Workforce Solutions Spotlight: Northeast Pennsylvania Clinical Education Consortium

July 17, 2024

As Pennsylvania ages, many health care professionals are reaching retirement just as the need for health care is rapidly growing. Hospitals and health systems are leading the way in growing the next generation of health care professionals to care for Pennsylvanians and our communities.

This month, the Northeast Pennsylvania Clinical Education Consortium launched to bring a new osteopathic physician training network to northeast Pennsylvania.

Here’s what you need to know.

• About:  Five clinical partners and other community groups, led by Lackawanna College in Scranton, have created a new clinical education consortium specifically designed for osteopathic medical students.
• Health care partnership:  Commonwealth Health will provide most of the teaching rotations to students. Four other organizations also will serve key roles: Lackawanna College (community-wide convening), Allied Services Healthcare (elective rotation), Scranton Primary Health Care Center (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and psychiatry), and The Wright Center (primary care rotations and osteopathic manipulative medicine training by its faculty).
• Key support:  Students will be provided with living and dining options, academic and logistical support, as well as having the clinical rotation spots created and reserved specifically for them.
• Next steps:  The first group of nine medical students from two different colleges of osteopathic medicine began their clinical rotations in Scranton during July. Next year’s group is projected to increase to 20 students.
  • In the inaugural year, students came from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) New York.
  • Next year, students from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine also will begin participating.   
• Quotable:  "It's been a pleasure to work with our partnering physicians and health care providers to help build an osteopathic physician training network in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Frank Kolucki, MD, Commonwealth Health System physician & NEPCEC medical director. “The students we have from PCOM and TouroCOM have been eagerly engaged in their training and have brought an excitement and enthusiasm that is very refreshing and exciting to witness.”

Added Robert A, Cain, DO, president and CEO of American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM): “Finding high quality clinical opportunities is a challenge for every medical school, and here the community has come together to create a complete experience for our students.”

Learn more about this new initiative from AACOM, the city of Scranton, and the health care and higher education partners online.