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The 2026-2027 DO School Specific Threads are now available in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 discussions are now available in the prior year discussions forum.
DO schools and Research
Started by 3dee
I would imagine the established schools do pretty well in research. I know both Midwesterns have it available if you want it and CCOM got the most NIH funding out of all the DO schools last year. Also, you can go onto the NIH website and view how much each school got last year.
Research is a requirement for accreditation. All of the DO schools engage in it even though it isn't their primary focus.
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interesting! i didnt know that!
I'm interested in research as well, so I've been looking at schools that offer a dual degree program. My thinking is that you can't offer a master's degree in molecular biology without some primary research going on. A link to a list of dual degree programs is available here http://www.aacom.org/InfoFor/applicants/Pages/default.aspx
How did you compare the rest of the DO schools to Midwestern's grant? I coudln't find any option on the NIH to compare institutions...
You can do research at any DO school, and most DO schools are near other medical schools or universities, so you can always do reseach there as well. Also, just to correct something, CCOM had the most NIH funding for private DO schools, whereas TCOM had the most NIH funding overall.
AZCOM just doubled it's research center size...and we gets e-mails on a weekly basis from profs doing different research...while DO schools may not 'focus' on research, their teaching PhD's certainly do a lot research...and you will find many of the MD/DO teachers doing research if they work for hospitals.
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Yep, and we have some pretty big-hitting research grants, too... Dr. Rzigalinski has a pretty hefty 5-year NIH grant. http://www.vcom.vt.edu/research/currentresearch.html
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I'll second this. It is VERY EASY to get involved in research at AZCOM.
KCUMB has a 45,000 sq ft biomedical research center with an MS in biomedical science programs as well as dual DO/MS
http://my.lecom.edu/research/ - For both LECOM Erie and Bradenton
DMU has some pretty unique research programs. They're called pathways of distinction. You get to do extra research in your 3rd and 4th years and things like that. Check it out here:
http://www.dmu.edu/research/pathways/PathwaysDistinction.pdf
Here's the homepage for research at DMU:
http://www.dmu.edu/research/
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There has been a recent push by the AOA and osteopathic schools to beef up research, both clinical and basic science, in D.O. institutions. Most of the established schools have ways for interested students to get involved, and many are expanding research facilities and faculty. Schools attached to 4 year state universities (MSU, TCOM, etc) have especially deep research resources.
List and description of the research opportunities open to participants in the SURF program at OUCOM available here: http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/admissions/surfprog.htm
PCOM-
http://www.pcom.edu/Research/Research_and_Scholarly_Activit/research_topics.htmlhttp://www.pcom.edu/Research/research.html
http://www.pcom.edu/Research/Research.html
And then we've got the Center for Chronic Disorders of Aging (CCDA),
and the Biomechanics and Human Performance lab where they do OMM
research.
http://www.pcom.edu/Research/Research_and_Scholarly_Activit/research_topics.htmlhttp://www.pcom.edu/Research/research.html
http://www.pcom.edu/Research/Research.html
And then we've got the Center for Chronic Disorders of Aging (CCDA),
and the Biomechanics and Human Performance lab where they do OMM
research.
Are research positions available for PCOM students at the CCDA during summer/winter breaks?
I chose MSU because they have the DO/PhD program...I'm not sure if other schools have this program too, but I don't think it's as prevalent as MD/PhD programs are. The head of the DO/PhD program at MSU is extremely nice and helpful, and definitely made me want to apply for the program.
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The simple answer is that if you're interested in research, you should aim to go allopathic because you will have more resources available. However, osteopathic schools will still allow you to do research, but there will likely be fewer opportunities. Also, not all research fellowships (Sarnoff, Doris Duke) necessarily take DO students (due a search: I've post the details a few times before), and the HHMI Cloister only recently accepted their first DO student
Here's a post I had made a few months ago (I don't know how to link to the exact post):
"I'm going to post numbers from the NIH's RePORT database so that if anyone searches for this info in the future they can find it 🙂
http://report.nih.gov/award/trends/FindOrg.cfm
Fiscal year 2008; numbers are only for the school of Osteopathic Medicine, and not for the entire institution (i.e. other departments such as arts and science or pharmacy are not included in these figures)
University of North Texas $12,064,917
Michigan State: $3,886,947
UMDNJ-DO: $2,007,539
Ohio University: $644,339
PCOM: $616,570
University of New England: $551,411
VCOM: $475,062
Western: $433,252
Touro-MI: $385,352
NOVA: $363,159 (and possibly another $313,000 which was classified under 'research units')
Kansas City Osteopathic: $362,383
A.T. Still: $205,541
Des Moines University: $194,025
Midwestern: $193,277
If I didn't list it, I couldn't find it in RePORT, or in the case of Oklahoma State, data for the School of Osteopathic Medicine was not specifically enumerated
Take these numbers for what you want, but here are funding figures for some of the least research-heavy allopathic schools (once again, figures are strictly for the Schools of Medicine)
Mercer: $1,209,306
Southern Illinois: $4,171,785
Meharry: $21,395,550
Morehouse: $25,084,179
LSU-Shreveport: $12,013,987
Howard: $13,043,308
Albany: $11,463,823
New York Medical College: $17,987,753
Drexel: $23,127,814
University of Central Florida (just opened): $5,505,477"
NSUCOM has a 1 year research fellowship between 2nd and 3rd year but other than that there's a lot of other opportunities as well because there's a cancer center there too
http://www.nova.edu/overview/research.html
I agree that most of the DO schools are going to have comparitively paltry research opportunities (exceptions might be the few with asscociations with larger/better funded institutions [MSUCOM, UMDJ]). My inexpert thought would be: if you have a particular research interest/expertise then find out if there is someone at that school actively engaging in some quality research in the area of interest. For example, if you are a pharmacologist at heart, there is some good stuff going on at UNECOM, esp. under Bilsky. There is probably some decent neuroscience opportunities to be had there as well. But if your thang is fetal programming of adult diseases in rats-not so much.
LOL. I'm pretty sure MSUCOM says it gets the most NIH funding. Funny.
In any case, yeah, I'm sure that most DO schools have at least a minimal level of research. Ask the schools you're interested in to confirm.
