-Northwest graduates are meeting this national imperative providing the societal needs to be on the front line delivering quality health care with humanism embedded in our osteopathic tenets.”
COMP and COMP-Northwest ranked among the highest in average MCAT scores compared to the other top-ranked DO schools listed in the “Best Grad Schools” report. COMP and COMP-Northwest were also ranked in the following categories: Best Medical Schools: Primary Care, Best Medical Schools: Research, Most Diverse Medical Schools, Most Graduates Practicing in Medically Underserved Areas, and Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas.
“These recent recognitions reflect the high quality of WesternU students and graduates and the commitment to excellence in humanistic health care and research that endures at the University,” said WesternU Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer Paula Crone, DO ’92. “I could not be prouder of the faculty, staff, and students that make such accomplishments possible. I also cannot say I am surprised. WesternU prides itself on the high standards, high expectations, and high esteem it holds for everyone who learns and works here. Achievement of benchmarks like these is welcome acknowledgement of that sustained commitment to our patients, to our communities, and to one another.”
Below, COMP and COMP-Northwest Class of 2022 students celebrate matching into primary care residencies during Match Day March 18, 2022.
