Tcom Silver Lining For Closed Hospital

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pboothe

The Limiting Reagent
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I am a current first year at TCOM, and I know many of you have probably seen the news that one of TCOM's teaching hospitals, the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas, has closed today.

First and foremost, this can be considered a good thing for potential applicants. Other doors will now be forced open in the Dallas/Fort Worth area which is filled with excellent hospitals. TCOM is not in any kind of jeopardy whatsoever. We are still affiliated with 3 other very large hospitals in Fort Worth, JPS being an excellent example.

My father called me this morning and said, "Uh so what are you going to do now? Are you going to have to reapply to other med schools?"
"NO NO NO dad and others who think this."

TCOM is currently and will continue to be one of the finest osteopathic medical schools in the country.
 
pboothe said:
I am a current first year at TCOM, and I know many of you have probably seen the news that one of TCOM's teaching hospitals, the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas, has closed today.

First and foremost, this can be considered a good thing for potential applicants. Other doors will now be forced open in the Dallas/Fort Worth area which is filled with excellent hospitals. TCOM is not in any kind of jeopardy whatsoever. We are still affiliated with 3 other very large hospitals in Fort Worth, JPS being an excellent example.

My father called me this morning and said, "Uh so what are you going to do now? Are you going to have to reapply to other med schools?"
"NO NO NO dad and others who think this."

TCOM is currently and will continue to be one of the finest osteopathic medical schools in the country.

Actually, KCOM is the best............and their hospital is in no jeopardy of closing in the future.
 
Sensei_Sevo said:
Actually, KCOM is the best............and their hospital is in no jeopardy of closing in the future.

TCOM (from what I understand) did not own or operate the Hospital that closed. It was a place that TCOM used to "teach" because it was across the street from the school. But once again one was not owned or ran by the other. 😡

:idea: I also hope that TCOM will contact the media to clarify that the SCHOOL is NOT a division of the Osteopathic Hospital and TCOM is not closing!
 
Sensei_Sevo said:
Actually, KCOM is the best............and their hospital is in no jeopardy of closing in the future.


Actually, I said one of the best. But thanks for clearing that up for me. Now when I see someone from KCOM on rotations somewhere, I'll know that they think they are the best. I wouldn't dare question the best! Oh and just to clarify one last time: The Osteopathic Medical Center was only one of four hospitals affilitated with TCOM including JPS which is one of the largest county hospitals in Texas.

Thank You.
 
Sensei_Sevo said:
Actually, KCOM is the best............and their hospital is in no jeopardy of closing in the future.

To our KCOM friends...don't be so hasty to see the future...you never know what will happen. Hospitals are closing all over the country. We didn't think ours was in any danger of closing either.

This is not an issue of who is the "best"...that is a sophomoric diversion to an issue that is actually much deeper.

Pboothe is right--this could be a real opportunity to put our students and grads out into the community in even bigger numbers. I think it will do nothing but educate more people about what good doctors and promising students osteopathic schools (including our friends at KCOM) are producing.
 
Hospitals are closing all over the country. We didn't think ours was in any danger of closing either.


SophieJane,

Well, ACTUALLY, OMCT has been in trouble since the early '90s. They said they'd pull through it, but it had been losing a significant amount of money for the past 20 or so years. The reason everything came to a head so suddenly is because the company that was holding the debt decided to call in that amount all at once - to a nice sum of over 60 million. The hospital couldn't cover it, they couldn't get someone to buy them out, so they close and file for bankruptcy.

Sad, but true story of managed care driving a hospital under, over 1000 employees out onto the streets, and 200 or so patients to other hospitals. A sad commentary indeed.

But I agree with the OP that this is a good thing for the school - We now have the opportunity for more varied clinical experiences during the 3rd year and (for now) the option of going away for some core rotations. Good things are coming down the pipe indeed, so long as our administration plays it right and doesn't shoot us all in the collective foot.

jd
 
Currently, the University of North Texas Health Science Center uses the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas as one of our affiliated teaching and patient care facilities.

The health science center has similar relationships with other hospitals throughout Fort Worth, including Medical Plaza, Cook Children?s Medical Center, Harris Methodist Medical Center, and John Peter Smith Hospital.

?Historically a strong working relationship has existed between the health science center and the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas,? said Marc B. Hahn, DO, dean of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. ?We are therefore saddened by the closing of one of our affiliated teaching hospitals. However, we have a plan in place to continue to provide the finest medical education to our students. We have developed contingency plans to ensure no lapse in patient care services and minimal disruption in our educational programs through the help of our other hospital partners.?

Affiliated graduate medical education programs such as internships and residencies are funded by the federal government and administered by each individual hospital. The health science center will actively transition those physicians in training to other affiliated programs.

The University of North Texas Health Science Center is one of the country?s distinguished academic medical centers, dedicated to the advancement of education, research, and patient care. The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, one of the schools within the health science center, has been named one of U.S. News and World Report?s top medical schools for three years in a row.

The University of North Texas Health Science Center is composed of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Public Health. The center?s Institutes for Discovery conduct leading-edge research on select health issues, including vision, aging, cancer, heart disease, physical medicine, and public health. A 100-member physician group practice, The Physicians & Surgeons Medical Group, manages nearly 200,000 Fort Worth-area patient visits yearly. The institution injects nearly $500 million into Tarrant County and Texas? economies annually.

###

Contact: Kay Colley, 817-735-2553, cell: 817-980-5090
 
Doesn't that hospital have residency programs? I was sure that one of our graduates matched into surgery there last year. What happens to those people in their residencies?
 
pboothe said:
Actually, I said one of the best.

Great....... 🙄 I said the best!



pboothe said:
But thanks for clearing that up for me.

You bet......glad to be of assistance.


pboothe said:
Now when I see someone from KCOM on rotations somewhere, I'll know that they think they are the best. I wouldn't dare question the best!

Then you are an intelligent individual. I wonder why you didn't get accepted to KCOM?



pboothe said:
Thank You.

Your welcome :laugh:
 
s42brown said:
Doesn't that hospital have residency programs? I was sure that one of our graduates matched into surgery there last year. What happens to those people in their residencies?

Yes, OMCT had several residencies - FP, IM, Gen Surgery, Ortho, Radiology, etc.

Unfortunately, those residents are now out of a job. However, the hospital and school is helping them attain other positions. So far, many residents have found new positions, especially the primary care specialties. Some of the ortho people have had difficulty, though (from what I've heard).

Later,

jd
 
Sensei, are you serious? I'm glad you have school pride, thats really super, but I don't think you have ever attended school at TCOM, so you are not really qualified to rank these schools. The OP was just stating that TCOM will continue to excel under the new hospital arrangement.
 
Sensei_Sevo said:
Your welcome :laugh:


Don't you mean YOU'RE welcome? I guess they let those kinds of typos slide for the best osteopathic students in the country! :laugh: :laugh:

No seriously though, whatever dude. My hat's off to ya for getting into the Harvard of osteopathic schools.

To the person that inquired about residency programs at OMCT: yes it sucks very bad for those that worked in that hospital; just as it would have for anyone in a hospital that closed down. However, for prospective students, the outlook is very VERY good.
 
I just heard the news that OMCT has closed down. I am a PGY-2 OB/Gyn resident at Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY and we have an opening for 1 PGY-2 resident. If anyone knows an OMCT OB resident that needs a position and might be interested in the snowy Northeast, please let me know! We have a great academic residency program and are very DO friendly ( 5 of the 6 2nd year residents are DO's). I would be happy to give more info...
[email protected]

Thanks!
Stefanie Allison, D.O.
DMU '03
 
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