Can I afford to see my doctor? Who will take care of my children while I’m at the doctor’s office? How am I going to get time off of work? How will I find the transportation to get there? These are the kinds of questions that families living in poverty face when thinking about how to access healthcare.
What began three years ago as one student’s response to a powerful first-day experience of her core rotation in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Rapides Regional Medical Center has grown into a meaningful, student-led tradition. The annual toy donation effort—started by Ahmira Manalac, DO, a Class of 2025 graduate who matched into pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri—continues to bring comfort and joy to children receiving care in the PICU. Initially created as an “art cart” overflowing with art supplies, it was later expanded to include toys.
VCOM-Carolinas has continued its commitment to community service and hands-on medical education through its ongoing participation in the American College of Surgeons’ Stop the Bleed program. The nationally recognized course teaches simple, effective steps to control life-threatening bleeding, a critical skill in emergencies when minutes matter. By training VCOM students and sending them into local high schools as instructors, the College strengthens both campus readiness and community resilience.
The VCOM-Louisiana Class of 2028 came together on Sept. 29, 2025, to honor the ultimate act of generosity from their anatomy donors. The Donor Memorial Ceremony, a deeply meaningful tradition, gave students the opportunity to reflect on the lessons, experiences, and personal growth inspired by working with their donors throughout the past year’s anatomy curriculum.
Before sunrise each day, Tom Catena, MD, begins his morning with prayer in a small chapel in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, then walks to Mother of Mercy Hospital where hundreds of patients await the care of the region’s only doctor.
What happens when dozens of future physicians, guided by faculty and local partners, come together with one goal—to make healthcare accessible for all? The answer unfolded in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where a VCOM team spent a week providing care, connection, and hope to hundreds of underserved residents.
VCOM-Louisiana’s large mobile medical unit hit the road last month to deliver clinical care to local seniors. The unit, made possible through a collaborative partnership with the Ouachita Parish Police Jury, is fully equipped for patient care, featuring private exam rooms with diagnostic equipment, work and phlebotomy stations, and a lavatory. It includes a wheelchair-accessible door and lift. Wrapped in vibrant VCOM graphics showcasing local students, the bus serves as a rolling symbol of hope and compassion for the communities it visits.
On September 24, VCOM–Virginia hosted the inaugural event in its Community Outreach Research and Education (CORE) symposium series, titled “Expanding Holistic Health with Community Partnerships.” The symposium brought together healthcare providers, public officials, law enforcement, social service professionals, and community leaders to explore collaborative approaches to improving health outcomes across rural and underserved communities in Southwest Virginia.
Step inside one of VCOM’s Simulation and Technology Centers, and you’ll find some of the most dynamic spaces on all four campuses. Here, classrooms transform into high-energy, hands-on training labs where students practice life-saving skills, engage with standardized patients, and respond to high-fidelity manikin-based simulations, all under the guidance of experienced physician educators.
Chronic pain affects one in three people worldwide, disrupting work, sleep, relationships and mental well-being. For many individuals, traditional treatments fail to fully address such pain. To respond to this need, a group of researchers and clinicians at Auburn campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), known as the Pain Free Research Collaborative, are leading an innovative effort to rethink how chronic pain is understood and treated.
In the quiet morning hours in VerĂłn, a town in the eastern region of the Dominican Republic, Sydney Boudreaux, VCOM-Louisiana Class of 2026, was already setting up for clinic. The air was heavy with heat, and a line of patients had begun to form outside the VCOM VerĂłn Rural Clinic. Many had walked long distances, some for hours, just for a chance to be seen by a doctor.
Creating Culturally Competent DOs (C3DO) at VCOM-Carolinas is a seven-part lecture series designed to prepare students to serve patients with empathy, cultural awareness, and integrity. Offered outside of the regular curriculum but counted toward credit, the lectures take place once a month and reflect VCOM’s mission of training physicians who are well equipped to meet the needs of rural and underserved communities.
°µTV (VCOM)–Carolinas campus has taken another major step forward in its mission to serve rural and medically underserved populations across South Carolina. This week, the campus welcomed a second mobile medical unit (MMU), a smaller clinic-on-wheels that expands the reach and impact of VCOM’s domestic outreach program.
The first week of September, 2025, marked a milestone at VCOM-Carolinas, as Bluefield University and VCOM leadership welcomed the inaugural class of anesthesiologist assistant students to the campus. The joint program, already established at VCOM-Auburn, has expanded to the Carolinas to meet the growing demand for skilled anesthesia providers in hospitals, surgical centers, and rural communities.
